TE雙語|快有所短，慢有所長：非母語人士在母語環境中的優勢| 2016.04.09|總第86期

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5:05 04.09--Johnson 來自外刊時文雙語精析

The advantages of working in your own language are obvious. Those of working in a foreign one are subtle.在母語環境下工作的優勢顯而易見，而在非母語環境下工作的優勢則不易察覺。

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譯者今年以優異的成績考上了北外高翻，並為這篇文章給出了相當流暢的譯文，如果大家覺得本文對你有所幫助，請在文後掃描支付二維碼給譯者和校對進行讚賞（由本公眾號轉交），感謝大家的支持。下周可能會發布譯者的北外高翻考研心得，請有興趣的朋友關注一下。

導讀：有不少非英語專業的朋友在後台留言希望多增加一些長難句的解讀，其實本人的初衷也是專註於如何完全正確地理解一個句子以及寫出一個正確的句子，但是後來發現本公眾號的讀者似乎以英語專業居多了，這有點出乎本人意料。其實個人認為對於絕大部分英語學習者而言，能夠用英語正確而清晰地表達出自己的觀點，就已經是非常夠用了。一味追求一些高級表達暫時而言對於很多人似乎不太現實，所以以後我也會慢慢推出一些長難句結構的分析。

這次講以下幾個句子。

第一句

English-speakers can try to bulldoze opposing arguments through sheer verbiage, hold the floor to prevent anyone else from getting a word in or lighten the mood with a joke.

原譯：英語母語者可以連篇累牘地向聽眾強行灌輸截然不同的觀點，不讓任何人有插話或者講個笑話活躍氣氛的機會。

這個譯文看上去似乎沒有什麼問題，但是仔細分析的話，還是有待商榷的，問題的原因出在了lighten the mood with a joke到底跟那個結構並列的問題，通過譯文來看，其應該是將lighten the mood with a joke處理成與getting a word in並列，所以造成lighten the mood with a joke這個動作的發出者成為了anyone else，即「防止其他人插話並防止其他人講笑話活躍氣氛」，而且譯文看上去似乎也很流暢。但是實際上卻不是如此。

語法分析：

① lighten是原形，在形式上不能與getting這個動名詞構成並列，而應該是與另外一個原形並列。

②即使第一點因為看得太快而忽略了，那麼hold the floor前面的逗號也難以承擔直接連接兩個句子（或者兩個謂語動詞）的功能，也應該在hold the floor和逗號之間加and。所以這個句子的主幹應該是English-speakers can try to bulldoze……, to hold the floor…, or to lighten…，其中後面的to都承前省略，or前面的逗號可以用也可以不用，這個問題已經在上幾期的文章中說過了。

邏輯分析：

全文主要是講非母語者在語言表達流暢方面是很難達到母語者的水平的，而大家試想一下，如果在一個大部分人都為母語者的正式談話中，非母語者參與對話都已經是較為艱難了，是很難能夠還有能力能「談笑風生」的，畢竟即使用母語能做到「談笑風生」的人都很不容易了，因為恰當地使用幽默對一個人的整體素質已經提出了很高的要求，所以非母語者是不太容易在一些較為正式的場合有能力來搞搞笑的。而這個anyone else很顯然包括非母語者。

改譯：英語母語者可能會設法連篇累牘地強勢推行自己的對立觀點，並且口若懸河不讓任何人有插話的機會，或者會試著搞搞笑來活躍一下氣氛。

第二句

Non-natives have not one hand, but perhaps a bit of their brains, tied behind their backs.

這個句子雖然比較短，但是很容易理解錯誤，因為要注意的地方還是挺多的：

① have not這個表達方式主要出現英式英語中，這裡的have不是助動詞，而是主謂語動詞，在現代英語中這個表達已經比較少見了，替換的表達方式是「do not have one hand…」，或者是在haven』t後面加上got，「haven』t got one hand tied behind…」

② with one hand tied behind one』s back，意思是「把一隻手綁在身後」，引申意有兩個方面，如下：

With One Hand Tied Behind His Back更多是表達輕而易舉之事情。

③ but perhaps a bit of their brains這個插入語中的their是指前面的Non-natives，brains意思是non-natives中的一些比較傑出的人士。

譯文：這對非母語人士而言（不過也許少數優秀者除外）並非是件輕而易舉之事。

第三句

There is a lot to be said for thinking faster than you can speak, rather than the other way round.

① a lot to be said for sth這個表達方式絕大部分讀者可能會一掃而過，實際上這個表達方式很好用，見詞典釋義：

② the other way round也是一樣：

譯文：「腦轉得比嘴快」頗有其值得稱道之處，而「嘴比腦子快」卻乏善可陳。

（註：譯者翻譯的「腦轉得比嘴快」和「嘴比腦子快」翻譯得太到位了）。

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1. MORE and more of the world is working in English. Multinational companies (even those based in places such as Switzerland or Japan) are making it their corporate language. And international bodies like the European Union and the United Nations are doing an ever-greater share of business in the world』s new default language. At the office, it』s English』s world, and every other language is just living in it.英語日漸成為越來越多人的工作語言。許多跨國公司（即使是總部位於瑞士和日本的公司）開始把工作語言定為英語。歐盟、聯合國和其它國際組織也開始使用英語處理越來越多的事務，把它看成新的默認語言。辦公室成了英語的世界，而其它語言只是混跡其中。

2. Is this to the English-speaker』s advantage? Working in a foreign language is certainly hard. It is easier to argue fluently or to make a point subtly when not trying to call up rarely used vocabulary or construct sentences correctly. English-speakers can try to bulldoze opposing arguments through sheer verbiage, hold the floor to prevent anyone else from getting a word in or lighten the mood with a joke. All of these things are far harder in a foreign language. Non-natives have not one hand, but perhaps a bit of their brains, tied behind their backs. A recent column by Michael Skapinker in the Financial Times says that it』s important for native English-speakers to learn the skills of talking with non-natives successfully.這對講英語的人有利嗎？毫無疑問，在非母語環境下工作十分困難。一個人在不用費盡心思回想生僻辭彙或組織正確句子的情況下，他能夠更流利地與別人爭論，也更容易巧妙地表達觀點。英語母語者可能會設法連篇累牘地強勢推行自己的對立觀點，並且口若懸河不讓任何人有插話的機會，或者會試著搞搞笑來活躍一下氣氛。而這些如果要用非母語來表達則異常困難。這對非母語人士而言（不過也許少數優秀者除外）並非是件輕而易舉之事。近日，米歇爾·斯卡平克在《金融時報》中發表專欄文章稱，對英語母語者來說，知道如何有效地與非母語者交流至關重要。

3. But, as Mr Skapinker notes, there are advantages to being a non-native, too. These are subtler—but far from trivial. Non-native speakers may not be able to show off their brilliance easily. It can be an advantage to have your cleverness highly rated, and this is the luck of verbally fluent people around the world. But it is quite often the other way round: it can be a boon to be thought a little dimmer than you really are, giving the element of surprise in a negotiation. And, as an American professor in France tells Johnson, coming from another culture—not just another language—allows people to notice stumbling blocks and habits of thinking shared by the rest of the natives, and guide a meeting past them. Such heterodox thinking can be wrapped in a bit of disingenuous cluelessness: 「I』m not sure how things work here, but I was thinking…」但是，斯卡平克提到，非母語者也有優勢，雖然這種優勢更加難以察覺，但卻不容忽視。非母語者也許不能輕易展現自己的才華。被認為聰慧過人的確有優勢，這也是世界上許多講話流利人士的幸運之處。但與此相反的情況也並非少見，那就是被人認為比你原本的樣子愚笨一些也未嘗不是件好事，因為這會在後續的談話中給對方驚喜。就像一位在法國的美國教授告訴本文作者，來自另一種文化背景（而不僅僅是說另一種語言）的人能夠注意到談話中的障礙，以及其它母語者所共有的思維方式，從而引導著會議略過這些障礙。這種非常規的思維方式可以偽裝成一知半解了無頭緒，「我不清楚這裡的套路，但是我認為…」

4. People working in a language not their own report other perks. Asking for a clarification can buy valuable time or be a useful distraction, says a Russian working at The Economist. Speaking slowly allows a non-native to choose just the right word—something most people don』t do when they are excited and emotional. There is a lot to be said for thinking faster than you can speak, rather than the other way round.在非母語環境下工作的人還有其他的優勢。「要求別人解釋一下能為自己贏得寶貴的時間，或是成功轉移注意力。」一名在《The Economist》雜誌工作的俄羅斯籍員工說。語速慢給了非母語者時間挑選合適的詞語，而這是大多數人在激動或情緒高漲時不會做的。「腦轉得比嘴快」頗有其值得稱道之處，而「嘴比腦子快」卻乏善可陳。

5. Most intriguingly, there may be a feedback loop from speech back into thought. Ingenious researchers have found that sometimes decision-making in a foreign language is actually better. Researchers at the University of Chicago gave subjects a test with certain traps—easy-looking 「right」 answers that turned out to be wrong. Those taking it in a second language were more likely to avoid the trap and choose the right answer. Fluid thinking, in other words, has its down-side, and deliberateness an advantage. And one of the same researchers found that even in moral decision-making—such as whether it would be acceptable to kill someone with your own hands to save a larger number of lives—people thought in a more utilitarian, less emotional way when tested in a foreign language. An American working in Denmark says he insisted on having salary negotiations in Danish—asking for more in English was excruciating to him.更有意思的是，從語言到思想可能存在一個反饋迴路。研究人員發現，有時在非母語環境中做決定時更佔優勢。芝加哥大學的研究人員開展了一項測驗，他們讓研究對象做一份有「陷阱」的題目，比如設置一些不仔細看似乎正確但卻是錯誤的答案。非母語者在做測試時更可能避開這些陷阱而選擇正確的答案。換句話說，思維流暢有其所短，審慎思考有其所長。該研究團隊中也有人發現，甚至在做道德選擇時，比如對於你是否能接受殺死一個人以保全更多人性命這種問題，非母語者的答案也更加理性實用，不致過於感情用事。一位在丹麥工作的美國人提到，在商討薪水問題時他堅持使用丹麥語---用英語要求加薪使他痛苦不堪。

6. All this applies regardless of the first language. But in the modern world it is English monoglots in particular who work in their own language, joined by non-native polyglots working in English too. Those non-native speakers can always go away and speak their languages privately before rejoining the English conversation. Hopping from language to language is a constant reminder of how others might see things differently, notes a Dutch official at the European Commission. (One study found that bilingual children were better at guessing what was in other people』s heads, perhaps because they were constantly monitoring who in their world spoke what language.) It was said that Ginger Rogers had to do every step Fred Astaire did, but 「backwards, and in high heels」. This, unsurprisingly, made her an outstanding dancer.以上這些並不局限於母語是哪種語言。但是在現代社會中，在英語環境下工作的人是只會說英語的人，以及會說除英語之外多種語言的人。這些非母語者通常會在參加英語會談之前聚在一起，用母語討論一番。歐洲委員會的一位荷蘭籍官員提到在不同語言之間的轉換時刻提醒著人們去考慮其他人以何種不同方式看問題。（一項研究表明，在雙語環境下成長的孩子能更好地猜測別人的想法，大概是因為他們在成長過程中在不斷觀察誰說著哪種語言。）據說金格爾·羅傑斯要和弗雷德·阿斯泰爾跳同樣的舞步，但是要「朝著反方向，穿著高跟鞋」跳。正是如此，她才不出所料地成為傑出的舞蹈家。

7. Indeed, those working in foreign languages are keen to talk about these advantages and disadvantages. Alas, monoglots will never have that chance. Pity those struggling in a second language—but also spare a thought for those many monoglots who have no way of knowing what they are missing.事實上，那些在非母語環境下工作的人熱衷於討論這些優勢和劣勢，畢竟，單一語言的人從沒有這種機會。在第二語言中苦苦掙扎的人值得同情，但也想想那些單一語言的人，他們永遠不知道自己正錯過什麼。

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