?BBC英語六分鐘|掌握一千個外語單詞

07-23

【聽音頻，也可猛戳左下角「閱讀原文」】

This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English dot com.這裡是bbclearningenglish.com英語六分鐘節目。Rob: Hello I』m Rob. Welcome to 6 Minute English. I』m joined today by Finn. Hi Finn.大家好我是羅伯。歡迎收聽英語六分鐘。今天和我一起的是費恩。你好費恩。Finn: Hi Rob – or should I say 』ni hao』 Rob?你好羅伯，或者我應該說「你好（漢語）」羅伯？Rob: Your Chinese is very good Finn but I wonder how many more Chinese words you know? 1,000 perhaps?費恩你的中文很好，但是我想知道你漢語的辭彙累積多少了？1000？Finn: (In Chinese: "Not really, I just know a little…")（用漢語說「沒有多少，我只知道一點點」）Rob: Now you』re just showing off! Not being able to speak a foreign language is a bit of a British trait – or a particular British characteristic. We』re not very good at it although Finn is an exception, he can speak many foreign languages, can』t you?現在你只是在炫耀罷了！不能掌握一門外語是英國人的特質。我們英國人並不擅長學外語，但費恩是個例外，他能說很多門外語，是不是費恩？Finn: Not that many – a bit of German, some French, Polish a little, Chinese of course, Hokkien, a bit of Japanese…沒那麼多——懂一點德語，一些法語，一點波蘭語，當然還有漢語，閩南語，一點日語...Rob: I』m impressed Finn. Well now the rest of us Brits are being encouraged to learn at least 1,000 words of another language. We』ll talk more about that soon but before I start learning my new words, how about a question Finn?費恩我真佩服你。其他英國人被激勵著學習至少1000外語辭彙。我們一會再討論這個話題，在我開始學習新單詞之前，費恩我問你個問題怎樣？

Finn: Tres bien!很好！Rob: Do you know which is the second most spoken language in England? Is it:a) Polish b) Urdu or c) French你知道英國第二大語言是什麼嗎？是：a）波蘭語b）烏爾都語c）法語Finn: I think I know this one, Rob. I』m going to say a) Polish.羅伯，我覺得我知道答案。我選a)波蘭語Rob: I』ll let you know the answer at the end of programme. So, as I mentioned, the British are generally considered to be lazy linguists – they just don』t bother to learn another language.在節目的最後我會告訴你答案。所以，像之前我提到的，英國人被普遍認為是懶惰的語言學家——他們沒耐心去學習另一種語言。Finn: I guess the main reason is that when British people travel around the world they find that English is spoken almost everywhere – so they get by – they survive on using their native language.我猜主要的原因是當英國人去世界各地旅遊時發現幾乎世界各地的人們都在使用英語——所以他們使用母語就可以生存。Rob: I think, in the past, the education system was also to blame. Learning a foreign language was not compulsory – it didn』t have to be studied - when I went to school, we didn』t have to study languages to exam level – so I took the easy option and studied photography instead of French! I regret it now. But that wasn』t the same for you Finn?我覺得過去的教育體系也應當負責任。學習一門外語不是強制性的——不一定要學——我上學的時候，我們學習語言考試不需要學到考試的程度——所以我選擇了一門輕鬆的課，學習了攝影而不是法語！我現在後悔了。你難道沒有同樣的感覺嗎費恩？Finn: At first I didn』t really like it but you know, I love words, and then one day I discovered the Chinese language and thought this was fascinating, and it』s a key to a whole new culture.一開始我真的不喜歡，但是你知道，我喜歡文字，然後有一天我發現漢語很令人著迷，它是學習一種全新文化的關鍵。Rob: Well recently a campaign was launched for those of us who didn』t share your enthusiasm or have the opportunity to learn another language.The 1,000 Words campaign is encouraging everyone in the UK to learn at least 1,000 words of another language. It hopes to help Britain increase international trade.最近發起了一項運動，針對的是我們這些學習外語沒熱情或者沒機會學習外語的人。一千個單詞運動旨在激勵每一個英國人學習並掌握另一門語言的一千個單詞。這場運動希望幫助英國增加國家貿易。Finn: The group say a vocabulary of 1,000 words would allow a speaker to hold a simple conversation. It sounds like a good idea.這個組織說學會一千個辭彙就能讓人進行簡短的對話。聽起來是個好主意。Rob: Si! Let』s hear from the former England footballer and TV presenter, Gary Lineker, who is supporting the campaign. Can you hear what the three things he says learning another language gives you?是的。讓我們聽一下支持這項運動的前英格蘭足球運動員和電視主持人加里·萊因克爾是怎麼說的。他說學習另一種語言的時候你能得到三件事，你能聽出來是哪三件事嗎？I think it gives you self-satisfaction and self-esteem if you can speak another language when you』re travelling. I think it also gives you an edge in a lot of different areas in the workplace, not just football.旅行的時候如果你會說另一種語言，我覺得這會讓你感到自我滿足和自我尊重。同時我認為它還在你工作上給你帶來很多優勢，並不只是足球上。Finn: So Gary Lineker says there are three things it gives you; it gives you self-satisfaction, firstly. He means you feel good about learning a new skill. But it can have negative meaning – self-satisfaction - that you are smug or pleased with yourself. I don』t think he means that here though.所以加里·萊因克爾說會說另一種語言會給你帶來三件事；首先它給你自我滿足感。他的意思是學習一門新語言會讓你感覺很好。但也有負面含義——自我滿足——會讓你自以為是或對自己感到滿意。不過我認為他沒有那個意思。Rob: He also says it improves self-esteem – so you feel good about yourself and it boosts your confidence.Imagine going on holiday to Spain and being able to converse with – speak to – the locals.他還說能提高自尊——自我感覺良好，同時增強信心。想像一下去西班牙度假，能和當地人談話是什麼樣的感覺。Finn: It feels good! And he also mentioned the economic benefits of speaking another language; it gives you the edge in the workplace.That means it gives you an advantage, especially if you are dealing with foreign companies.感覺很好！同時他還提到了學習另一門語言帶來的經濟效益；給你在工作上帶來優勢。那就意味著你在工作上有優勢，尤其是在你和外企打交道的時候。Rob: It shows politeness and respect for other people by showing you have made an effort.通過展示你所做的努力給他人以禮貌和尊重。Finn: It』s something another footballer, Gareth Bale, has tried to do. Last year he signed to Real Madrid so he tried to master – or to be very good at – speaking Spanish so he could talk to his fans. This is how he got on:另一名足球運動員格瑞斯·貝爾已經試著這樣做了。去年他簽約了皇馬，所以他努力學會西班牙語，這樣他能和他的粉絲們說話。下面就是他所做的：(In Spanish: It is a dream to play for Real Madrid. Thank you.)（用西班牙語：在皇馬踢球是我的夢想。謝謝你們）Rob: Muy bien! Impressive – I think he was saying it was his dream to play for Real Madrid.真令人佩服--我覺得他說在皇馬踢球是他的夢想。Finn: Your Spanish is very impressive too Rob. For Gareth Bale, speaking Spanish will help him fit in – perhaps make him more accepted by his teammates and his fans.羅伯你的西班牙語也很好啊。對格瑞斯·貝爾來說，講西班牙語會幫助他融入他的隊友和粉絲們。Rob: But Finn, I have a dilemma. There are so many languages in the world, which one should I learn first?但是費恩，我有一個難題。世界上有那麼多種語言，我應該先從哪個學起呢？Finn: Maybe you should start with the UK』s second most spoken language?或許你可以從英國第二大通用語言開始？Rob: Yes, the question I posed earlier was: what is Britain』s second most spoken language.是的，之前我問的問題就是：英國第二大語言是什麼？Finn: I said Polish.我選的是波蘭語。Rob: And you are right. According to the 2011 census, the answer is Polish.The census also found over 104 different languages are spoken in the UK. Before we go, could you remind us of some of the English words we』ve heard today?你說對了。根據2011年的調查，答案是波蘭語。調查還發現英國有超過104種不同語言。在結束前，你能不能幫我們回顧一下今天聽到的英語單詞？Finn: Yes, We heard:我們聽到了：trait特徵linguists語言學家native language母語to get by過活compulsory強制的self-esteem自尊to converse with和...談話to give you the edge有優勢to master掌握fit in適合相互融洽Rob: Danke schon, Finn.非常感謝費恩。Finn: Bitte schon!不客氣！Rob: Thanks Finn. Well that』s it for this programme. Please join us soon again for 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.謝謝費恩。好吧以上就是今天的全部內容了。請記得收聽我們下期的節目。Both: Bye.再見That was 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English dot com.以上是bbclearningenglish.com英語六分鐘節目。