老外在中國：在中國學母語英語什么感覺

生活在中國，我有很多來自英國、愛爾蘭、加拿大、南非、澳大利亞、新西蘭和印度等國家的外籍同事和朋友。從他們那里，我了解到很多不同的英語表達?？墒牵铱偸窃谙?，弄清這些對于一個英語為母語的人來說已經很難了，那些在中國和其他國家學習英語的學生一定感到很困擾。

The joke goes like this: A business executive from the United States walks into a London hotel and asks a clerk where the elevator is.

有這樣一個笑話：一位美國的公司高管走進倫敦一家酒店，用地道的美式英語向酒店員工詢問電梯(elevator)在哪兒。

The clerk answers, “The lift, sir, is just to the left.”

員工則用純正的英式英語回答：“先生，電梯(lift)就在左邊。”

The businessman says, “Don’t tell me how to say ‘elevator’ – we invented it.”

商人說：“別告訴我 ‘電梯’ 怎么說——電梯就是我們發(fā)明的。”

The clerk answers, “Quite right, sir, but we invented the language.”

店員回答說：“先生，您說得很對，但是英語是我們發(fā)明的。”

Actually, we in the US didn’t invent the elevator (or the lift), just a new form of the English language.

事實上，我們美國人沒有發(fā)明電梯，我們只是發(fā)明了一種新的英語形式。

Living in China and having foreign colleagues and friends from such countries as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and India, I have learned much more about the rich variety of my native tongue.

生活在中國，我有很多來自英國、愛爾蘭、加拿大、南非、澳大利亞、新西蘭和印度等國家的外籍同事和朋友。從他們那里，我了解到更多豐富多樣的英語。

I have learned that “sleepers” are not necessarily weary people – they can be planks that form the foundation of railroad tracks. In the US, we call them “crossties.” “Hoardings” may not be the stashes of compulsive collectors but advertisements we call “billboards”.

我知道了“sleepers”不單指疲倦的人——也可以指鐵軌的枕木。在美國，我們稱枕木為“crossties”。還有，“hoarding”可能不是收集家的收藏，而是我們稱之為“billboards”的廣告牌。

I already knew some terms, having long been a fan of British films, television and novels. But I have often thought of how confusing this must be to students of English in China and other countries. It’s hard enough for native English speakers to keep it straight.

由于長期熱衷于英國電影、電視劇和小說，我已經知道一些表達?？墒?，我總是在想，那些在中國和其他國家生活的學習英語的學生一定感到很困擾。弄清這些對于一個英語為母語的人來說已經很難了。

Of course, this variety is evidence that languages are living things, and while some commonality is needed in order to communicate, the world would be less interesting if we all expressed ourselves in the same way.

當然，這種多樣性印證了語言是活的，雖然為了交流我們需要語言有一定的共性，但是如果我們都用同樣的方式表述，這個世界就太無趣了。

In China, linguistic differences have their roots in ancient times. While it is practical to make sure all children learn Putonghua (the people’s language), or Mandarin, it is encouraging that there also are efforts to save regional tongues. In Shanghai, classes are given in Shanghainese, a subgroup of Wu Chinese that is only partially understood by many Mandarin speakers.

在中國，語言的差異性源于古代。中國雖然努力推行所有兒童學習普通話，但同時也在努力保護方言。在上海，當地人開設了上海話課程，上海話是吳語的分支，許多講普通話的人只能聽懂少部分吳語。

In today’s hurry-up world, it would be unfortunate if these living remnants of the past are extinguished. The key to keeping them alive is to cultivate an interest among the young.

在當今繁忙的社會，如果這些過去的遺產消失了，那將非常不幸。將遺產保留下去的關鍵在于培養(yǎng)年輕人對它們的興趣。

Because I was raised partly by my grandparents, there are some antiquated expressions in my vocabulary. When someone is sore or injured from exercise or overwork, I might say they’re “stove-up”. Most people nowadays are puzzled by that. When I looked for it on dictionary.com, it replied, “Did you mean ‘stovetop’?”

小時候祖父母也帶過我，所以我的話語中總會有一些過時的表達。當某人因為運動或過度勞累而受傷時，我可能會說他們“stove-up”。現在大多數人不理解這個說法。當我試著在dictionary.com上查找這個詞時，搜索結果卻是“你想要查找的詞語是‘stovetop’嗎?”

Merriam-Webster tells us it’s an adjectival form of the verb “stave up”. “Staves” can be pieces of wood used to make a barrel, and Southern Mountain Speech by Cratis D. Williams says “stave” also can mean to break to pieces, splinter, shatter – the apparent origin of my peculiar expression.

韋氏詞典的查找結果是，這是動詞‘stave up’的形容詞形式。“stave”指可以用來做木桶的板子，而Cratis D. Williams則在《南部山區(qū)的語言》(Southern Mountain Speech)一書中說，“stave”還可以表示碎片、碎了——很顯然我的獨特表達就來源于此。

It gives me hope that the expression is found in the youth-oriented Urban Dictionary, so it might yet survive.

后來我在《青年城市字典》中找到了這個表達，這給了我希望，這個詞還是有人在使用的。

All of this may seem academic, but it shows that language is a mirror on life and a way to examine culture and history. Also, it’s comforting that my wife -- raised in a similar environment, influenced by her grandmother and great-grandmother -- understands when I say I’m stove-up.

這些看起來可能有些學術，但是這表明語言是生活的一面鏡子，也是審視文化和歷史的一種方式。另外，我的妻子和我在相似的環(huán)境中長大，深受她的祖母和曾祖母的影響，當我說自己“stove-up”的時候，她能懂我說的是什么意思，這一點真的很令人欣慰。

By Matt Prichard