純正英文發音,竟是"中國製造"?
A new wave of Chinese migration is afoot, fuelled by ever-younger students for whom English is not a piece of knowledge to be learnt but a living language able to unlock the intricacies of the wider world.
新一輪的華人移民潮正在進行時，而其背後的推動者則是一羣越來越年輕的莘莘學子。英語對這一代人來說不再只是一門知識，而是解開大千世界紛繁奧祕的一門鮮活的語言。Shen Jiahui and Wang Taojun learnt English at school and speak it perfectly without having ever set foot outside China. So well did they learn the language, they ranked second and fourth among 10,000 entrants in a national English public speaking competition run by the English language newspaper China Daily.
沈家慧和王陶鈞都是在學校課堂上學習英語的，他們從未踏出國內，卻說得一口流利的英語。他們的英文如此優異，在由《中國日報》舉辦的全國性英語演講比賽中，二人從近萬名選手中脫穎而出，分別取得亞軍和第四名的好成績。"Interest is the best teacher and also the first teacher," Mr Wang said. "For me, the second teacher would be the ambition to know the world outside of China."
王陶鈞說：“興趣是最好的老師，同時也是我的第一位老師。對我而言，第二位老師便是想要走出國門，瞭解外面世界的那份渴望。”
The pair, hosted this week in Australia by the competition sponsor, Navitas English, addressed the subject of cultural clashes in their final talk.
本週，他們二人受本屆大賽贊助商——納維英語的邀請，前往澳大利亞作最後一輪的有關文化衝突的主題演講。Ms Shen, who hopes to undertake an MBA at an American university, said clashes were inevitable but not insurmountable.
沈家慧表示文化衝突不可避免，但並非無法克服。她希望能夠前往美國攻讀MBA學位。"I came across them with my American teacher," she said. "When we met him he said 'Why are you so quiet?'
沈家慧說：“我和我的美國老師就遇到過這種問題。當我們第一次見面時，他問我：‘你們爲什麼不說話呢？’”"From that day on we tried to communicate with him and he tried to understand Chinese students and become more patient.
“從那天起，我們嘗試和他溝通，他也試着去理解中國學生，變得更有耐心。”"We can overcome cultural clashes and pursue cultural co-existence, which is very important in the 21st century, because we are co-operating with each other in a global world."
“我們可以克服文化衝突，尋求文化共存。在21世紀，這點十分重要，因爲在一個全球化的世界之中，我們要互相合作。”This year 200,000 Chinese students chose not to sit the traditional university pathway, the national college entrance exam, setting their goals instead above and beyond a domestic university place.
今年有20萬的中國學生沒有選擇傳統的大學之路——高考，而是將目標設定在海外大學。Most will head to the US, with European universities - now offering courses in English - and Australia and Canada also competing destinations.
大多數人都選擇美國，以及一些採用英文授課的歐洲大學，澳大利亞和加拿大也是熱門選項。A deputy editor with China Daily, Shen Gang, said the competition grew from Beijing's failure to win the battle with Sydney to host the 2000 Olympics, in part because so few citizens could speak English.
中國日報社《二十一世紀英文》副總編輯申鋼表示，本項賽事是從北京申辦2000年奧運會時的失利之中得到啓發。某種程度上這次失敗的原因是因爲北京市會說英語的市民人數太少了。"There's no other language with the role English has had, and still does, in international communications as a working language," Mr Shen said.
申鋼說：“在國際交流中，沒有任何一門語言可以作爲工作語言，同英語相提並論，之前是這樣，現在亦是如此。”"English is, for most Chinese, the bridge or link between China and the outside world.
“對於大部分中國人而言，英語也構架起中國與世界溝通的橋樑和紐帶。”"This is why Chinese parents pay attention as well as money for the English education of their children."
“這正是中國父母願意在孩子的英語學習上花費金錢和精力的真正原因。”Mr Shen said English had no rival as the external language for Chinese students.
申鋼稱，作爲中國學生學習的一門外語，英語可謂是無可匹敵。It is now compulsory for students from their third year of primary school and is the language of joint ventures for companies such as Nokia, Siemens and Volkswagen.
英語是中國學生從小學三年級便開始學習的必修科目。同時也是像諾基亞、西門子、大衆這樣的合資企業的辦公用語。Learning it is one thing, speaking it has been another, with Chinese students typically learning "mute English", Mr Shen said. Now they are speaking up and it is vital they continue to do so, he said.
申鋼表示，學是一回事，說又是另外一回事，通常中國學生學的都是“啞巴英語”。如今他們正大膽地開口說英文，重要的是他們要堅持下去。"Public speaking is a fundamental base for democracy. If you don't speak publicly, ideas won't be exchanged and people won't know what others are thinking about," Mr Shen said.
此外申鋼也表示：“演講是民主的基石。如果你不能公開演講的話，思想無法得以交流，人們也不會去了解他人的想法。”"That's the basic purpose for us to promote the competition: it's part of citizenship building."
“這纔是我們推廣該項賽事的宗旨：作爲營建公民素質的一部分。”
