TED演讲:学习新语言的四个理由(1)
The language I’m speaking right now is on its way to becoming the world’s universal language, for better or for worse.
我现在说的英语正逐渐变成全球通用语言，这有好处也有弊端。
Let’s face it, it’s the language of the internet, it’s the language of finance,
我们会认同，这是互联网标准语言，是金融界通用语言，
it’s the language of air traffic control, of popular music, diplomacy — English is everywhere.
是空中管制标准语言，流行音乐，外交活动。英语无处不在。
Now, Mandarin Chinese is spoken by more people,
实际上，说汉语的人数更多一些，
but more Chinese people are learning English than English speakers are learning Chinese.
但是学英语的中国人要比学汉语的英语母语者要多。
Last I heard, there are two dozen universities in China right now teaching all in English. English is taking over.
我之前听说，现在中国有二十多所大学使用纯英语教学。英语已占统治地位。
And in addition to that, it’s been predicted that at the end of the century almost all of the languages that exist now
除此之外，预计在本世纪末期，绝大多数现存的语言，
there are about 6,000 — will no longer be spoken.
大约6000种，将会失传。
There will only be some hundreds left.
只会有几百种剩下。
And on top of that, it’s at the point where instant translation of live speech is not only possible, but it gets better every year.
另一方面，现在同传翻译不仅已经成为可能，而且每年都在变得更好。
The reason I’m reciting those things to you is
我跟大家说这么多，
because I can tell that we’re getting to the point where a question is going to start being asked, which is:
是因为我要引出一个问题，一个大家或许已经在问的问题，就是：
Why should we learn foreign languages — other than if English happens to be foreign to one?
为什么我们需要学习除英语的外语？
Why bother to learn another one when it’s getting to the point where almost everybody in the world will be able to communicate in one?
既然很快英语会成为通用语言，为什么还要去学习新的语言呢？
英语正迅速成为世界通用语言，同步翻译技术也在逐年提高。那么为什么还要学习一门外语呢？美国哥伦比亚大学教授、语言学家约翰·麦克沃特分享了学习一门不熟悉的语言的四个好处。