大家好龄恋！這里是“引路西方文化，守望中國(guó)文化”的英語(yǔ)實(shí)踐論的現(xiàn)場(chǎng)凶伙，我是主持人LEON老師!
今天繼續(xù)聊英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)進(jìn)化論郭毕。
Just last week, I was walking down the street with my mother, and I again found myself conscious of the English I was using, the English I do use with her. We were talking about the price of new and used furniture and I heard myself saying this: "Not waste money that way." My husband was with us as well, and he didn't notice any switch in my English. And then I realized why. It's because over the twenty years we've been together I've often used that same kind of English with him, and sometimes he even uses it with me. It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language I grew up with.
在Amy Tan的文章Mother Tongue的第四段，作者在和母親的閑聊中順口說(shuō)出了一句“Not waste money that way”函荣，相信大家對(duì)此有似曾相識(shí)地感受显押，譬如“Long time no see.” 一句。兩句都有中國(guó)漢語(yǔ)的基因在里面傻挂，于是從英語(yǔ)的語(yǔ)法角度來(lái)講乘碑，這算是英語(yǔ)在中國(guó)的variation. 所以有時(shí)候我們講"Chinese English"的確不是貶義，而是指英語(yǔ)在中文的影響下衍生出來(lái)的有英語(yǔ)其表但具漢語(yǔ)之實(shí)的語(yǔ)言變體金拒。作者的丈夫是地道的美國(guó)人兽肤，他沒(méi)有意識(shí)到作者“any switch in English”, 而且他有時(shí)候也會(huì)“even uses it”，作者稱這樣使用英語(yǔ)的方式是“family talk”, 而且這樣的談話方式伴隨了作者的成長(zhǎng)。
一個(gè)人的腦子在狹義上仿佛一臺(tái)電腦资铡，可以裝上好幾個(gè)操作系統(tǒng)电禀，有Windows, 有Ios; 可以是xp版，也可以是visa版笤休，有需要的時(shí)候可以相互轉(zhuǎn)換尖飞，而其轉(zhuǎn)換之靈便、穩(wěn)定宛官、高效葫松，恐怕當(dāng)世的任何一臺(tái)電腦都望塵莫及。Amy Tan的操作系統(tǒng)里顯然包含中文的原始代碼底洗，但這樣的原始代碼沒(méi)有對(duì)她以后用英語(yǔ)寫(xiě)作造成任何影響腋么。或許更恰當(dāng)?shù)谋扔魇呛ヒ荆珹my Tan實(shí)現(xiàn)了中文珊擂、英文兩種編程語(yǔ)言的高度協(xié)調(diào)，讓其在寫(xiě)作的過(guò)程中游刃有余费变，在交流的過(guò)程中自由切換摧扇。因此，各位學(xué)英語(yǔ)的朋友挚歧，漢語(yǔ)是我們的母語(yǔ)扛稽，但她不一定是你學(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)的障礙，在大多數(shù)的條件下滑负，兩者可以共存在张，甚至讓你與眾不同。在2012年的時(shí)候矮慕，《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》曾經(jīng)刊登過(guò)一篇關(guān)于“為什么會(huì)雙語(yǔ)的人更加聰明帮匾？”的文章,有興趣的去谷歌搜索“Why bilinguals are smarter?”
So you'll have some idea of what this family talk I heard sounds like, I'11 quote what my mother said during a recent conversation which I videotaped and then transcribed. During this conversation, my mother was talking about a political gangster in Shanghai who had the same last name as her family's, Du, and how the gangster in his early years wanted to be adopted by her family, which was rich by comparison. Later, the gangster became more powerful, far richer than my mother's family, and one day showed up at my mother's wedding to pay his respects. Here's what she said in part: "Du Yusong having business like fruit stand. Like off the street kind. He is Du like Du Zong -- but not Tsung-ming Island people. The local people call putong, the river east side, he belong to that side local people. That man want to ask Du Zong father take him in like become own family. Du Zong father wasn't look down on him, but didn't take seriously, until that man big like become a mafia. Now important person, very hard to inviting him. Chinese way, came only to show respect, don't stay for dinner. Respect for making big celebration, he shows up. Mean gives lots of respect. Chinese custom. Chinese social life that way. If too important won't have to stay too long. He come to my wedding. I didn't see, I heard it. I gone to boy's side, they have YMCA dinner. Chinese age I was nineteen."
文章的第五段有些長(zhǎng)竿痰，但大家務(wù)必耐心讀下去坐桩，有好多寶貝可挖。從這一段中术陶，我們可以獲知作者母親的家庭在舊中國(guó)的上海應(yīng)該是比較顯赫的痪寻，因?yàn)楫?dāng)時(shí)的大佬杜月笙還去母親十九歲的婚禮上拜賀過(guò)螺句。換做現(xiàn)在，一個(gè)縣的某一官員去某人家婚宴拜賀也會(huì)視作榮耀橡类，何況當(dāng)年上海灘的頭面人物壹蔓！這也就解釋了為什么當(dāng)年母親的家庭要移民美國(guó)了，真是歷史滄桑猫态，榮華浮沉！
更有意思的是從母親的口中，用英語(yǔ)講述的那段家族的軼事亲雪，可能老外聽(tīng)來(lái)毫無(wú)頭緒勇凭，可中國(guó)人聽(tīng)來(lái)應(yīng)該門(mén)兒清啊义辕！什么語(yǔ)法虾标，什么變化，什么主謂一致統(tǒng)統(tǒng)不要灌砖，一個(gè)具有中國(guó)社會(huì)特色的故事也就繪聲繪色的講完了璧函。這讓我想起，要求用英語(yǔ)將一起交通事故的大概通過(guò)電話給交通部門(mén)講清楚的故事基显，讀本文的你們多半會(huì)猶豫蘸吓、思考，有人是這么做示范的：
One car come, one car go; two car 碰碰撩幽，one man die.
相信你聽(tīng)過(guò)這段英語(yǔ)后库继，大概發(fā)生了什么，你應(yīng)該做什么都心里有數(shù)了吧窜醉！從交流的最本真宪萄、最原始的需要去看，去想榨惰，為什么一定要讓語(yǔ)法束縛自己呢拜英？大膽的去說(shuō)才是硬道理！
當(dāng)你看完作者引用的母親的話語(yǔ)后琅催，可別想當(dāng)然的以為作者母親不過(guò)爾爾居凶，接著看：
You should know that my mother's expressive command of English belies how much she actually understands. She reads the Forbes report, listens to Wall Street Week, converses daily with her stockbroker, reads all of Shirley MacLaine's books with ease--all kinds of things I can't begin to understand. Yet some of my friends tell me they understand 50 percent of what my mother says. Some say they understand 80 to 90 percent. Some say they understand none of it, as if she were speaking pure Chinese. But to me, my mother's English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It's my mother tongue. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery. That was the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed things, made sense of the world.
作者母親平時(shí)讀的是福布斯，聽(tīng)的是華爾街周報(bào)恢暖，和股票經(jīng)紀(jì)人侃大山排监，看Shirley MacLaine的書(shū)消遣。Shirley MacLaine是誰(shuí)杰捂？
雪莉·麥克雷恩 （ Shirley MacLaine 舆床，1934年4月24日－ ）是一位美國(guó) 演員 ，曾經(jīng)獲得奧斯卡最佳女主角獎(jiǎng)嫁佳，也創(chuàng)作過(guò)許多自傳作品挨队。雪莉·麥克雷恩也是演員沃倫·比蒂的姊姊。也許你熟悉的她的影視劇是《康頓莊園》蒿往。
這些關(guān)于母親的信息說(shuō)明什么盛垦？說(shuō)明母親的生活和一般中產(chǎn)階級(jí)美國(guó)人的生活別無(wú)二致，關(guān)心財(cái)經(jīng)理財(cái)瓤漏，追追星腾夯，看來(lái)是衣食無(wú)憂凹瞻！！作者還特別提到母親的“expressive command of English”, 一句話蝶俱，母親的生活方式完全是典型的美國(guó)派班利！
Lately, I've been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as 'broken" or "fractured" English. But I wince when I say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than "broken," as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness and soundness. I've heard other terms used, "limited English," for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people's perceptions of the limited English speaker.
可是作者在思考，照理說(shuō)榨呆，母親講英語(yǔ)的方式真的是“破英語(yǔ)”罗标，即“'broken"or "fractured" English”，作者也無(wú)法用更確切的用語(yǔ)形容母親使用英語(yǔ)的方式积蜻，因?yàn)槟赣H講的英語(yǔ)缺失一種完整性闯割，而且聽(tīng)上去看上去也不夠體面，沒(méi)什么美感竿拆，唯一的作用是傳遞了一定的意義宙拉。作者在段尾婉轉(zhuǎn)一點(diǎn)稱這樣的英語(yǔ)應(yīng)該是“受限制的英語(yǔ)”，好似生長(zhǎng)沒(méi)有發(fā)育全如输，增長(zhǎng)也有“負(fù)增長(zhǎng)”一樣鼓黔！
聊到這里，學(xué)英語(yǔ)的朋友在一定程度上要釋然不见。為什么這么說(shuō)呢澳化？別一開(kāi)始就追求美感，先追求意義吧稳吮！即使像作者母親一樣的“破英語(yǔ)”也是廣大連開(kāi)口講英語(yǔ)都羞羞答答的人要追求的缎谷，“有總比無(wú)要好！”灶似，有了破的英語(yǔ)列林，再發(fā)展發(fā)展，再修飾修飾酪惭，好的英語(yǔ)就指日可待了希痴。素顏的美女畢竟少，化點(diǎn)淡妝就清新可人的事何樂(lè)而不為呢春感？英語(yǔ)也是一樣的砌创，要講一兩句精致的，語(yǔ)法工整的話也不是隨隨便便張口即來(lái)鲫懒，要經(jīng)過(guò)“educated”, 平時(shí)要training, 只有這樣嫩实，書(shū)到用時(shí)方不恨少！此時(shí)此刻窥岩，應(yīng)該品出點(diǎn)英語(yǔ)進(jìn)化的味道了吧甲献，要雕琢，要積累颂翼，要學(xué)習(xí)晃洒，要實(shí)踐慨灭！
還有一個(gè)問(wèn)題，吃進(jìn)去的是草球及，吐出來(lái)的是奶缘挑，這樣的事大家喜聞樂(lè)見(jiàn)；但若是吃進(jìn)去的是奶桶略，吐出來(lái)的是草，這樣的事恐怕大家都不愿意看到诲宇。那么作者母親的輸入應(yīng)該是沒(méi)問(wèn)題了际歼，那么輸出怎么有這么大的差異呢？
注意姑蓝，什么叫family talk; 還有作者母親是不是在所有的場(chǎng)合都使用這樣的說(shuō)話方式呢鹅心？我們不得而知，但聯(lián)系實(shí)際纺荧，作為作家的作者都會(huì)時(shí)不時(shí)的family talk, 我們何必苛求一位隨性的媽媽呢旭愧？！難道你回家每天都 “父親——宙暇，母親——输枯，然后再做個(gè)揖嗎？”還不是占贫，“媽——桃熄，”
先聊到這里，回見(jiàn)型奥！
