评论
打印
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.
新一轮的华人移民潮正在进行时，而其背后的推动者则是一群越来越年轻的莘莘学子。英语对这一代人来说不再只是一门知识，而是解开大千世界纷繁奥秘的一门鲜活的语言。
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.
沈家慧和王陶钧都是在学校课堂上学习英语的，他们从未踏出国内，却说得一口流利的英语。他们的英文如此优异，在由《中国日报》举办的全国性英语演讲比赛中，二人从近万名选手中脱颖而出，分别取得亚军和第四名的好成绩。
"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."
王陶钧说：“兴趣是最好的老师，同时也是我的第一位老师。对我而言，第二位老师便是想要走出国门，了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.
本周，他们二人受本届大赛赞助商——纳维英语的邀请，前往澳大利亚作最后一轮的有关文化冲突的主题演讲。
Ms Shen, who hopes to undertake an MBA at an American university, said clashes were inevitable but not insurmountable.
沈家慧表示文化冲突不可避免，但并非无法克服。她希望能够前往美国攻读MBA学位。
"I came across them with my American teacher," she said. "When we met him he said 'Why are you so quiet?'
沈家慧说：“我和我的美国老师就遇到过这种问题。当我们第一次见面时，他问我：‘你们为什么不说话呢？’”
"From that day on we tried to communicate with him and he tried to understand Chinese students and become more patient.
“从那天起，我们尝试和他沟通，他也试着去理解中国学生，变得更有耐心。”
"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."
“我们可以克服文化冲突，寻求文化共存。在21世纪，这点十分重要，因为在一个全球化的世界之中，我们要互相合作。”
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20万的中国学生没有选择传统的大学之路——高考，而是将目标设定在海外大学。
Most will head to the US, with European universities - now offering courses in English - and Australia and Canada also competing destinations.
大多数人都选择美国，以及一些采用英文授课的欧洲大学，澳大利亚和加拿大也是热门选项。
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.
中国日报社《二十一世纪英文》副总编辑申钢表示，本项赛事是从北京申办2000年奥运会时的失利之中得到启发。某种程度上这次失败的原因是因为北京市会说英语的市民人数太少了。
"There's no other language with the role English has had, and still does, in international communications as a working language," Mr Shen said.
申钢说：“在国际交流中，没有任何一门语言可以作为工作语言，同英语相提并论，之前是这样，现在亦是如此。”
"English is, for most Chinese, the bridge or link between China and the outside world.
“对于大部分中国人而言，英语也构架起中国与世界沟通的桥梁和纽带。”
"This is why Chinese parents pay attention as well as money for the English education of their children."
“这正是中国父母愿意在孩子的英语学习上花费金钱和精力的真正原因。”
Mr Shen said English had no rival as the external language for Chinese students.
申钢称，作为中国学生学习的一门外语，英语可谓是无可匹敌。
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.
英语是中国学生从小学三年级便开始学习的必修科目。同时也是像诺基亚、西门子、大众这样的合资企业的办公用语。
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.
申钢表示，学是一回事，说又是另外一回事，通常中国学生学的都是“哑巴英语”。如今他们正大胆地开口说英文，重要的是他们要坚持下去。
"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.
此外申钢也表示：“演讲是民主的基石。如果你不能公开演讲的话，思想无法得以交流，人们也不会去了解他人的想法。”
"That's the basic purpose for us to promote the competition: it's part of citizenship building."
“这才是我们推广该项赛事的宗旨：作为营建公民素质的一部分。”
