英譯中
It was just one word in one email, but it triggered huge financial losses for a multinational company.
區(qū)區(qū)電子郵件里的一個單詞，導(dǎo)致一家跨國公司遭受巨大經(jīng)濟(jì)損失。
The message, written in English, was sent by a native speaker to a colleague for whom English was a second language. Unsure of the word, the recipient found two contradictory meanings in his dictionary. He acted on the wrong one.
這封電子郵件是由一位英語母語人士用英語所寫，而郵件接收人則是一位以英語為第二語言的同事。該同事收到郵件后，發(fā)現(xiàn)該單詞在字典里有兩個截然相反的意思，他拿捏不準(zhǔn)，并最終選擇了那個錯誤的意思。
Months later, senior management investigated why the project had flopped, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. “It all traced back to this one word,” says Chia Suan Chong, aUK-based communications skills and intercultural trainer, who didn't reveal the tricky word because it is highly industry-specific and possibly identifiable.“Things spiralled out of control because both parties were thinking the opposite.”
數(shù)月過去，該跨國公司的高管開始調(diào)查這個項(xiàng)目失敗并損失幾十萬美元的原因。謝宣童(Chia Suan Chong)是一名交流技能和跨文化培訓(xùn)師，供職于一家總部設(shè)在英國的機(jī)構(gòu)，她說：“所有的調(diào)查線索最終指向這個單詞”。謝宣童沒有透露具體這個單詞，因?yàn)樵搯卧~是某行業(yè)專用詞匯，透露該單詞可能暴露這家跨國公司的身份。她還說：“由于雙方的理解截然相反，事件不斷升級，最終失控�！�
When such misunderstandings happen, it’s usually the native speakers who are to blame. Ironically, they are worse at delivering their message than people who speak English as a second or third language, according to Chong.
出現(xiàn)此類誤解，責(zé)任在于英語母語人士。謝宣童認(rèn)為，耐人尋味的是，英語母語人士在傳遞信息方面比以英語為第二語言或第三語言的人士要糟糕。
A lot of native speakers are happy that English has become the world’s global language. They feel they don' t have to spend time learning another language,” says Chong.
謝宣童說：“眾多英語母語人士對于英語成為世界通用語感到竊喜，因?yàn)樗麄冇X得這省去了學(xué)習(xí)其他語言的麻煩。”
The non-native speakers, it turns out, speak more purposefully and carefully, typical of someone speaking a second or third language. Anglophones, on the other hand, often talk too fast for others to follow, and use jokes, slang and references specific to their own culture, says Chong.
謝宣童說，事實(shí)上，非英語母語人士，特別是會講第二語言或者第三語言的人士，在傳遞信息時更加謹(jǐn)慎、目的性更強(qiáng)，而英語母語人士在講話時通常語速過快導(dǎo)致別人聽不懂，并且他們話語中還夾雜著笑話、俚語及自己文化特有的事物。
“The native English speaker… is the only one who might not feel the need to accommodate or adapt to the others,”she adds.
謝宣童補(bǔ)充說：“唯有……英語母語人士認(rèn)為沒必要體諒對方或?yàn)閷Ψ街��！?/P>
With non-native English speakers in the majority worldwide, it’s Anglophones who may need to up their game.
由于世界上非英語母語人士居多，所以英語母語人士該停止那套舊做法。
“Native speakers are at a disadvantage when you are in a lingua franca situation,” where English is being used as a common denominator, says Jennifer Jenkins, professor of global Englishes at the UK’s University of Southampton. “It’s the native English speakers that are having difficulty understanding and making themselves understood.”
詹尼弗·詹金斯(JenniferJenkins)是英國南安普敦大學(xué)的全球英語教授，她說：“母語各不相同的人士在一起采用英語為通用語進(jìn)行溝通時，英語母語人士處于不利的境地，這是因?yàn)橛⒄Z母語人士在理解其他人講的英語方面存在障礙，而其他人在理解英語母語人士的英語方面也同樣存在障礙�！�
Non-native speakers generally use more limited vocabulary and simpler expressions, without flowery language or slang. And then there’s cultural style, Blattner says. When a Brit reacts to aproposal by saying, “That’s interesting” a fellow Brit might recognise this asunderstatement for, “That’s rubbish.” But other nationalities would take the word “interesting” on face value, he says.
非英語母語人士在講英語時，通常使用數(shù)量有限的詞匯和簡單的表達(dá)方式，不花哨，也不夾帶俚語。此外，還有文化因素，布拉特納(Blattner)說。一個英國人在評論一項(xiàng)提議時說“That’s interesting”(“蠻有趣”)，此時，另一個英國人會把這句話把理解為“太垃圾”的含蓄說法，而其他國家的人則只會取“interesting”(有趣)的字面意思進(jìn)行理解。
“English speakers with no other language often have a lack of awareness of how to speak English internationally.”
“不會講其他語言的英語母語人士在講英語時，通常缺乏國際意識�！�
In Berlin, Coulter saw German staff of a Fortune 500 company being briefed from their Californian HQ via video link. Despite being competent in English, the Germans gleaned only the gist of what their American project leader said. So among themselves they came up with an agreed version, which might or might not have been what was intended by the California staff.
科爾特(Coulter)在柏林看見一家世界500強(qiáng)公司的德國員工通過視頻連線聽取加州總部的情況通報。德國員工雖然英語不錯，但只留心美國項(xiàng)目領(lǐng)導(dǎo)講話的要旨。對于該情況通報，德國員工內(nèi)部達(dá)成一致意見，而這個意見與加州項(xiàng)目領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的意思可能相同或者可能相左。
“Too many non-Anglophones, especially the Asians and the French, are too concerned about not ‘losing face’— and nod approvingly while not getting the message at all,” he says.
科爾特說：“太多非英語母語人士，特別是亞裔人士和法國人，他們由于太怕‘丟面子’而只會點(diǎn)頭贊同，實(shí)際上卻一點(diǎn)都沒聽懂。”
That’s why Nerriere devised Globish— a distilled form of English, stripped down to 1,500 words and simple but standard grammar. “It’s not a language, it’s a tool,” he says. Since launching Globish in 2004 he’s sold more than 200,000 Globish text books in 18 languages.
有鑒于此，奈易耶(Nerriere)發(fā)明了全球化英語(Globish)，這是一種簡潔英語，將英語詞匯限制在1500字左右，并采用簡單、標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的語法。奈易耶說：“全球化英語不是一種語言，而是一種工具�！弊�2004年推出全球化英語以來，用18種語言編寫的全球化英語教材銷量逾20萬冊。
“If you can communicate efficiently with limited, simple language you save time, avoid misinterpretation and you don’t have errors in communication,” Nerriere says.
奈易耶說：“能用有限的詞匯、簡單的語言進(jìn)行高效溝通，既節(jié)省時間，又避免誤解，消除了溝通中的錯誤。”
When trying to communicate in English with a group of people with varying levels of fluency, it’s important to be receptive and adaptable, tuning your ears into a whole range of different ways of using English, Jenkins says.
詹金斯說，在與一群英語流利程度不一的人士用英語進(jìn)行溝通時，保持包容和體諒，并接受各種各樣的英語表達(dá)方法，這很重要。
“People who’ve learned other languages are good at doing that, but native speakers of English generally are monolingual and not very good at tuning in to language variation,” she says.
詹金斯說：“學(xué)習(xí)了其他語言的人士在這點(diǎn)上就做的很好，而英語母語人士通常只會英語這個單一語言，他們不大適應(yīng)英語的其他變種。”
In meetings, Anglophones tend to speed along at what they consider a normal pace, and also rush to fill gaps in conversation, according to Steggles.
斯戴格爾斯(Steggles)認(rèn)為，英語母語人士在開會時傾向于按自己認(rèn)為正常的語速說話，在對話中則急于傳遞信息。
He recommends making the same pointin a couple of different ways and asking for some acknowledgement, reaction or action.
斯戴格爾斯建議采用多種方式表達(dá)同一個意思，并且需要對方做出一些認(rèn)可、反應(yīng)或行動。
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