To what extent do you agree or disagree?
我完全贊成這個(gè)斷言,即:要學(xué)好一門語(yǔ)言,我們還應(yīng)該了解這門語(yǔ)言的國(guó)家、文化和人民的生活方式。
I fully support the assertion that to learn a language well, we should also learn about the country as well as the cultures and lifestyles of the people who speak it.
先來(lái)看看我們一般情況下是如何定義“真正學(xué)好一門語(yǔ)言”的。按照我的理解,學(xué)好一門語(yǔ)言意味著能夠妥當(dāng)?shù)厥褂盟?。這里,對(duì)于妥當(dāng)使用它而言,我們需要知道:由于文化上的差異,很多東西會(huì)因此而非常不同。比如,中國(guó)人常通過(guò)問(wèn)“吃了嗎?”來(lái)表達(dá)問(wèn)候,而這對(duì)于西方人來(lái)講便構(gòu)成了午飯或晚飯的邀請(qǐng)。因此,缺乏了對(duì)不同國(guó)家文化方面的知識(shí),就會(huì)引起對(duì)所發(fā)送或接收到的信息的錯(cuò)誤理解,結(jié)果便會(huì)導(dǎo)致誤解。這樣一來(lái),我們就不能說(shuō)我們講得妥當(dāng),再進(jìn)一步,我們就不能說(shuō)我們講得好。
Let’s first see how we normally define “learning a language really well”. By my understanding, learning a language well would mean being able to speak the language in a proper way. Here, with speaking it properly, we need to know that due to cultural differences, many things are just so different from culture to culture. For example, the Chinese often greet each other by asking ‘Have you taken your meal?’ which, to the Western ears, would make an invitation to lunch or dinner. Therefore, the lack of a knowledge of the cultures of different countries will give rise to wrong interpretations of the message issued or received and as a result, lead to misunderstandings. In this way, we can not say that we are speaking the language properly and further, we can not say that we speak it well.
第二,我們學(xué)習(xí)一門語(yǔ)言的最終目的是用它與講這門語(yǔ)言的人進(jìn)行交流,主要就是母語(yǔ)為這門語(yǔ)言的人。設(shè)想我們對(duì)美國(guó)或英國(guó)什么也不了解,包括其政府、人民、傳統(tǒng)以及其它方面,你想你能妥當(dāng)?shù)刂v英語(yǔ),從而與美國(guó)人或英國(guó)人達(dá)到有效的交流嗎?我要說(shuō):至少我是做不到的。
Second, the ultimate purpose for us to learn a language is to use it in our communication with other people who speak it, mainly the native speakers. Suppose we know nothing about the US or Britain, including its government, its people, its tradition, and its other aspects. Do you think you can speak English properly, thus achieving effective communication with the American or British people? I’ll say at least I can’t.
第三,我們還需要知道我們所學(xué)語(yǔ)言國(guó)家的人民的生活方式才能妥當(dāng)?shù)刂v他們的語(yǔ)言。舉個(gè)例子吧:中國(guó)人吃豬肉,但穆斯林不吃。還有,穆斯林宗教氣氛濃郁,每天多次舉行儀式。如果我們不知道這些事情的話又怎能指望與他們交流而不招致麻煩呢?按照這一邏輯,如果我們不能保證妥當(dāng)?shù)刂v好他們的語(yǔ)言,我們又怎么說(shuō)他們的語(yǔ)言我們學(xué)得很好呢?
Third, the lifestyle of the people whose language we are learning is also something we need to know in order that we can speak their language properly. For instance, the Chinese eat pork, but this is not the case with Muslims. Also, Muslims are very religious people and perform rituals many times a day. If we don’t know these things, how can we expect to communicate with them without incurring troubles? In this logic, if we cannot make sure that we are speaking their language properly, how can we say that we have learned their language well?
由此,我們可以得出結(jié)論了:學(xué)好一門語(yǔ)言,我們還必須了解這個(gè)國(guó)家以及這個(gè)國(guó)家的文化和其人民的生活方式。
From the above discussion, we can draw the conclusion that to learn a language really well, we also need to learn about the country as well as the cultures and lifestyles of the people who speak it.