Lesson 34
Isn't It GoodSpeakForeign Language?
Text A
"You really arelucky dog. "
Many peole assume that admission intoInstituteForeign Trade means not onlyfarewell"unemployment", but alsohearty handshake with affluence. They say, andquote, "As soon as you graduate, you will havefair chancego abroad. You may fly roundworld, see exciting thingsexotic placesfeel as happy aslarkas proud aspeacock. "
didn't know what to.think whenfirst camethis institute. Happy? Yes , happy thathad been admitted by this splendid institutehigher learning.starteddream aboutmany thingshad so excitedly heard from those who likedream.fancied myself postedoneour commercial offices overseas, workingcarpeted offices with air-conditioning,delightful social activitiespartiesthe evenings. "What would you like, tea or coffee?"would answer withnod, "Brazilian coffee with Danish milk please. " And tryingmake conversation,would say, "What lovely Mediterranean weather we are having!"
Sometimes, however,feltbit uneasy. Comfortnotonly thinglife, you know.do care about what people may thinkme, particularly those "scholarly" people who might turn up their noses atmere mentionthe word "trade"frown at me. taking me forlittle money-grubbing, vulgar merchant.
Well.year at this institute has taught megreat many things.
First, itnot at all easybe trainedthe foreign trade service. Likestudentsall other institutes, you must work hard , be straightall your dealings , staunchly patriotic , loyal00% reliable. You must getgood commandtwo foreign languagesChiiiese ,tryevery waybroadenrangescopeyour knowledge, which you may havedraw uponyour future work - history, geography, culturesoand so forth.
Let me cite one or two examplesshow how important itto knowcustomsculturedifferent countries.
Once , oneour corporations wantedsell washing machinesArab countries. In an advertisementpromote sales, strategy demands diagrams insteadwritten instructions. Dirty clothes went intomachinethe first diagram,thorough washing was illustratedthe third. Simpleclear. Butresult was disastrous. Arabicwritten from rightleft. How can this corporation expectpromote sales with dirty clothes asreaultthe new machine?
Another example concerns trade-marks. Onethe best batteries producedChinathe "White Elephant" battery. In English, however, "White Elephant" means an object thatuseless, overpricedutterly undesirable. Do you think English -speaking people would be inclinedmakelarge purchasethis "White Elephant"?
Second, I've comelearn thatlifea foreign trade workernot exactly what most people thinkis. A good foreign trade workerone whodedicatedhis work. He must havestrong sensedutybe fully aware thatslight mistake may bring colossal lossesthe country both politicallyeconomically. My uncle,instance, happensbeforeign trade worker. Since hevery busy, my aunt hasdo nearly allhousework. Heoften disturbedhis sleep becausethe heavy responsibility.
Sometimes, he goesdinner parties four timesweek, or even twiceday, butduties astranslator prevent him from partakingthese banquets. I've seen manyhis colleagues burningcandle at both ends. They seldom gotheatres. They seldom goconcertsthey can't even afford timewatchfootball match which they're very much interested in. They always thinkthe intereststhe peoplethe country, withoutsingle thoughtthemselves. So, thinkthe tasks . thinkthe responsibility. Shamethose who only thinktheir personal comfort,going abroad, drinking toastscoming back loaded with foreign made articles.
Last, but not least; I've comelearn that foreign trade playssubstantial roleour national economy. Thisdone by acquiring from abroadequipmenttechnical know-how necessaryour modernization driveby pushingsalesour exports which formmaterial basisour imports. There arc so many new fieldsopen upso many new thingsbe learned. Four or five yearsnot cnough. It requires more than one's lifetime.
Asstudentforeign trade.feel that my future: jobjust as significantnecessary as many other occupations. likegeologists'conqueringdeserts,scientists'tappingocean,the astronauts'exploringouter space. Insteadgoing abroad,may be askedsit at my desk all my life, collecting
data, translating or interpreting. Then, "Ama lucky dog?" Yes.am lucky that I've becomestudentforeign trade. Lucky that I'm consciousthe responsibilitya business womanNew China. I.ucky thathave acquired an initial abilityserve my countrymy people heartsoul.
Text B
MATTHEW: Chris, whyit that there are so many different languages , and
thatEurope certainly if you travel more thanhundred miles ,
you're likelyfind people speakingcompletely different language
your own?
CHRIS: Well, it's truesay that there are er ... hundredshundreds
different languages. It's perhaps um . . . however , more
interestingmore informativesay that there are several
different groupslanguages er . .. Most European languages,with
exception ofthink Finnisher .. . Basque. . .
Hungarianbelieve,belongthe Indo-European grouplanguages,
I'm not very sure myselfthe . . .actual detailsthe
historythese languages, but you can be very sure that er ... most
these languages , say LatinGreek nd our own languageand
er . . . Germaner ... French... allothers, are
connected. The reason why you can travel from one Willageanother
Switzerlander . . . from one areaanotherEngland
find different dialects, if not different languages spoken,
that um ... several hundred years ago communication was by word
mouth. Wordmouth meant that people hadmove ; if people
weremove they needed roadsthere were no roads.
MATTHEW: Do you see any chance foruniversal language like Esperanto?
CHRIS: Notan artificial er ... language, no ...supposeRoman
Catholic Church used Latin. but Latin had...particular
religious basisthisprobably whywas therefore chosen.
don't see very much chanceEsperanto;think it's an awfully
good idea butdon't believe that language works like that.I think
people will probably er .. . work towardsmost convenient
languageuse.They will not set outlearnnew language. It
seemsme that er ... either English,. Russian or Chinese, perhaps
Japanese, will belanguagethe future er . . . My bet's
English.
MATTHEW:
Maggie, why do you think itthat so few English people speak
second language?
MAGGIE: think when you learnlanguage at school ...it tendsbe
ratherdead occupation,it's very difficultstimulate any
interest among school children. But when you actually gothe
countryspend saymonth. . .an exchange visit when
you'reschoolgirl, orschoolboy um ... then you suddenly become
more interested because you ... you wantcommunicate with poeple
when you're actually abroad,it's not saferelythe fact th
that most people speak English when um . . .foreign countries.
Mm . . .think English people traditionally thought that . . . that
foreigners always spoke English, andlotforeigners do, but
there are people that you meetthe street or you wanttake
bus somewhere, then you find that you needspeaklanguage
and'it's very unnervingbea situation where you can't
communicate with people when you do wanttravel around.
MATTHEW: Have you ever been abroadlearnt er ...languagethe
country?
MAGGIE: Yes , well whenwassecretaryer... wentlivedGeneva
two years, andlearnt French at school but. . .really
didn't speakat all.knewtheoretically butwasn't able
communicate with people. Butwasa situation where ifdidn't
speak French , thenwould not have been abledo my shopping
buy food ,and sopickedlanguage up andmade friends with
French people ... Swiss French people, andfound that ifwanted
communicate with all . . . allpeople thatmet , then
hadlearn French, andthink it'sbest methodlearning
because you'rethe situation. It's very hard at times - you
can sit through dinner partiesnot understand what ... what's
goingand you think everybody thinks you're stupid because you
can't communicate with them, but it's ... it'shard way but
think it'sbest waylearn.
MATTHEW: Elfriede, you come from Austriayet you've been livingEngland
nowthe last three years. Has havinglearnspeak another
language created great problems?
ELFRIEDE: Um ... Atbeginning, yes,was rather difficultmeget
right job . . . um. after you've lived hereone or two years
you getknowsystemthen that's quite good. You know how
use librariesoh .. . you getknow whereum... call
emergencies; um ... you getknow ... er ...tryingget
radiounderstandradioall. . . programmes they
have . . . umwhen they'reandlittle stories.
MATTHEW: What about English humourthe radio?
ELFRIEDE: Um . . .think that takesvery very long timeunderstand
I'm sorrysay thathaven't managed yetunderstand
completely, but er...findvery interestingspeak other
languages um ... because English people have different er ...have
different mentality,havevery different character and
different temperamentitfascinatingmetalkthem um...
alsomyselfbe ableexpress myselfa different
language andcommunicate with them.
Additional Information
Sometimes,can't help thinking how magic languages are. They are like bridges joining islands - connecting people's minds.
Now, wheneveramthe classroom, at lectures or practising Engl;sh or French.often thinkmy experiences atllth Asian Games heldBeijing last autumn.
was assigned interpreterthe sports delegation from The Maldives,small island countrvthe Indian Ocean. Whenmetdelegation atBeijing Airport was greatly surprisedfind they all spoke English fluentIy,We were so excited when we realized that we were talkingeach othera language that was not nativeanvus.
DuringGames, one"my" delegation, Shijiao, developed some eye trouble. The Games Village doctor thoughtwas infectioussaid he should gothe infectious diseases hospital, andwas askedtake him. A Sikh fromIndian delegation went with us. He was suspectedhaving hepatitis. Athospitalhelpeddoctornurse get Shijiao settled down.
The next day,hospital calledsay that Shijiao's eye trouble was not seriousthere was no needhimstayhospital. Soimmediately wentfetch him out. We were aboutleavehospital whennurse hurried overme.
"Are youinterpreter?" she asked.
"Yes , "
"Could you please help us. The Indian patient you broughtvvith you yesterday, you know, we can't communicate with him. Nobodythe hospital speaks English. "
"All right. Let's see ifcan behelp. "
Shijiao andfollowed herthe Sikh's ward. Three doctorsnurses were aroundbed, tryingget throughhim with gestures andfew English words. They were very relievedsee me.
askedIndian. "Canhelp you?"
But he replieda languagehad never heard before.
"English! English! Don't you speak English?"asked.
It seemed he knewword 'English' ,he shookhead.didn't kriow whatdo now. It was beyond me.
Then Shijiao started speakinga strange language. It was so funny. How come? The native tongueThe MaldivesDevehi, certainly notlanguageIndia. Shijiao turnedmesaid. "My parents came from India.speaklittle Hindi. "
That was great. The examination started. The doctors told meChinese
what they wantedknow.translatedinto English. Shijiao toldpatientHindi. The Sikh answeredHindi: Shijiao told meEnglish, andputinto Chinesethe doctors.
The examination tookfull hour. The doctorsthe patient were very happy,at last they could communicate with each other. When allquestioning was over,doctor who seemedbecharge took my handShijiao's handsaidChinese. "Thank you very much. " Thenpatient smiled at mesaid, "Tan Kiu. " (Thank you)
It was such an excitingstimulating experience.felt how goodwasbe an interpreter.
Isn't It GoodSpeakForeign Language?
Text A
"You really arelucky dog. "
Many peole assume that admission intoInstituteForeign Trade means not onlyfarewell"unemployment", but alsohearty handshake with affluence. They say, andquote, "As soon as you graduate, you will havefair chancego abroad. You may fly roundworld, see exciting thingsexotic placesfeel as happy aslarkas proud aspeacock. "
didn't know what to.think whenfirst camethis institute. Happy? Yes , happy thathad been admitted by this splendid institutehigher learning.starteddream aboutmany thingshad so excitedly heard from those who likedream.fancied myself postedoneour commercial offices overseas, workingcarpeted offices with air-conditioning,delightful social activitiespartiesthe evenings. "What would you like, tea or coffee?"would answer withnod, "Brazilian coffee with Danish milk please. " And tryingmake conversation,would say, "What lovely Mediterranean weather we are having!"
Sometimes, however,feltbit uneasy. Comfortnotonly thinglife, you know.do care about what people may thinkme, particularly those "scholarly" people who might turn up their noses atmere mentionthe word "trade"frown at me. taking me forlittle money-grubbing, vulgar merchant.
Well.year at this institute has taught megreat many things.
First, itnot at all easybe trainedthe foreign trade service. Likestudentsall other institutes, you must work hard , be straightall your dealings , staunchly patriotic , loyal00% reliable. You must getgood commandtwo foreign languagesChiiiese ,tryevery waybroadenrangescopeyour knowledge, which you may havedraw uponyour future work - history, geography, culturesoand so forth.
Let me cite one or two examplesshow how important itto knowcustomsculturedifferent countries.
Once , oneour corporations wantedsell washing machinesArab countries. In an advertisementpromote sales, strategy demands diagrams insteadwritten instructions. Dirty clothes went intomachinethe first diagram,thorough washing was illustratedthe third. Simpleclear. Butresult was disastrous. Arabicwritten from rightleft. How can this corporation expectpromote sales with dirty clothes asreaultthe new machine?
Another example concerns trade-marks. Onethe best batteries producedChinathe "White Elephant" battery. In English, however, "White Elephant" means an object thatuseless, overpricedutterly undesirable. Do you think English -speaking people would be inclinedmakelarge purchasethis "White Elephant"?
Second, I've comelearn thatlifea foreign trade workernot exactly what most people thinkis. A good foreign trade workerone whodedicatedhis work. He must havestrong sensedutybe fully aware thatslight mistake may bring colossal lossesthe country both politicallyeconomically. My uncle,instance, happensbeforeign trade worker. Since hevery busy, my aunt hasdo nearly allhousework. Heoften disturbedhis sleep becausethe heavy responsibility.
Sometimes, he goesdinner parties four timesweek, or even twiceday, butduties astranslator prevent him from partakingthese banquets. I've seen manyhis colleagues burningcandle at both ends. They seldom gotheatres. They seldom goconcertsthey can't even afford timewatchfootball match which they're very much interested in. They always thinkthe intereststhe peoplethe country, withoutsingle thoughtthemselves. So, thinkthe tasks . thinkthe responsibility. Shamethose who only thinktheir personal comfort,going abroad, drinking toastscoming back loaded with foreign made articles.
Last, but not least; I've comelearn that foreign trade playssubstantial roleour national economy. Thisdone by acquiring from abroadequipmenttechnical know-how necessaryour modernization driveby pushingsalesour exports which formmaterial basisour imports. There arc so many new fieldsopen upso many new thingsbe learned. Four or five yearsnot cnough. It requires more than one's lifetime.
Asstudentforeign trade.feel that my future: jobjust as significantnecessary as many other occupations. likegeologists'conqueringdeserts,scientists'tappingocean,the astronauts'exploringouter space. Insteadgoing abroad,may be askedsit at my desk all my life, collecting
data, translating or interpreting. Then, "Ama lucky dog?" Yes.am lucky that I've becomestudentforeign trade. Lucky that I'm consciousthe responsibilitya business womanNew China. I.ucky thathave acquired an initial abilityserve my countrymy people heartsoul.
Text B
MATTHEW: Chris, whyit that there are so many different languages , and
thatEurope certainly if you travel more thanhundred miles ,
you're likelyfind people speakingcompletely different language
your own?
CHRIS: Well, it's truesay that there are er ... hundredshundreds
different languages. It's perhaps um . . . however , more
interestingmore informativesay that there are several
different groupslanguages er . .. Most European languages,with
exception ofthink Finnisher .. . Basque. . .
Hungarianbelieve,belongthe Indo-European grouplanguages,
I'm not very sure myselfthe . . .actual detailsthe
historythese languages, but you can be very sure that er ... most
these languages , say LatinGreek nd our own languageand
er . . . Germaner ... French... allothers, are
connected. The reason why you can travel from one Willageanother
Switzerlander . . . from one areaanotherEngland
find different dialects, if not different languages spoken,
that um ... several hundred years ago communication was by word
mouth. Wordmouth meant that people hadmove ; if people
weremove they needed roadsthere were no roads.
MATTHEW: Do you see any chance foruniversal language like Esperanto?
CHRIS: Notan artificial er ... language, no ...supposeRoman
Catholic Church used Latin. but Latin had...particular
religious basisthisprobably whywas therefore chosen.
don't see very much chanceEsperanto;think it's an awfully
good idea butdon't believe that language works like that.I think
people will probably er .. . work towardsmost convenient
languageuse.They will not set outlearnnew language. It
seemsme that er ... either English,. Russian or Chinese, perhaps
Japanese, will belanguagethe future er . . . My bet's
English.
MATTHEW:
Maggie, why do you think itthat so few English people speak
second language?
MAGGIE: think when you learnlanguage at school ...it tendsbe
ratherdead occupation,it's very difficultstimulate any
interest among school children. But when you actually gothe
countryspend saymonth. . .an exchange visit when
you'reschoolgirl, orschoolboy um ... then you suddenly become
more interested because you ... you wantcommunicate with poeple
when you're actually abroad,it's not saferelythe fact th
that most people speak English when um . . .foreign countries.
Mm . . .think English people traditionally thought that . . . that
foreigners always spoke English, andlotforeigners do, but
there are people that you meetthe street or you wanttake
bus somewhere, then you find that you needspeaklanguage
and'it's very unnervingbea situation where you can't
communicate with people when you do wanttravel around.
MATTHEW: Have you ever been abroadlearnt er ...languagethe
country?
MAGGIE: Yes , well whenwassecretaryer... wentlivedGeneva
two years, andlearnt French at school but. . .really
didn't speakat all.knewtheoretically butwasn't able
communicate with people. Butwasa situation where ifdidn't
speak French , thenwould not have been abledo my shopping
buy food ,and sopickedlanguage up andmade friends with
French people ... Swiss French people, andfound that ifwanted
communicate with all . . . allpeople thatmet , then
hadlearn French, andthink it'sbest methodlearning
because you'rethe situation. It's very hard at times - you
can sit through dinner partiesnot understand what ... what's
goingand you think everybody thinks you're stupid because you
can't communicate with them, but it's ... it'shard way but
think it'sbest waylearn.
MATTHEW: Elfriede, you come from Austriayet you've been livingEngland
nowthe last three years. Has havinglearnspeak another
language created great problems?
ELFRIEDE: Um ... Atbeginning, yes,was rather difficultmeget
right job . . . um. after you've lived hereone or two years
you getknowsystemthen that's quite good. You know how
use librariesoh .. . you getknow whereum... call
emergencies; um ... you getknow ... er ...tryingget
radiounderstandradioall. . . programmes they
have . . . umwhen they'reandlittle stories.
MATTHEW: What about English humourthe radio?
ELFRIEDE: Um . . .think that takesvery very long timeunderstand
I'm sorrysay thathaven't managed yetunderstand
completely, but er...findvery interestingspeak other
languages um ... because English people have different er ...have
different mentality,havevery different character and
different temperamentitfascinatingmetalkthem um...
alsomyselfbe ableexpress myselfa different
language andcommunicate with them.
Additional Information
Sometimes,can't help thinking how magic languages are. They are like bridges joining islands - connecting people's minds.
Now, wheneveramthe classroom, at lectures or practising Engl;sh or French.often thinkmy experiences atllth Asian Games heldBeijing last autumn.
was assigned interpreterthe sports delegation from The Maldives,small island countrvthe Indian Ocean. Whenmetdelegation atBeijing Airport was greatly surprisedfind they all spoke English fluentIy,We were so excited when we realized that we were talkingeach othera language that was not nativeanvus.
DuringGames, one"my" delegation, Shijiao, developed some eye trouble. The Games Village doctor thoughtwas infectioussaid he should gothe infectious diseases hospital, andwas askedtake him. A Sikh fromIndian delegation went with us. He was suspectedhaving hepatitis. Athospitalhelpeddoctornurse get Shijiao settled down.
The next day,hospital calledsay that Shijiao's eye trouble was not seriousthere was no needhimstayhospital. Soimmediately wentfetch him out. We were aboutleavehospital whennurse hurried overme.
"Are youinterpreter?" she asked.
"Yes , "
"Could you please help us. The Indian patient you broughtvvith you yesterday, you know, we can't communicate with him. Nobodythe hospital speaks English. "
"All right. Let's see ifcan behelp. "
Shijiao andfollowed herthe Sikh's ward. Three doctorsnurses were aroundbed, tryingget throughhim with gestures andfew English words. They were very relievedsee me.
askedIndian. "Canhelp you?"
But he replieda languagehad never heard before.
"English! English! Don't you speak English?"asked.
It seemed he knewword 'English' ,he shookhead.didn't kriow whatdo now. It was beyond me.
Then Shijiao started speakinga strange language. It was so funny. How come? The native tongueThe MaldivesDevehi, certainly notlanguageIndia. Shijiao turnedmesaid. "My parents came from India.speaklittle Hindi. "
That was great. The examination started. The doctors told meChinese
what they wantedknow.translatedinto English. Shijiao toldpatientHindi. The Sikh answeredHindi: Shijiao told meEnglish, andputinto Chinesethe doctors.
The examination tookfull hour. The doctorsthe patient were very happy,at last they could communicate with each other. When allquestioning was over,doctor who seemedbecharge took my handShijiao's handsaidChinese. "Thank you very much. " Thenpatient smiled at mesaid, "Tan Kiu. " (Thank you)
It was such an excitingstimulating experience.felt how goodwasbe an interpreter.