科普 | 我们为什么要学习一门外语？

语言服务 2022-07-01

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我们为什么要学习一门外语？

01 Why

Language

Why should youngsters in Anglophone countries bother learning French or Spanish at school? 为什么英语国家的年轻人要在学校里费神学习法语或西班牙语?
Why endure the arduous middle phase of learning a language when you have some knowledge but no experience—if the awkward jumble that comes out of your mouth is liable to be met with a reply in flawless English? 当你懂一些英语但是却没有实践经验的时候，当你的口语一团糟又总是听到他人用完美的英语回复你时，你为什么还要忍受学习一门语言时这艰难的中间阶段呢?
True fluency is valuable, as anyone who has sweated to achieve it well proudly attest. 任何努力去达到能够真正流利地说一门语言的人都会自豪地证明这是有价值的。

02 Reasons

Language

There are several good reasons to persist with language-learning in schools and universities. 下面是值得坚持在校学习语言的几点理由。
First, anyone who plans to move to another country or interacts with one regularly for work or otherwise, still benefits hugely from almost any familiarity with its language.There is no way to genuinely get to know a place without being able to chitchat or watch a bit of its television.首先，无论是计划移居，还是因工作或其他原因经常与另一国家的人打交道，对该国语言任何程度的了解，都能让人从中获益良多。如果不去聊天或看看电视，就没有办法真正地了解一个地方。
Second,even if your contact with the culture in question is only occasional, your efforts to use its language will be much appreciated.其次，即使只是偶尔接触某国的当地文化，你也会因为努力使用当地语言而得到当地人的赞赏。

03 Intellectual value

Language

Foreign languages also have an intellectual value all their own, even if you never set foot in the relevant country. Latin and Greek were for centuries considered training for the mind; the same is true of immersion in any alien tongue. 即使你从未去过相关的国家，外语也有它自己的知识价值。几个世纪以来，学习拉丁语和希腊语都被认为是一种思维训练;沉浸在任何陌生语言中也是如此。
And the effort involved in talking in a foreign language makes you slow down and reflect on what you are saying and why. Reseachers have even found that people make more rational decisions when speaking another language.努力用外语交谈会让你的节奏慢下来，去反思你说的是什么以及为什么要这样说。研究人员甚至发现，人们在说另一种语言时会做出更理智的决定。

04 Social value

Language

Beyond the individual benefits, 21st-century economies still need people who can fuction fluently abroad. Just as universal maths education creates a big pool of potential engineers, widespread langauge teaching does the same for business executives, diplomats and soldiers. Speaking another language is not just a courtesy to others. Much of the benefit still accrues to those who put in the work and the societies that support them. 除了个人利益，21世纪的经济体仍然需要能在国外熟练工作的人才。就像普及数学教育造就了一大批潜在的工程师一样，广泛的语言教学也造就了一大批潜在的企业高管、外交官和士兵。说另一种语言不仅仅是对别人的礼貌。得益的大部分仍然是那些投入工作的人以及其背后的社会。

本文来源：中国科学院大学外语系

Johnson Why study languages?|The Economist May 22nd 2021(有删减)

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