英语专业晨读美文-文化篇 4 On Learning English

[00:03.32]On Learning English

[00:06.83]A correspondent from the Czech Republic

[00:10.15]asks a powerful question:“How would you encourage

[00:13.35]English language learners at secondary

[00:15.44]and postsecondary schools;

[00:17.38]what do they have to be careful about

[00:19.86]and what joys can they expect

[00:21.73]when dealing 1 with a language of

[00:23.21]some 2 billion speakers worldwide?”

[00:25.35]In a way, the question answers itself.

[00:27.78]English enables you to communicate with

[00:30.14]a third of the world's population,

[00:32.11]and that has to be a plus on the agenda of anyone

[00:35.26]with an international outlook. That third, moreover,

[00:38.68]is hugely diverse. English is present, as a first,

[00:42.76]second, or foreign language, in every country in the world.

[00:46.14]So, in using it as a tool,

[00:48.34]you have an unparallelled opportunity to

[00:51.02]explore the individuality of nations and peoples.

[00:54.32]The metaphor 2 of the tool is important.

[00:56.79]English is not a prism, through which you see others.

[01:00.84]It is a tool which enables you to

[01:02.49]have a close encounter with others.

[01:04.47]Culture is not wholly dependent on language,

[01:07.27]but it does need language to explain its uniqueness—

[01:10.93]an experience all travellers have had, as they watch,

[01:13.81]say, a local folk dance and wonder what it is all about.

[01:17.94]However, the metaphor of the tool only goes so far,

[01:21.64]because you can change the character of the tool

[01:23.98]to suit your purposes. If you have adopted English

[01:27.35]as one of your languages, then you are able to adapt it—

[01:31.35]to take personal ownership of it.

[01:33.75]One of the great joys of making headway

[01:36.04]in a new language is that you can use it to talk about

[01:39.24]what you want to talk about—and if

[01:41.86]that means inventing new words,

[01:43.90]to express your local experience,

[01:45.44]then do not hesitate to invent them.

[01:48.03]Just translating the culture of your school

[01:50.69]and town into English—such as the names of localities

[01:54.12]and personalities—will immediately add dozens of new expressions.

[01:59.04]Don't restrict yourself to the words

[02:01.37]that are already in the dictionaries.

[02:03.14]English is yours now. The words and expressions

[02:06.25]you and your fellows invent today might be

[02:09.01]in the dictionaries of tomorrow, if they catch on.

[02:11.33]You're doing nothing that hasn't already been done

[02:14.29]thousands of times before. New words were added to

[02:17.68]English within days of the first settlers

[02:19.89]arriving in America from Britain,

[02:21.63]and the same pattern has been observed

[02:23.79]in all countries where a community of users has evolved.

[02:27.60]What you find yourselves doing you will see

[02:30.71]being done elsewhere. So to adopt the motto of

[02:34.48]the scouting 3 movement—be prepared.

[02:36.75]Be prepared for linguistic 4 diversity, change,

[02:39.79]playfulness, and creativity wherever you listen

[02:42.28]and look on radio and television, in the press,

[02:45.56]literature, film, pop music, the internet...

[02:49.24]Develop a sense of the kind of English

[02:51.75]that is appropriate to particular circumstances.

[02:54.38]And make it your major aim to be so

[02:56.89]in control of your own English that you can vary it

[03:00.37]to suit the circumstances in which you find yourself.

[03:02.66]Your goal is not to learn English, but Englishes.

[03:06.97]The same principle applies to any language, of course,

[03:10.72]but it is particularly important in the case of English

[03:14.27]because of its global reach.