英语的狂热

Let's talk about manias. Let's start with Beatle mania: hysterical teenagers, crying, screaming, pandemonium. Sports mania: deafening crowds, all for one idea -- get the ball in the net. Okay, religious mania: there's rapture, there's weeping, there's visions. Manias can be good. Manias can be alarming. Or manias can be deadly.让我们来谈谈狂热。

先从甲壳虫热说起。

歇斯底里的少年们：高呼，尖叫，喧嚣。

体育热：震耳欲聋的人群，都是为了一个目标，让球入网。

还有宗教热：有欢笑、也有泪水还有梦想。

狂热可能有益，也可能会令人担忧。

有时狂热可能会很致命。

The world has a new mania. A mania for learning English. Listen as Chinese students practice their English by screaming it.现在，世界上有种新的狂热。

学习英语的狂热。

下面听听中国学生用高声叫喊的方式练习英语。

S: I don't want to let my parents down.学生：我不想让父母失望。

T: I don't ever want to let my country down.老师：我从不想让国家失望。

T: Most importantly ... S: Most importantly ...老师：最重要的...学生：最重要的...
T: I don't want to let myself down.老师：我不想让我自己失望。

Jay Walker: How many people are trying to learn English worldwide? Two billion of them. 全世界现在有多少人学习英语？20亿
JW: In Latin America, in India, in Southeast Asia, and most of all in China. If you are a Chinese student you start learning English in the third grade, by law. That's why this year China will become the world's largest English-speaking country. (Laughter) Why English? In a single word: Opportunity. Opportunity for a better life, a job, to be able to pay for school, or put better food on the table. Imagine a student taking a giant test for three full days. Her score on this one test literally determines her future. She studies 12 hours a day for three years to prepare. 25 percent of her grade is based on English. It's called the Gaokao, and 80 million high school Chinese students have already taken this grueling test. The intensity to learn English is almost unimaginable, unless you witness it.在拉丁美洲、印度、东南亚和几乎整个中国。

如果你是名中国学生，根据法律要求，你在小学三年级就得开始学英语。

这就是为什么今年（2009年）中国会成为全世界最大的讲英语的国家。

（笑声）为什么是英语？用一个词来回答就是：机会。

一个获得更好的生活、工作的机会。

可以上得起学，可以吃上更好的食物。

想象一个学生用整整三天时间参加一次大考。

她的这次考试成绩几乎决定她的未来前途。

为了准备这次考试，她在三年的时间里，每天学习12小时。

而这次考试25%的成绩是由英语决定。

这个考试叫做高考。

有8000万中国高中生参加过这个“独木桥”考试。

学英语的强度几乎不可想象，除非你亲眼目睹。

JW: So is English mania good or bad? Is English a tsunami, washing away other languages? Not likely. English is the world's second language. Your native language is your life. But with English you can become part of a wider conversation: a global conversation about global problems, like climate change
or poverty, or hunger or disease. The world has other universal languages. Mathematics is the language of science. Music is the language of emotions. And now English is becoming the language of problem-solving. Not because America is pushing it, but because the world is pulling it. So English mania is a turning point. Like the harnessing of electricity in our cities or the fall of the Berlin Wall, English represents hope for a better future -- a future where the world has a common language to solve its common problems.
JW：那么这股英语热是好是坏呢？英语是不是海啸，会席卷其它所有语言？不太可能。

英语是世界第二大语言。

你的母语就是你的人生。

但英语可以让你参与更大范围的讨论：关于全球性问题的全球范围内的讨论。

比如气候变化、贫穷、饥饿或疾病。

这个世界上还有其它的全球性语言。

数学是科学的语言。

音乐是感情的语言。

现在，英语正在成为解决问题的语言。

这并非因为美国促使其如此，而是因为全世界的需要。

所以英语热是一个转折点。

就像利用城市电力，或柏林墙的倒塌，英语代表着更加美好的未来的希望，到那时全世界就可以用共同语言解决共同的问题。

Thank you very much. (Applause)
非常感谢大家。

（掌声）。