Let's talk about manias. Let's start with Beatlemania.
讓我們談談狂熱。 讓我們從披頭四 (Beatles) 狂熱開始。
(Recording of crowd roaring)
歇斯底里的青少年,
Hysterical teenagers, crying, screaming, pandemonium.
哭喊、尖叫、猶如煉獄。
(Recording of crowd roaring)
運動狂熱,
Sports mania: deafening crowds, all for one idea -- get the ball in the net. (Recording) Goal! 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.
震耳欲聾的群眾, 全為了同一件事:把球弄進網裡。 Okay,宗教狂熱, 有狂喜、有哭號, 有預見。 狂熱可以是好的。 狂熱可以是驚人的, 狂熱也可以是致命的。
(Recording of crowd cheering)
The world has a new mania. A mania for learning English. Listen as Chinese students practice their English, by screaming it:
這個世界,有種新的狂熱。 那是學習英文的狂熱。 讓我們聽聽中國學生以吶喊的方式 練習英文 ...
Teacher: ... change my life!
教師:... 改變我的生命!
Students: I want to change my life!
學生:我會改變我的生命。
T: I don't want to let my parents down!
教師:我不想讓我的父母失望。
S: I don't want to let my parents down!
學生:我不想讓我的父母失望。
T: I don't ever want to let my country down!
教師:我從不曾想讓我的國家失望。
S: I don't ever want to let my country down!
學生:我從不曾想讓我的國家失望。
T: Most importantly... S: Most importantly...
教師:最重要的是 ... 學生:最重要的是 ...
T: I don't want to let myself down!
教師:我不想讓我自己失望。
S: I don't want to let myself down!
學生:我不想讓我自己失望。
How many people are trying to learn English worldwide? Two billion of them.
杰•渥克:全世界有多少人正試著學英文? 二十億人!
Students: A t-shirt. A dress.
學生:一件 T 恤、一件洋裝。
Jay Walker: In Latin America, in India, in Southeast Asia, and most of all, in China. If you're 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.
杰•渥克:在拉丁美洲、 在印度、在東南亞 尤為甚者,在中國。 若你是個中國學生, 根據法律,你從國小三年級開始學英文。 那也就是為什麼今年 中國會成為世界最大講英語國家的原因。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
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. Twenty-five 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.
為什麼是英文?一言以蔽之:機會。 獲取更好生活、工作的機會, 能支付學費、享用較好的飲食。 想像一個學生,連續三天參加一個巨型考試。 她在這個考試中的表現 就會決定她的未來。 她每天研讀十二個小時, 花了三年的時間準備。 她百分之二十五的成績 是根據英文來評斷的。 這叫做高考。(譯按:同台灣之大學入學考試)八千萬個中國高等學校學生 已經考過了這個可怕的考試。 學習英文的激烈程度 已經到了幾乎無法想像的地步,除非你親眼目睹。
Teacher: Perfect! Students: Perfect!
教師:完美! 學生:完美!
T: Perfect! S: Perfect!
教師:完美! 學生:完美!
T: I want to speak perfect English!
教師:我想說完美的英文。
S: I want to speak perfect English!
學生:我想說完美的英文。
T: I want to speak ... S: I want to speak ...
教師:我想說 — 學生:我想說 —
T: ... perfect English! S: ... perfect English!
教師:完美的英文 學生:完美的英文
T (yelling more loudly): I want to change my life!
教師:我想改變我的人生!
S (yelling more loudly): I want to change my life!
學生:我想改變我的人生!
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.
杰•渥克:所以到底英文的狂熱是好是壞? 英文會像海嘯一般, 襲捲其他的語言嗎?不太可能。 英文是世界的第二語言。 你的母語是你的人生。 但是有了英文,你就能成為更寬廣對話中的一部分。 探討全球問題的全球對話: 例如氣候變遷或是貧窮、 飢饉或是疾病。 世界有其他的共通語言。 數學是科學的語言。 音樂是情緒的語言。 而現在,英文正逐漸成為問題解決的語言。 不是因為美國在推動它。 而是因為世界在召喚它。 所以,英語狂熱是個轉捩點。
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.
像是在我們的城市中運用電力, 或是柏林圍牆的倒塌, 英文代表希望 能有一個更好未來的機會。 一個世界用共通語言 來解決共通問題的未來。
Thank you very much.
非常謝謝您。
(Applause)
(掌聲)