Advanced Week 80
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“ScalersTalk口译进阶小组”的前身是“ScalersTalk交传小组”,该小组成立于2015年2月。现阶段,小组专注高级阶段的交替传译与同声传译训练,在巩固语言基本功的同时训练各类口译技能,从而为承担正式场合的口译打下坚实基础。
今天我要演讲的题目是“我们与美国人的语言不同”。 肖伯纳爵士曾经说过:“英国和美国是被同一种语言分开的两个国家。”我对此话的第一次亲身感受是在 2000 年,当时我参加了国际领导人交换项目,其中一项内容是在美国童子军办的夏令营中担任两个月的营地顾问。在我动身之前,我们这个项目所有的参与者都得到一份单词表,上面列出某些在英国通用,而在美国则可能引起误解甚至冒犯的词汇。我把这些单词记了下来,认为自己能够应付。 三个月后我终于来到美国,我意识到,即使一辈子看美国电视,也不一定能充分了解和应付英美两国语言的差异。在到达营地后的第一个小时里,我就感受到了美国中学生英语、美国黑人英语及美国普通老百姓所说的英语之间的巨大差别。
My topic today is We don't speak the same language as the Americans. It was said by Sir George Bernard Shaw that England and America are two countries separated by the same language. My first personal experience of this was when I worked as a camp counselor for two months in 2000 in a Summer Camp run by the Boy Scouts of America, as part of an international leader exchange scheme. Before I went, all the participants in the scheme were given a short list of words that are in common use in the UK which Americans would either be confused by or would even offend them. I memorized the words and thought "I'll cope". When I finally arrived in the States three months later, I realized that perhaps a lifetime of watching American television was not adequate preparation for appreciating and coping with the differences between American and British speech. In the first hour of arriving at the camp I was exposed to High School American English, Black American English and the American English spoken by Joe Public, all very different to each other.
我们与美国人的语言不同。
We don't speak the same language as the Americans.
The language we speak is different from that of Americans.
“我对此话的第一次亲身感受是在 2000 年,当时我参加了国际领导人交换项目,其中一项内容是在美国童子军办的夏令营中担任两个月的营地顾问”处理成符合英文行为习惯的语序为:发生的事情+时间+地点,即“My first personal experience of this was when I worked as a camp counselor for two months in 2000 in a Summer Camp run by the Boy Scouts of America, as part of an international leader exchange scheme”。
上面列出某些在英国通用,而在美国则可能引起误解甚至冒犯的词汇:
上面列出某些在英国通用,而在美国则可能引起误解甚至冒犯的词汇:words that are in common use in the UK which Americans would either be confused by or would even offend them;
words that are in common use in the UK while it would bring misunderstanding and offense in America;
整句译文请见参考译文。
在到达营地后的第一个小时里,我就感受到了美国中学生英语、美国黑人英语及美国普通老百姓所说的英语之间的巨大差别:
感受:乍一听可能联系后面的“巨大差别”,解读为“发现了……巨大差别”,处理成found the huge differences between…;从整体上来说,处理比较安全;
感受:也可解读为“置身于……(环境)中”。此处指“我”置身于三种类型的美式英语环境中,而这三种英语有“巨大差别”,句式为主句(I was exposed to…)+同位语(all very different to each other);无论从用词还是句式上来说,这种处理方式都更为推荐:
整句译文请见参考译文。
失礼 make a social faux pas
回国后,我便开始琢磨,对于英美两国语言间的差异,是否有人曾做过记栽。关于这方面的书,我找到了几本,但这些书多半写得枯燥无味,而且充满了学究气。今天,我想借此机会与大家分享我的一些经历,也许可以帮助大家更好地把握大西洋两岸的人们在语言上的不同之处。
Upon my return I began to wonder whether anyone had documented the differences between American and British English. I found several books on the subject but often these were written in a dry and academic way. So today I’d like to take this chance to share with you some of my personal experiences which may help you understand better how both sides of Atlantic speak differently.
回国后,我便开始琢磨,对于英美两国语言间的差异,是否有人曾做过记栽。
回国后 upon my return
我便开始琢磨 I began to wonder if/whether…
做过记载 document sth(此处用其动词形式)
全句译为“Upon my return I began to wonder whether anyone had documented the differences between American and British English”。
也许可以帮助大家更好地把握大西洋两岸的人们在语言上的不同之处。
更好地把握 better understand
大西洋两岸的人们在语言上的不同之处:(关键在于“不同”的表达)how both sides of Atlantic speak differently;(better understand) the differences of the two languages;
全句译文请见参考译文。
每一个词,加上与其相伴的嘀咕与停顿,都表达了很多彼此认定的事情和态度。换句话说,英国人念念不忘其社会地位,一言一行都是为了适应他们心仪中社会阶层的需求。这一点最为突出的表现就是:你同一个“中产阶级”人士交谈时,他会指出他是“中产阶级的上层”,而不是“中产阶级的中层”或“中产阶级的下层”。约翰·梅杰(英国前首相)曾说过我们现在生活在一个“无阶级社会”,但是阶级体系依旧存在。当时,他和反对党领袖托尼·布莱尔都在谈论要抓住“英国的中间力量,英国中产阶级的选票”,认为这是争取下次大选胜利的关键。而美国人讲话往往受大部分新闻媒体极富夸张的话语影响,这类语言旨在使那些并不活跃、有时甚至没有意义的事情看起来热热闹闹。然而,奇怪的是,真正的暴力行为和改变命运的事件却隐藏在平淡无奇、客观冷静的语调之下,以此粉饰现实。
Each word, along with its attendant murmurings and pauses, carries a wealth of shared assumptions and attitudes. In other words, the British are preoccupied with their social status within society and speak and act accordingly to fit into the social class they aspire to. This is particularly evident when talking to someone from “the middle class” he points out that he is "upper middle class" rather than "middle middle class" or "lower middle class". John Major (the former UK Prime Minister) may have said that we are now living in a classless society, but the class system still prevails. At that moment both he and the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Blair, were talking about capturing the w middle England, middle class vote, as the key to winning the next general election. American speech tends to be influenced by the over-heated language of much of the media, which is designed to attach an impression of exciting activity to passive, if sometimes insignificant events. Yet, curiously, really violent activity and life changing events are hidden in bland antiseptic tones that serve to disguise the reality.
……都表达了很多彼此认定的事情和态度 to show/convey/carry a wealth of shared assumptions and attitudes。
英国人念念不忘其社会地位,一言一行都是为了适应他们心仪中社会阶层的需求:
念念不忘 be preoccupied with sth.
一言一行都是为了适应他们心仪中社会阶层的需求:“一言一行”处理成动作,目的是为了“适应他们心仪中社会阶层的需求”,译作“speak and act accordingly to fit into the social class they aspire to”。
这一点最为突出的表现就是 This is particularly evident (when…)
而美国人讲话往往受大部分新闻媒体极富夸张的话语影响,这类语言旨在使那些并不活跃、有时甚至没有意义的事情看起来热热闹闹:
往往受……的影响 tend to be influenced by…
这类语言旨在使那些并不活跃、有时甚至没有意义的事情看起来热热闹闹:“旨在”is designed to或aims at…;使……看起来热热闹闹:attach(或attaching)an impression of exciting activity to passive
全句译文请见参考译文。
平淡无奇、客观冷静的语调 in bland antiseptic tones
粉饰现实 disguise the reality
美语没有英语那样注重语法形式。美语会毫不在乎,像推土机一样在语言差异间强行推出一条路,而不会小心避开路上的障碍。美式英语会随意把一种词性用成另一种词性,例如把名词转换成动词,或把动词和名词转换成形容词。在英国,不尊重语法规则会立即暴露你的身份,被英国中产阶级视为异己。只要听广播四台(英国广播公司的电台)播出的听众反馈节目便会明白这一点。确有人写信指责过新闻节目主持人所犯的语法错误。在英国年轻人中,情况并不一定如此。由于说话很少注意语法,英国十几岁的年轻人长期以来被政客、父母及雇主称为没接受过良好的教育。
The American language has less regard than the British for grammatical form, and will happily bulldoze its way across distinctions rather than steer a path between them. American English will casually use one form of a word for another, for example turning nouns into verbs or verbs and nouns into adjectives. In Britain, a disrespect for grammatical rules, particularly amongst the middle classes, would immediately reveal you to be not one of us. Listening to Radio 4 would reveal that people actually write to complain about grammatical mistakes made by news presenters. People actually write to complain about grammatical mistakes made by news presenters! Amongst young British people, this is not necessarily the case. British teenagers have long been accused of being poorly educated by politicians, parents and employers since they have little regard for grammar in their speech.
美语没有英语那样注重语法形式:此处的“注重”即为“尊重”或者“重视”,译作“regard…for”或“respect…for”;关于其中出现的比较级的对象,可翻也可不翻,不翻也不会影响句意。全句译作“the American language has less regard than the British for grammatical form”。
美语会毫不在乎,像推土机一样在语言差异间强行推出一条路,而不会小心避开路上的障碍:
毫不在乎 happily
推土机一样在语言差异间强行推出一条路:将“推土机(bulldozer)”动词化,转成bulldoze,意为“用推土机推出一条路”,译为“bulldoze one's way”;
小心避开路上的障碍:解读为“小心刻意地做出一系列的努力避开路上的障碍,然后找到一条路来”,符合这个解读的短语为“steer a path or a course (to take a series of actions, usually of a particular type, carefully and intentionally,该解释源自于剑桥词典)”;
全句译为“will happily bulldoze its way across distinctions rather than steer a path between them”。
“把一种词性用成另一种词性”中使用的短语为“把……用成……”,即“use…for…”,全句译作“use one form of a word for another”。
“不尊重语法规则会立即暴露你的身份,被英国中产阶级视为异己”有以下处理方式:
不尊重……会暴露……,且被……视为异己:a disrespect for grammatical rules, would immediately reveal your social status and would be regarded to be not one of them, particularly amongst the middle classes.(“不尊重”可处理成名词或动名词);
因“暴露身份”后的直接结果就是“被视为异己”,因此可将两句整合成一句,直译结果,即“a disrespect for grammatical rules … would reveal you to be not one of us…”;
全句译文请参照参考译文。
“只要听广播四台(英国广播公司的电台)播出的听众反馈节目便会明白这一点。确有人写信指责过新闻节目主持人所犯的语法错误。”:汉译英交传版可对本句稍做简化,即“只要听广播四台,便会发现确有人写信指责过新闻节目主持人所犯的语法错误”,译作“Listening to Radio 4 would reveal that people actually write to complain about grammatical mistakes made by news presenters”。
“由于说话很少注意语法,英国十几岁的年轻人长期以来被政客、父母及雇主称为没接受过良好的教育”:这里的“被……称为没有接受过良好的教育”表达了明显的责怪之意,故用“be accused of being poorly educated”;全句译文请参照参考译文。
愈演愈烈 take sth. one step further
第80周训练重点是反向进英,训练反向进英的做法是找一篇译英文为原文的文稿和对应的中文翻译,先将中文译为英文,之后对比英文原文和自己的译本,学习原文的词汇、表达和句型句式。反向进英的目的在于通过对比原文学习地道的或更好的词、句型、表达方式,提高语言运用能力。本周使用的材料是二口实务教材的文化教育单元的文章(中文录音音频链接: ),主题是英式英语与美式英语的差异。训练分四小节,训练模式:以汉英交传的形式,在集体训练前预先做至少三遍听译;集体训练时集体发练习语音,要点讲解、集体复习1至2遍。重要的是对比英文原文找出最需要改进的点。设备建议:你需要电脑或手机播放音频、录音设备、口译笔记本。本日志整理的是第80周练习汉译英部分。