TED演讲:学习新语言的四个理由(2)

 I think there are a lot of reasons, but I first want to address the one that you're probably most likely to have heard of, 我觉得理由很多，但是我首先想要弄清一个概念，可能大家也都听过，

because actually it's more dangerous than you might think. 但它可能比你想象的还要重要。

And that is the idea that a language channels your thoughts, 这个观点是语言能塑造你的思维，

that the vocabulary and the grammar of different languages gives everybody a different kind of acid¹ trip, so to speak. 不同语言的词汇和语法结构给了每个人不同的思维方式，类似于此。

That is a marvelously enticing² idea, but it's kind of fraught³. 这是个挺诱人的观点，但却有点误人子弟。

So it's not that it's untrue completely. 这个说法也不全错。

So for example, in French and Spanish the word for table is, for some reason, marked as feminine⁴. 比如说，法语和西班牙语中“桌子”这个单词，由于某些原因，都是阴性的。

So, "la table," "la mesa," you just have to deal with it. 比如“la table”、“la mesa”，你知道就够了。

It has been shown that if you are a speaker of one of those languages and you happen to be asked how you would imagine a table talking, 研究表明，如果这些语言是你的母语，那么当你被问到要想象一张桌子突然开口说话，

then much more often than could possibly be an accident, 那么大多数情况下，不排除意外，

a French or a Spanish speaker says that the table would talk with a high and feminine voice. 一位说法语或西班牙语的人会说桌子说话的声音是女性的高音。

So if you're French or Spanish, to you, a table is kind of a girl, as opposed to if you are an English speaker. 所以如果你是法国或西班牙人，你会把桌子看成女孩，而说英语的人的看法恰恰相反。

It's hard not to love data like that, 我们都很喜欢这种观察结果，

and many people will tell you that that means that there's a worldview that you have if you speak one of those languages. 而且很多人会告诉你这意味着当你说话时，你继承了那种语言的世界观。

But you have to watch out, because imagine if somebody put us under the microscope, 但是你要谨慎些，想象一下有人把我们放在显微镜下，

the us being those of us who speak English natively. What is the worldview from English? 我们这些母语是英语的人。那么英语的世界观是什么？

 

1 acid   

n.酸；酸性物质；adj.酸的，酸性的

参考例句：

• Handle with care,or the acid may get out.小心轻放，否则酸会溢出来。
• The acid has been eating away the sides of the container.酸腐蚀着容器的四壁。

2 enticing   

adj.迷人的；诱人的

参考例句：

• The offer was too enticing to refuse. 这提议太有诱惑力，使人难以拒绝。
• Her neck was short but rounded and her arms plump and enticing. 她的脖子短，但浑圆可爱；两臂丰腴，也很动人。

3 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

4 feminine   

adj.女性的，女子气的

参考例句：

• He has a very feminine voice.他的声音非常像女人。
• She was a very feminine person.她是个很有女性气质的人。