2019年经济学人 母语--强迫移民学英语可能适得其反(3)（在线收听）

母语--强迫移民学英语可能适得其反(3)

California’s conservatives were right to spot a rising cohort of foreign-born residents. They had two options: to try to make them patriotic Americans (and Republican voters) with a positive appeal, or to threaten them with punishments. Choosing the latter, they lost twice, in both language and politics. Californians overwhelmingly repealed Proposition 227 in 2016. The state is riotously multilingual, even as English remains the essential language, as it is in the rest of the country.

加州的保守派人士越来越发现移民是正确的。他们有两种选择：要么用积极的呼吁让他们成为爱国的美国人(以及共和党选民)，要么用惩罚威胁他们。选择后者，他们在语言和政治上都有损失。2016年，加州以压倒性优势废除了227号提案。尽管英语仍是该国的主要语言，但该州的语言却极为丰富多彩，就像在美国其他地方一样。

Just how permissive should receiving countries be? Corine Dehabey, a Syrian- American who helps immigrants learn English in today’s Ohio, thinks that, if policies are too accommodating, there is a risk that people don’t feel any pressure to acquire the language. But if she could make one change, it would be to give them more time to do so. Current policies push newcomers to find work as soon as possible. That leads to doctors and engineers driving taxis, because they have yet to requalify in America.

移民接收国究竟应该多宽容？科琳·德哈贝是一名叙利亚裔美国人，如今在俄亥俄州帮助移民学习英语。她认为，如果政策过于宽松，那么人们就会感觉不到学习语言的压力。但如果她有能力做出一个改变，那么她会给移民更多时间去学习语言。当前的政策督促移民尽快找到工作。这导致很多医生和工程师去干开出租车的工作，因为他们还没有在美国重新获得资格。

Adults often struggle to learn a new language, as Mr Golinkin’s mother did, going from being a psychiatrist in Ukraine to a security guard in America. Some pull it off, as Mr Golinkin’s father did by studying English for years before the move. But nearly all children master their adopted country’s language, as Mr Golinkin (now a writer) did quickly. Children are sponges for languages—and for attitudes, too. Their views of their new homes will forever be shaped by the way they are treated when they arrive.

成年人学习一门新语言通常很难，会和戈林金先生的母亲的情况类似，戈林金母亲在乌克兰是一名精神病学家，来到美国后只能做一名保安。有些人成功学会了，戈林金先生的父亲就在移民之前用了数年学会了英语。但是几乎所有的孩子都掌握了他们所移民的国家的语言，就像戈林金先生(现在是一名作家)很快做到的那样。孩子是语言的海绵，也是态度的海绵。他们对新家乡的看法将永远取决于他们到达时所受到的待遇。

Correction: Johnson’s previous column mistakenly said that “Tuesday” includes the Indo-European root dyeu twice. Dyeu produced the word for day in other languages, but English “day” is thought to be from dhegwh, “to burn”. Sorry.

更正：约翰逊专栏之前错误地说，“Tuesday”一词包含两个印欧词根dyeu。Dyeu在其他语言中产生了day这个词，但是英语中的day被认为是来自dhegwh，意思是“燃烧”。抱歉。