词汇大师(Wordmaster)--Linguistic Diversity in Action

Broadcast on COAST TO COAST: August 19, 2004

A new map released by the Modern Language Association shows which languages are spoken where in the United States. According to the MLA map, a 33-square-kilometer area south of Los Angeles is one of the most linguistically¹ diverse regions in the country. The communities there are home to speakers of everything from Navajo to Hmong. Though the variety provides cultural diversity, it can also create challenges for the residents. Alex Cohen filed this week's report for WORDMASTER:

ALEX COHEN: The city of Artesia (are-TEE-zhuh) is just 4 square kilometers, but nearly 40 languages are spoken within its borders.

SOUND: [Montage of prayers in Korean, Tagalog, Portuguese² and Dutch]

At a recent prayer breakfast, blessings³ were offered in Korean, Tagalog, Chinese, Hindi, Hebrew, Spanish, Danish, Portuguese and Dutch.

Artesia Mayor Sally Flowers delivered the state of the city address at this breakfast in English, though she also speaks Spanish. She says she wanted the prayers to represent the many immigrant communities and reflect the cultural diversity in this city of 17,500 people.

SALLY FLOWERS: "Governor Gray Davis when he was in office had said that Los Angeles was the most diverse city in the world, and within LA County, Artesia is one of the most diverse cities."

Just down the road from the prayer breakfast is Seoul Soon-dae, a Korean restaurant that specializes in beef bone and knuckle⁴ soup. Owner Annie Kahng says in order to communicate with her Hispanic employees and a wide range of customers, she's picked up several languages over the years.

ANNIE KAHNG: "I speak mostly Korean and second English and I speak a little bit of Spanish and a little bit just Chinese and Japanese, just greeting. [laughs]"

Speaking several languages is pretty much par⁵ for the course in this area. According to the U.S. Census⁶ bureau, of the 40 most common languages spoken in this country, 39 of them can be heard in Artesia and neighboring cities like Cerritos and Bellflower.

Annie Kahng says she once moved to a city about an hour away, but quickly got homesick.

ANNIE KAHNG: "I didn't like it there. There aren't many places to go, as far as food goes. So I lived there about half a year and then I moved back here again."

Not far from Ms. Kahng's restaurant is Sona Chaandi, a clothing store and beauty salon⁷ where patrons can buy saris and gold jewelry⁸ and get Indian henna tattoos⁹. Owner Mala Malani introduces herself in her two native tongues - Fijian and Hindi.

MALA MALANI: "Bula. Ni Samoday. And in Hindi, it's like Mira Nam Mala Hay."

Ms. Malani says she uses Hindi and English to communicate with most of her customers. But she's also hired staff from all over the world to accommodate the store's multicultural¹⁰ clientele.

MALA MALANI: "It's really good because the more the merrier, we do more business because all people comes here. That's why in my beauty salon I have Japanese, I have Chinese, I have Filipinos, so more people come. Because it's not just only for Indians, you know. We want everyone to come here."

Despite the multitude of languages heard throughout the area, English is still the primary language used to communicate.

TEACHER: "Everybody repeat, 'ah.'"

CLASS: "Ah."

TEACHER: "Again, 'ah.'"

Class: "Ah."

Jae Chun Oh is studying English as a second language at the local Adult School. During the 23 years he's spent in the United States, Mr. Oh has spoken mostly Korean. But lately, he says, he's realized the need to master English, even in an area as diverse as this.

JAE CHUN OH: "I want to expand my horizon in my career. Sometimes I need to contact someone outside of the Korean community, so I need the tool -- which is fluent English - to communicate."

Business isn't the only area where fluency¹¹ in English is important. According to Juliet Stone with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, non-English speakers face many challenges in their day to day activities.

JULIET STONE: "Things like going to the doctor and explaining what hurts. Going to get your driver's license¹², going to vote."

As Artesia's city manager, Maria Dadian (DAY-dee-in) understands these challenges well鈥?She says ideally, Artesia would provide documents like building permits, ballots¹³ for city elections and public notices in all of the many languages spoken in the city. But, she says, given Artesia's small staff and budget that's just not feasible.

MARIA DADIAN: "We have people who are of the Portuguese culture, people who are of the Cambodian culture, we also have Spanish speaking individuals here. Unfortunately, we can't cover every ethnicity that's out there."

But she acknowledges one advantage to being in such a small city: almost everyone in Artesia knows someone who speaks English. And so when the city is unable to provide services in a given language, officials can usually find someone within the community who can translate. For Wordmaster, I'm Alex Cohen in Los Angeles.

 

1 linguistically   

adv. 语言的, 语言学的

参考例句：

• But this group is linguistically, culturally, and even genetically diverse. 但这个人群在语言上，文化上，甚至在遗传上都是多样化的。
• Like the EU, Belgium is linguistically and culturally divided. 与欧盟一样，比利时是个多语言、多文化的地区。

2 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

3 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 knuckle   

n.指节；vi.开始努力工作；屈服，认输

参考例句：

• They refused to knuckle under to any pressure.他们拒不屈从任何压力。
• You'll really have to knuckle down if you want to pass the examination.如果想通过考试，你确实应专心学习。

5 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

6 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

7 salon   

n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室

参考例句：

• Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？
• You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

8 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

9 tattoos   

n.文身( tattoo的名词复数 )；归营鼓；军队夜间表演操；连续有节奏的敲击声v.刺青，文身( tattoo的第三人称单数 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的胳膊上刺满了花纹。
• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的双臂刺满了纹身。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 multicultural   

adj.融合多种文化的，多种文化的

参考例句：

• Children growing up in a multicultural society.在多元文化社会中长大的孩子们。
• The school has been attempting to bring a multicultural perspective to its curriculum.这所学校已经在尝试将一种多元文化视角引入其课程。

11 fluency   

n.流畅，雄辩，善辩

参考例句：

• More practice will make you speak with greater fluency.多练习就可以使你的口语更流利。
• Some young children achieve great fluency in their reading.一些孩子小小年纪阅读已经非常流畅。

12 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

13 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》