经济学人285:学习语言再大声一点（打印版）

　　THE last time she was recruiting for her export-sales team, Sarah Grain hired a Lithuanian who speaks Russian, Polish and German. Her two previous hires for Eriez Magnetics, which makes industrial equipment in South Wales, were an Italian who also speaks French, and a Venezuelan who speaks Spanish and Portuguese. All of them speak fluent English. “There were no British applicants who had the requisite language skills,” she says.

　　最后一次为自己的海外销售团队招聘，Sarah Grain聘用了一位可讲俄语、波兰语和德语的立陶宛人。她为艺利磁铁—位于南威尔士的一家制造工业设备的公司—先前两次聘用的人分别是会讲法语的意大利人和会讲西班牙语与葡萄牙语的委内瑞拉人。而他们都能说流利的英文。Sarah表示，“没有符合必备语言技能的英国求职者。”

　　Ms Grain's conclusion is not unusual for a British company. In 2012 a European Commission survey tested the foreign-language proficiency of 54,000 students aged 14 and 15, in 14 nations. Sweden came top, with 82% of pupils reaching an “independent” or “advanced independent” standard. The average for all 14 states was 42%. England came bottom, with just 9%.

　　Grain女士对一家英国公司的此般结论已经让人见怪不怪了。早在2012年，欧盟委员会就针对来自14个国家、14到15岁年龄不等的54000名学生进行了外语熟练程度的测试。瑞典学生以其中82％的人可达到“灵活使用”和“驾轻就熟”的程度而位居榜首。所有14个国家的平均人数为42％。英国垫底，仅仅有9％。

　　Part of the explanation is that many people's second language is English, while many Britons continue to believe that, as native speakers of the lingua mundi, they do not need to bother with foreign languages. They may be right—in terms of communication. But it means that, not only are they missing out on much cultural interaction, they may also be harming their own job prospects.

　　部分原因是许多人的第二外语就是英语，这也是大部分英国人始终坚信的事，而作为以lingua mundi为母语的人，他们着实无需为外语而烦心。他们可能是对的——从沟通方面来说。但这却意味着他们不仅会错失多文化交流机会，也会危及到他们的工作前景。

　　They have not been helped by the educational policies of successive governments. In 2004 Tony Blair's Labour government abolished the requirement to learn a language after the age of 14, causing the numbers taking a language GCSE exam at 16 to fall by half in state schools over the next seven years.

　　历届政府的教育政策并未使他们获益。2004年，托尼布莱尔的工党政府废除了年满14岁就要学习一门语言的要求，此举直接导致之后的七年，公立学校的学生在语言方面GCSE（普通中等教育证书）考试的通过率直降一半。

　　Concerned about this rapid decline, the coalition government brought in a new performance indicator called the English Baccalaureate, or EBacc, in 2011. A modern language was one of its five core disciplines. Language teachers—an embattled breed—rejoiced. The number of students entering a GCSE language exam in 2013, the first year the changes took effect, rose by 20% (see chart).

　　考虑到人数骤降，联合政府在2011年颁布了一项名为英国文凭证书（EBacc）的技能指标。现代语言是5个核心学科之一。语言老师——随时严阵以待的一群人—都欣喜若狂。新指标颁布后第一年就见成效，2013年参加GCSE语言考试的学生人数增长了20％。

　　Now, however, those gains could be lost, as the government has seemingly loosened the requirement. From 2016, under a new initiative called Progress 8, it has extended the number of core subjects to eight, appearing to make learning a language voluntary. This has pleased some teachers, who felt the EBacc was too narrow, but linguists are aghast.

　　但是现在，随着政府对此项要求的逐渐放松，这些成绩可能会慢慢丢失。自2016年起，在一项名为Progress 8（8步走）的新倡议下，核心学科扩展至8门，这一举措使得语言学习更自主化。这让部分老师十分欣喜，他们认为Ebacc范围狭窄，而语言学家却对此举大为震惊。

　　The decline of languages at GCSE has inevitably had an effect higher up the academic food chain. Though the number of those studying languages to A Level—the exams taken at 18—will increase thanks to the GCSE cohort of 2013-14, it is likely to fall back again. French and German are half as popular as they were 20 years ago. The number of universities offering language degrees has fallen, too: by 50% for German and 40% for French since 1998. The number offering Spanish has also fallen. Degrees in other languages, such as Chinese and Arabic, are becoming more popular, but they are still rare.

　　GCSE中语言的减少，不可避免的会对提高学术竞争有所影响。尽管随着2013-14年GCSE的人气回温，那些语言学习高达A级—18岁方可参与的考试—的人数将会增加，但它仍可能再次降低。相较于20年前，法国和德国的人数已降了一半。提供语言学位的大学数量也已减少：自1998年起，德国减少了50％，法国减少了40％。提供西班牙语学习的学校也已减少。其他语种学位，比如汉语和阿拉伯语，正变得越来越多，但它们依然很稀缺。

　　The economy and the labour market bear the consequences. In 2012 the British Chambers of Commerce found, in a survey of 8,000 British companies, that 96% had no foreign-language speakers. First-time exporters cited language as a barrier to entering international markets.

　　经济和劳工市场直接承担此般后果。在2012年，英国商会发现，在一份涉及8000家英国公司的调查中，有96％的公司都没有会外语的人。首次试水的出口商将外语定为打入国际市场的一大障碍。

　　Though Britain makes up 12% of the population of the EU, less than 5% of EU civil servants in Brussels are British. Not enough Britons can fulfil the language requirement of being able to work in French or German. And even if monoglot Brits can get jobs at multinationals, claims Richard Hardie, non-executive chairman of the British arm of UBS, a bank, “the chances of getting to the top if you only have English are much lower than before”.

　　虽然英国占欧盟总人口的12％，但在布鲁塞尔担任欧盟公务员的英国人却少于总人数的5％。没有完全合格的英国人能够满足可在法国或德国工作的要求。而且即使只会单一语言的英国人在跨国公司工作，来自瑞银集团—一家银行—英国分公司的理查德·哈迪表示，“若你只会讲英语，那么你能高升的机会相比于以前已经大大降低了。”

　　This lack of language skills also lowers growth. By exactly how much is hard to say, but one estimate, by James Foreman-Peck of Cardiff University, puts the “gross language effect” (the income foregone because language barriers alter and reduce international trade) in 2012 as high as ￡59 billion ($90 billion), or 3.5% of GDP.

　　语言技能的缺乏也降低了增长。很难精确到用多少来说明，但是据卡迪夫大学James Foreman-Peck估计， “恶劣的语言效应”（由于语言障碍改变和减少了国际贸易）给2012年带来高达590亿英镑（合900美元），或是3.5％的国内生产总值的损失。

　　In the linguistic gloom, there are a few bright spots. Some British universities are moving away from literature-based degrees towards joint degrees linked to practical subjects such as law or business studies. Some scientists are learning languages outside their course requirements to make themselves more employable.

　　在幽暗的语言世界，有些许明亮之处。部分英国大学正在从以文学导向的学位转变至与类似法律和商业学习的实践学科关联的联合学位。一些科学家正在学习他们学科需求之外的语言，这会使他们更加称职。

　　Meanwhile, in September 2014 the government mandated that all primary schools must teach a language. Getting children started at a young age is admirable. But, with so few language graduates coming out of universities, who is going to teach them ?

　　与此同时，政府在 2014年9月要求所有的小学都要教授语言。让孩子们在幼龄时期接受语言教育是极好的。但是，从大学走出的语言学毕业生几近为零，谁又能来教他们呢？

经济学人285:学习语言 再大声一点（在线收听）

经济学人285:学习语言再大声一点（在线收听）