时差N小时:中式英文令老师头痛

Local newspapers jumped on a story this week on thetopic of Chinglish. "Chinglish" is not a new word. Iheard it for the first time 30 years ago. At timesChinglish can be charming. At the wrong moment,however, Chinglish can annoy readers, andembarrass non-native English speakers.

本周，本地报纸纷纷报道了一个关于中式英文话题的故事。“中式英文”并不是新鲜的词语。我30年前就听说过这个词语。有时候中式英文很迷人。然而在有些场合，中式英文惹人恼怒，并让非英语国家的人士尴尬。

A fellow named Oliver Radtke published "Chinglish: Found in Translation" in 2007. He isparticularly interested in the Chinglish he finds on a spate of signs, menus and the like inChina. Radtke said recently that Chinglish is "so much more than just incompetent or incorrectEnglish," but communicates "a certain Chinese way of thinking," and he may be right.

2007年，一位名叫奥利弗·瑞克的人出版了一本名为《中国式英语》的图书。他对中国的许多标志、菜单上出现的中式英语特别感兴趣。近来瑞克说道：中式英语“不仅仅体现了英文水平差，使用错误”，更体现了一种“中式思维”，他也许是对的。

Many English teachers believe that Chinglish may indicate some Chinese sensitivities aboutnature or human behavior, and charm or a gentle humor may be a pleasant byproduct ofthose indications. But Chinglish can also be a kick in the pants to anyone who wants to learnEnglish well.

许多英文教师认为中式英文暗示了对自然，对人类行为的敏感性，这种暗示可能会衍生出令人愉悦的品质，例如魅力和幽默。但对于想要学好英语的人来说，中式英语也可以是意想不到的挫折。

One of my students recently wrote: "This poem is point out that her appearance is of lookbeauty under moonlight." My student's meaning is clear. But I owe it to my students to tellthem the truth: bad English is bad English. We can all improve in our second languages, myselfincluded. We'll never do that if native speakers won't tell us when we're wrong.

我的一名学生近日写道：“This poem is point out that her appearance is of look beauty undermoonlight.”他的意思一目了然。但我有必要告诉他：糟糕的英语就是糟糕的英语。我们都能提高自己的第二外语水平，包括我在内。如果说母语人士不指出我们的错误，我们永远不会取得进步。