我知道你们在想什么，你们觉得我迷路了，马上就会有人走上台温和地把我带回我的座位上。（掌声）。我在迪拜总会遇上这种事。“来这里度假的吗，亲爱的？”（笑声）“来探望孩子的吗？这次要待多久呢？
恩，事实上，我希望能再待久一点。我在波斯湾这边生活和教书已经超过30年了。（掌声）这段时间里，我看到了很多变化。现在这份数据是挺吓人的，而我今天要和你们说的是有关语言的消失和英语的全球化。我想和你们谈谈我的朋友，她在阿布达比教成人英语。在一个晴朗的日子里，她决定带她的学生到花园去教他们一些大自然的词汇。但最后却变成是她在学习所有当地植物在阿拉伯语中是怎么说的。还有这些植物是如何被用作药材，化妆品，烹饪，香草。这些学生是怎么得到这些知识的呢？当然是从他们的祖父母，甚至曾祖父母那里得来的。不需要我来告诉你们能够跨代沟通是多么重要。
but sadly, today, languages are dying at an unprecedented rate. a language dies every 14 days. now, at the same time, english is the undisputed global language. could there be a connection? well i dont know. but i do know that ive seen a lot of changes. when i first came out to the gulf, i came to kuwait in the days when it was still a hardship post. actually,
not that long ago. that is a little bit too early. but nevertheless, i was recruited by the british council along with about 25
other teachers. and we were the first non-muslims to teach in the state schools there in kuwait. we were brought to teach english because the government wanted to modernize the country and empower the citizens through education. and of course, the u.k. benefited from some of that lovely oil wealth. 但遗憾的是，今天很多语言正在以前所未有的速度消失。每14天就有一种语言消失，而与此同时，英语却无庸置疑地成为全球性的语言。这其中有关联吗？我不知道。但我知道的是，我见证过许多改变。初次来到海湾地区时，我去了科威特。当时教英文仍然是个困难的工作。其实，没有那么久啦，这有点太久以前了。总之，我和其他25位老师一起被英国文化协会聘用。我们是第一批非穆斯林的老师，在科威特的国立学校任教。我们被派到那里教英语，是因为当地政府希望国家可以现代化并透过教育提升公民的水平。当然，英国也能得到些好处，产油国可是很有钱的。
okay. now this is the major change that ive seen -- how teaching english has morphed from being a mutually
english-speaking nation on earth. and why not? after all, the best education -- according to the latest world university rankings -- is to be found in the universities of the u.k. and the u.s. so everybody wants to have an english education, naturally. but if youre not a native speaker, you have to pass a test.
言归正传，我见过最大的改变，就是英语教学的蜕变如何从一个互惠互利的行为变成今天这种大规模的国际产业。英语不再是学校课程里的外语学科，也不再只是英国的专利。英语（教学）已经成为所有英语系国家追逐的潮流。何乐而不为呢？毕竟，最好的教育来自于最好的大学，而根据最新的世界大学排名，那些名列前茅的都是英国和美国的大学。所以自然每个人都想接受英语教育，但如果你不是以英文为母语，你就要通过考试。
now can it be right to reject a student on linguistic ability
well, i dont think so. we english teachers reject them all the time. we put a stop sign, and we stop them in their tracks. they cant pursue their dream any longer, till they get english. now let me put it this way, if i met a dutch
speaker who had the cure for cancer, would i stop him from entering my british university? i dont think so. but indeed, that is exactly what we do. we english
teachers are the
gatekeepers. and you have to satisfy us first that your english is good enough. now it can be dangerous to give too much power to a narrow segment of society. maybe the barrier would be too universal.
但仅凭语言能力就拒绝学生这样对吗？譬如如果你碰到一位天才计算机科学家，但他会需要有和律师一样的语言能力吗？我不这么认为。但身为英语老师的我们，却总是拒绝他们。我们处处设限，将学生挡在路上，使他们无法再追求自己的梦想，直到他们通过考试。现在容我换一个方式说，如果我遇到了一位只会说荷兰话的人，而这个人能治愈癌症，我会阻止他进入我的英国大学吗？我想不会。但事实上，我们的确在做这种事。我们这些英语老师就是把关的。你必须先让我们满意，使我们认定你的英文够好。但这可能是危险的。把太多的权力交由这么小的一群人把持，也许会令这种障碍太过普及。
okay. but, i hear you say, what about the research? its all in english. so the books are in english, the journals are done in english, but that is a self-fulfilling . it feeds the english requirement. and so it goes on. i ask you, what happened to translation? if you think about the islamic
于是，我听到你们问但是研究呢?研究报告都要用英文。”的确，研究论著和期刊都要用英文发表，但这只是一种理所当然的现象。有英语要求，自然就有英语供给，然后就这么循环下去。我倒想问问大家，为什么不用翻译呢？想想伊斯兰的黄金时代，当时翻译盛行，人们把拉丁文和希腊文翻译成阿拉伯文或波斯文，然后再由拉伯文或波斯文翻译为欧洲的日耳曼语言以及罗曼语言。于是文明照亮了欧洲的黑暗时代。但不要误会我的意思，我不是反对英语教学或是在座所有的英语老师。我很高兴我们有一个全球性的语言，这在今日尤为重要。但我反对用英语设立障碍。难道我们真希望世界上只剩下600种语言，其中又以英文或中文为主流吗？我们需要的不只如此。那么我们该如何拿捏呢？这个体制把智能和英语能力画上等号这是相当武断的。
and i want to remind you that the giants upon whose
shoulders todays stand did not have to have
english, they didnt have to pass an english test. case in point, einstein. he, by the way, was considered remedial at school because he was, in fact, dyslexic. but fortunately for the world, he did not have to pass an english test. because they didnt start until 1964 with toefl, the american test of english. now its exploded. there are lots and lots of tests of english. and millions and millions of students take these tests every year. now you might think, you and me, those fees arent bad, theyre okay, but they are prohibitive to so many millions of poor people. so immediately, were rejecting them.
我想要提醒你们，扶持当代知识分子的这些“巨人肩膀不必非得具有英文能力，他们不需要通过英语考试。爱因斯坦就是典型的例子。顺便说一下，他在学校还曾被认为需要课外补习，因为他其实有阅读障碍。但对整个世界来说,很幸运的当时他不需要通过英语考试，因为他们直到1964年才开始使用托福。现在英语测验太泛滥了，有太多太多的英语测验，以及成千上万的学生每年都在参加这些考试。现在你会认为，你和我都这么想，这些费用不贵，价钱满合理的。但是对数百万的穷人来说，这些费用高不可攀。所以，当下我们又拒绝了他们。 it brings to mind a headline i saw recently: education: the great divide. now i get it, i understand why people would focus on english. they want to give their children the best chance in life. and to do that, they need a western education. because, of course, the best jobs go to people out of the
