編者按： 　　隨著2008年奧運(yùn)會(huì)的臨近，民眾越來(lái)越關(guān)心“中國(guó)”品牌的樹(shù)立，學(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)的熱情也被點(diǎn)燃。越來(lái)越多的外宣干部和業(yè)內(nèi)同行向我們表達(dá)了期待看到雙語(yǔ)欄目的期望。因此，我們從2006年第一期起開(kāi)辦了《雙語(yǔ)視窗》欄目以滿(mǎn)足廣大讀者的需求。
　　看看周?chē)�的媒體，《北京青年報(bào)》、《參考消息》、《國(guó)門(mén)時(shí)報(bào)》上有許多精粹的小短文，像一只只啄木鳥(niǎo)，善意地提醒了中國(guó)人習(xí)以為常的行為背后“尚未和國(guó)際接軌”的細(xì)節(jié)，讀后讓人回味不已，在獲得借鑒意義的同時(shí)，也帶來(lái)更深入的思考。我們效仿中英文對(duì)照的版面形式，旨在通過(guò)外國(guó)友人的視角來(lái)看中國(guó)，從中折射出東西方觀念、習(xí)俗的異同。通過(guò)一篇篇這樣的文章，讓讀者在領(lǐng)略異域文化的同時(shí)，也能達(dá)到學(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)的目的。
　　
　　不管你是否愿意，英語(yǔ)已經(jīng)成為用于交流的一種國(guó)際語(yǔ)言，當(dāng)更多的人以普通話(huà)為母語(yǔ)時(shí)，英語(yǔ)則成為使用最多的第二語(yǔ)言。大多數(shù)來(lái)中國(guó)的外國(guó)旅游者至少會(huì)懂英語(yǔ)。
　　很多中國(guó)的機(jī)構(gòu)，無(wú)論是國(guó)有的還是私營(yíng)的，都已決定在他們的宣傳冊(cè)和標(biāo)志中使用英文，但所用英文往往有很多地方有待改進(jìn)，下面就是個(gè)例子，摘自在其他各方面都很出色的北京古建筑博物館，錯(cuò)誤英文的相應(yīng)中文是：
　　燕省是來(lái)自南一點(diǎn)兒和北一點(diǎn)兒瓷器的少數(shù)民族交又一起居的唯一地區(qū)，從這里出土的海量那文物代表了拿自那中原的文化影響。(注①)
　　我敢說(shuō)，這段話(huà)對(duì)于母語(yǔ)是說(shuō)英文的人都很難懂，更別說(shuō)那些英語(yǔ)水平不高的人了。這種傷痕累累的英語(yǔ)初看會(huì)讓人覺(jué)得可笑，但看上一會(huì)兒就會(huì)讓你連想都不想搞懂它們了。
　　此外，很多有意思的文化展品根本就沒(méi)有英文說(shuō)明。就我個(gè)人來(lái)說(shuō)，但愿我能直接看懂中文說(shuō)明，可我不行，而絕大多數(shù)外國(guó)參觀者也不行。如果這個(gè)世界要對(duì)中國(guó)五千年文明的豐富與輝煌有更好的理解，那么在文化場(chǎng)所、博物館以及展品前用正確的英文給出更好更完整的解釋則是必不可缺的。
　　我極為喜愛(ài)秦腔。我在蘭州大學(xué)任教期間，晚上常常在東方紅廣場(chǎng)站上幾個(gè)小時(shí)聽(tīng)秦腔。在去劇院看正式的秦腔演出之前，我先了解那些故事和劇中人物，這樣就能理解表演。在北京，我看了京劇。在長(zhǎng)安大戲院所看的一場(chǎng)演出讓我開(kāi)始想到了北京文化場(chǎng)所的英語(yǔ)翻譯存在的問(wèn)題。那天晚上的演出在視覺(jué)上漂亮極了，唱得也好，但提供的英文字幕卻十分怪異，以至于觀眾在一個(gè)極為不宜的時(shí)刻爆笑起來(lái)。我在此處所談及的英文錯(cuò)誤包括語(yǔ)句不通順、語(yǔ)法錯(cuò)誤、拼寫(xiě)錯(cuò)誤以及行尾不正確的斷字回行。下面是《大鬧天宮》里的一個(gè)例子，譯成中文相當(dāng)于：
　　“……為何一點(diǎn)兒皆沒(méi)吉樣的竹本蛋，眼前一片悄悄靜，沒(méi)有一點(diǎn)兒的惡燈？”(注②)
　　當(dāng)你不得不琢磨這種費(fèi)解的英文時(shí)，就使你無(wú)法欣賞劇目了。請(qǐng)記住，我真心地?zé)釔?ài)中國(guó)文化。試想，當(dāng)老外們必須一步步地才能喜歡上難懂而奇異，但受到無(wú)限稱(chēng)贊的藝術(shù)形式如京劇時(shí)，糟糕的英文譯文會(huì)使情況怎樣呢？
　　我和我的“二外”學(xué)生談起這事時(shí)，他們建議我們作為志愿者幫助文化單位更正標(biāo)簽和標(biāo)志上的英文，并且與當(dāng)?shù)毓ぷ魅藛T一起把中文內(nèi)容翻譯成英文。我們已經(jīng)在一個(gè)小范圍內(nèi)開(kāi)始了這項(xiàng)工作。我們很高興地看到，頤和園已經(jīng)達(dá)到了很不錯(cuò)的水準(zhǔn)：那兒的英文解釋很充分，幾乎完全正確。如果全北京的文化場(chǎng)所都做成那樣該多好呀！
　　但事實(shí)上，提高各種標(biāo)志上的英文水平所需要做的工作比我們?cè)O(shè)想的要多，并且需要大量的協(xié)作。有時(shí)候，一個(gè)地方我們必須去三趟才能確信已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)確地理解了要翻譯什么。有些地方的不正確英文已經(jīng)刻在了石頭上或是鑄到了青銅上，重來(lái)就要花費(fèi)很多錢(qián)。作為部分的、短期的解決辦法就是準(zhǔn)備出英語(yǔ)和其他語(yǔ)言的小冊(cè)子，在外國(guó)參觀者購(gòu)買(mǎi)門(mén)票時(shí)發(fā)給他們。
　　但這是一項(xiàng)必須在更大范圍內(nèi)所做的工作，并且需要更好的合作，絕非我們“二外”這一小撥兒人所能做的。令人高興的是，北京奧組委正在著手做這件事。作為一名退休的美軍上校，我特別愿意幫助軍事博物館的工作人員。不用說(shuō)，我也愿意協(xié)助翻譯京劇唱詞。
　　由母語(yǔ)是英語(yǔ)的老外和大學(xué)英語(yǔ)專(zhuān)業(yè)的學(xué)生組成的小隊(duì)可以帶著他們的筆記本電腦去文化場(chǎng)所對(duì)英文進(jìn)行現(xiàn)場(chǎng)更正，或是給沒(méi)有英文的地方加上英文，這對(duì)于學(xué)生們提高英語(yǔ)水平同時(shí)又服務(wù)于社會(huì)是多么好的機(jī)會(huì)呀！政府可以為好心的老外提供一個(gè)熱線(xiàn)電話(huà)，以便于他們報(bào)告在公共場(chǎng)所發(fā)現(xiàn)的令人糊涂的英文錯(cuò)誤，或是報(bào)告還沒(méi)有任何英文標(biāo)志的重要場(chǎng)所。
　　當(dāng)2008奧運(yùn)會(huì)到來(lái)時(shí)，全世界的注意力將被吸引到中國(guó)來(lái)。我們必須在這方面努力，使外國(guó)人屆時(shí)能夠欣賞到中國(guó)文化的燦爛。
　　注①原意為：燕國(guó)是中國(guó)南方和北方的居民混居的地方。這里出土的大量文物表明了來(lái)自中原的文化影響。
　　注②原意為：……為何這里沒(méi)有一片祥云，眼前一片靜悄悄，沒(méi)有一點(diǎn)光亮？
　�。ū疚淖髡攥F(xiàn)在北京第二外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院任教）
　　
　　原文：
　　Like it or not, English has become the international language of communication. While more people speak Mandarin as a native tongue, English is the language most used as a second language. The majority of international travelers who come to China have at least a basic understanding of English.
　　Many Chinese organizations, public and private, have decided to use English in their brochures and signs. Too often the English leaves a great deal to be desired. Here"s an example from the otherwise excellent Beijing Museum of Ancient Architecture:
　　Yan state is the area where the minority nationalities from te souther an
　　d norther China crisscrissly inhabited together,the big amount of the relics excavated from te area embodies the cultural influence getting from the cen
　　tral China...
　　I can assure you that this is a challenge for native speakers to decipher, let alone people with only a modest grasp of the language. Tortured English may cause a certain amusement at first, but after a while people stop even trying to make sense of it.
　　Moreover, many interesting cultural exhibits have no English explanations at all. Personally, I wish I could read the Chinese explanations directly, but I can"t, and neither can the vast majority of non-Chinese visitors. If the world is ever to have a stronger sense of the richness and splendor of China"s 5,000-year-old culture, better and more complete information in good English at cultural sites, museums and exhibits is indispensable.
　　I love Qinqiang opera very much. When I taught at Lanzhou University, I used to stand for hours on the Dongfanghong Guangchang listening to the evening performances. Before going to formal performances in the opera houses, I studied the stories and characters so that I would understand the action. Here in Beijing I have attended Jingju performances. A performance at the Chang"an Theater first got me thinking about the problem of English translation at Beijing cultural sites. The performance that night was visually beautiful and well sung, but the English translation provided was so oddly worded that at one very inappropriate moment the audience broke into laughter. The errors I am talking about include unidiomatic English, grammatical blunders, misspellings and improper word division at the end of the lines. Here"s an example from Wreaking Havoc in Heaven:
　　??How is it there"s not augspicius c
　　lods here, all is so quite without a h
　　int of sining lights?
　　Having to make heads or tails of this sort of "English" detracts from one"s enjoyment of opera. And remember: I truly love Chinese culture. What happens when foreigners have to be won over to an appreciation of a difficult and alien but immensely rewarding art form like Beijing opera?
　　I talked this over with some of my students at the Beijing Second Foreign Language Institute. They suggested that we volunteer to help cultural institutions to correct English labels and signs, and also work with the staff at these facilities to translate explanatory texts into English. We have started doing this on a very small scale. The Summer Palace, we have been pleased to discover, sets an excellent standard: The explanations there are full and almost completely correct. It would be wonderful if all Beijing"s cultural facilities did as well.
　　It turns out that upgrading the English of signs is more work than we had thought and takes considerable coordination. In some cases we have had to visit a site three times to make sure that we understand exactly what needs to be said. Some of the incorrect English has already been engraved in stone or cast in bronze, making revision costly. One partial or short-term solution would be to prepare brochures in English and other languages to hand out to visitors when they purchase tickets.
　　But this is a job that must be done on a much larger scale and with better coordination than our little group can supply. Happily, an Olympic organization is being set up to deal with it. As a retired US Army colonel, I would particularly enjoy helping the staff of the Military Museum. And needless to say, I would love to be of assistance in translating opera librettos.
　　Teams of native speakers and university English students could take their laptops out to sites and make on-the-spot corrections, or develop English explanations where none now exist. What a great chance for students to improve their English skills while being of service to society! The government could also have a telephone number for well-meaning laowai to call in order to report confusing errors in public places or important points where there is no English at all.
　　The attention of the world will be riveted on China as the 2008 Olympics approach. We must work hard to enable foreigners to appreciate the glories of Chinese culture.
　　
　　（感謝北京青年報(bào)《雙語(yǔ)視窗》欄目張愛(ài)學(xué)編輯對(duì)本文提供的支持。）
　　責(zé)編：雷向晴

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