編者按：隨著北京2008年奧運(yùn)會(huì)的逼近，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)欄目的愿望。因此，我們自2006年第1期起開(kāi)辦了《雙語(yǔ)視窗》欄目以滿足廣大讀者的需求。
　　看看周圍的媒體，在《北京青年報(bào)》、《參考消息》、《國(guó)門時(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。
　　
　　當(dāng)我就讀于美國(guó)耶魯大學(xué)時(shí)，有幸遇到了很多有天分的中國(guó)學(xué)生。雖然他們?cè)诿绹?guó)已經(jīng)上了幾年學(xué)，但在與美國(guó)人的交往上仍有很大困難�！拔艺莆樟四敲炊嗟挠⒄Z(yǔ)單詞，語(yǔ)法也很棒，”他們常常這樣對(duì)我說(shuō)，“但我還是不能與美國(guó)人很好地交流�！�
　　問(wèn)題在于，雖然他們擁有了一部機(jī)器的所有零件，但卻缺乏一種簡(jiǎn)單的理論使這部機(jī)器變得有實(shí)際用途�！半m然你對(duì)英文理解得很好，”我說(shuō)，“但你還沒(méi)有理解當(dāng)?shù)厝耸侨绾问褂迷撜Z(yǔ)言來(lái)達(dá)到他們的目的。”當(dāng)我來(lái)到北京開(kāi)始教授英語(yǔ)時(shí)，我意識(shí)到對(duì)于如何在社會(huì)中運(yùn)用語(yǔ)言這一能力的掌握，不僅在課堂上缺乏，而且在生活的多個(gè)層面都很缺乏。
　　有一次，一名中國(guó)女足球隊(duì)球迷的美國(guó)人對(duì)我說(shuō)：“為什么沒(méi)有人去看她們踢球？那是因?yàn)槿藗冇X(jué)得沒(méi)太大意思�！�
　　“是的，沒(méi)人對(duì)中國(guó)女足感興趣，”我說(shuō)，“因?yàn)槿藗儾幌嘈排�人踢球有什么意思�！?
　　“但是如果女足球隊(duì)有善于公關(guān)的人，使人們對(duì)女足感興趣，其結(jié)果就可能說(shuō)服人們認(rèn)同女足是有意思的。你可知道一個(gè)出色的廣告人，曾把佛羅里達(dá)州變成了老年人喜歡的度假地，并使人們相信冬天吃冰激凌是個(gè)好主意？而市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷與公關(guān)在中國(guó)尚不存在�！�
　　他最后的結(jié)論恐怕過(guò)于夸張，但有一點(diǎn)是真實(shí)的，那就是中國(guó)人缺乏市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷與公關(guān)技巧，這是因?yàn)槿藗內(nèi)狈��?duì)如何應(yīng)用語(yǔ)言的精妙理解。缺乏這種精妙的理解，就不可能創(chuàng)造出市場(chǎng)與公關(guān)技巧，甚至不容易從其他文化中來(lái)借鑒。美國(guó)人之所以精于市場(chǎng)與公關(guān)，是因?yàn)樗麄兌�得語(yǔ)言的力量。如果中國(guó)人想與西方人溝通，就必須了解這種力量。而達(dá)到這一理念的道路就是運(yùn)用語(yǔ)言的技能。在西方，源于修辭學(xué)的一些原則在指導(dǎo)著語(yǔ)言的應(yīng)用，以闡述觀點(diǎn)。
　　對(duì)于不同的人來(lái)說(shuō)，修辭學(xué)意味著不同的內(nèi)容。但基本上說(shuō)來(lái)，它是對(duì)作為力量的語(yǔ)言的分析――一種與他人交流并說(shuō)服別人接受你的觀點(diǎn)的方法，但語(yǔ)言也是了解你自己和周圍世界的一種力量。
　　因此，語(yǔ)言技巧就是關(guān)于交流與表達(dá)自我的技巧。在你使別人理解你的想法和感受之前，你首先要理解別人的想法和感受。比如，如果你是個(gè)想找工作的西方人，在你向公司提出要求之前，首先要努力向公司說(shuō)明你能為公司做些什么。正如美國(guó)人所說(shuō)的，在面試之前，必須做“家庭作業(yè)”：搞清該公司的經(jīng)營(yíng)范圍，公司需要的是什么，公司負(fù)責(zé)人在求職者身上尋求的是什么，然后，以你所了解到的這些資料為基準(zhǔn)，盡可能多地表現(xiàn)自己。從根本上說(shuō)這就意味著你必須琢磨、組織、調(diào)整你的語(yǔ)言，以適應(yīng)你的聽(tīng)眾。
　　存在于語(yǔ)言技巧背后的想法則是，我們只能通過(guò)語(yǔ)言來(lái)理解這個(gè)世界，是語(yǔ)言，溝通了我們對(duì)世界與他人的理解。因此，能夠駕馭語(yǔ)言的人就能構(gòu)筑（甚至也能駕馭）別人的觀念。這就是為什么在美國(guó)市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷與公關(guān)如此盛行，因?yàn)槊绹?guó)人相信語(yǔ)言可以用來(lái)改變?nèi)藗兊乃季S方式，可以用來(lái)表現(xiàn)自己。
　　中國(guó)人視謙虛為美德，也很容易將自我表現(xiàn)視為傲慢。他們往往自我反省，甚至很內(nèi)向。讓人覺(jué)得有點(diǎn)奇怪的是，中國(guó)人將語(yǔ)言技巧視為與西方人的好辯和直言不諱是同樣不可接受的東西。但是，如果一個(gè)中國(guó)人希望與美國(guó)人交流，就應(yīng)首先了解西方人運(yùn)用語(yǔ)言的方式。如果一個(gè)中國(guó)人增強(qiáng)了語(yǔ)言技巧的意識(shí)，最終他會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，在生活中的某個(gè)領(lǐng)域，他已經(jīng)在不知不覺(jué)地使用著語(yǔ)言技巧了。
　　修辭技巧遠(yuǎn)非僅僅是語(yǔ)言的問(wèn)題，它終歸是生活與生存的理論。
　　
　　作者曾是美國(guó)最具影響力的高等教育周刊
　　While I was studying at Yale, I had the good fortune to meet many intelligent and talented Chinese students that, even though they had been studying in the US for a few years, still had great difficulty in communicating with Americans.“I know so many English words and my grammar is perfect,” they would say to me, “but I still cannot communicate very well with Americans.”
　　The problem is that although they have all the parts to make the machine, they lack the simple theory to make the machine functional. “Although you understand English wellenough,” I would reply,“you still don’t understand hownative speakers use the language to achieve their ends.” When I came to Beijing to teach English, I realized that this grasp of how language is used socially was absent not only in the classroom but also in all walks of life.
　　An American who is a fan of the Chinese women’s football team once said to me, “Why is it that no one goes towatch the team?It’s because they don’t believe it’s interesting enough.”
　　“Right. No one is interested in the Chinese women’s football team,” I replied, “because they don’t believe thatit’s interesting.”
　　“But if the team had someone competent to handle public relations, then that person could make people interested in the team - could, in effect, persuade people that it was interesting. Did you know that a good advertiser was able to turn Florida into a favorite vacation spot for old people and convince people that eating ice cream in winter was a good idea? Marketing and public relations don’t exist in China.”
　　His last remark was perhaps an exaggeration, but it is substantially true that Chinese lack marketing and public relations skills. And this is because they lack a subtle understanding of how language can be used. Without that understanding, they cannot create these skills or even readily assimilate them from other cultures. Americans are so adept at marketing and PR because they understand the power of language. If Chinese wish to communicate with Westerners, they must also come to understand this power.The path to such an understanding is the field known as rhetoric. Principles derived from rhetoric govern the use of language to shape opinion in the West.
　　Rhetoric means different things to different people, but essentially it is the analysis of language as power - as a way to communicate with others and persuade them to accept your views, but also as power to understand yourself and the world around you.
　　Thus rhetoric is about communication and self-expression.And you must first understand how others think and feel before you can enable them to understand how you think and feel.For example, if you were a Westerner applying for a job, you would first strive to tell the firm what you could do for them before telling the firm what they could do for you.As Americans put it, you have to do your homework before you go to a serious job interview:find out what the company does, what it needs, what its executives are looking for in potential employees.Then as much as possible present yourself in line with what you’ve discovered.Essentially this means that you must plan, order and adjust your words to suit your audience.
　　The assumption behind rhetoric is that we can only comprehend the world through language; it is language that shapes our understanding of the world and others. Accordingly, someone who can control language can shapeand perhaps even control others’ perceptions.That is why in America marketing and public relations are so pervasive-because Americans believe that language can be used to change the way people think, and that language is used to express oneself.
　　The Chinese view modesty as a virtue and easily equate self-expression with arrogance; they tend to be introspective, even introverted.
　　Little wonder then that they find rhetoric as alien as Western argumentativeness and outspokenness. However, if a Chinese wishes to communicate with an American, then heshould understand the Western approach to language first. And if a Chinese develops an awareness of rhetoric, he may eventually discover that he too, in some sphere or other of his life, has been using rhetoric without knowing it.
　　In the end, rhetoric is more than just an approach to language- it is a theory of life and living.
　�。ǜ兄x《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：周瑾

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