如何让人听懂你的英语

　　　　In an interview before this month’s England-France rugby match, I heard a BBC reporter ask Serge Betsen, the former French international, about the time he “knocked seven bells” out of the opposition at the same ground.
　　　　本月英法橄榄球赛开赛前，BBC一位记者在采访前法国名将塞吉 贝森(Serge Betsen)时，问起他在同一场地“痛揍”(knocked seven bells)对手的时候是什么感受？
　　　　I winced. Mr Betsen’s English is pretty good, but how was he to make sense of such an obscure expression? He seemed to manage. Either he guessed from the context, or, having played in England, he had heard it used before.
　　　　我倒抽了一口冷气。贝森的英语很好，但这么晦涩的表达他能听懂吗？他似乎能够应付过来。要么是通过语境猜测的，要么是因为以前在英国打球的时候听过这种表达法。
　　　　By contrast, when another Frenchman, the former footballer Eric Cantona, managed the New York Cosmos in a match against his old club Manchester United, he seemed to fail to understand the question: “What will it be like in the away dugout?” It was odd, perhaps, after his years in the game, but it shows that native speakers need to take care when talking to people for whom English is a second language.
　　　　但另外一位法国人，前足球运动员埃里克 坎通纳(Eric Cantona)带领纽约宇宙队在一次比赛上邂逅了他此前效力的曼联俱乐部，他似乎并没有理解“What will it be like in the away dugout？”这个问题。这或许有些奇怪，毕竟他踢了那么多年球，但这也证明，英语为母语的人在与那些以英语为第二语言的人交流的时候要格外用心。
　　　　It is an issue I have been aware of ever since I heard about an Austrian banker who said: “I always find it easier to do business [in English] with partners from Greece or Russia or Denmark. But when the Irish call, it gets complicated and taxing.”
　　　　一位奥地利银行家说：“我总认为，与希腊、俄罗斯、或者丹麦的合作者（用英语）做生意要容易得多。但要碰到爱尔兰人打来电话，理解起来真的很复杂很费事。”当时听到这番话后，我开始意识到了这个问题。
　　　　As I wrote recently, those speaking English as a second language frequently say they find it easier to talk to each other than to someone from the US, the UK, Canada, Ireland or Australia.
　　　　我最近的写作中也提到，以英语为第二语言的人往往认为，他们彼此之间的交流要比和那些来自美国、英国、加拿大、爱尔兰或者澳大利亚的人交流容易得多。
　　　　Over the past few months, I have been keeping a note of the (surely) incomprehensible expressions I have heard native English speakers use when speaking to cosmopolitan audiences. One Englishman described a recent controversial report as “a bit of a tree shaker”. He said of a group making some anti-establishment proposals: “They don’t want to be seen as pony-tailed.”
　　　　过去的几个月，我一直在记录以英语为母语的人在与世界各地居民交流时口中“蹦出来”的晦涩词语。比如一个英国人将最近一篇争议颇多的报告描述为“像台振动采种机”(tree shaker)。他这么说一群提出反正统提议的人：“他们不想被看成是扎着马尾辫的人。”
　　　　Other native English speakers used expressions such as “get slightly short shrift”, “pin their hopes on” or “shrug off”, apparently unaware that only the most advanced English learner would understand them.
　　　　以英语为母语的人还会用到一些表达法，诸如“get slightly short shrift”、“pin their hopes on”、“shrug off”等，他们似乎没有意识到，只有英语学得很好的人才能理解这些用语。
　　　　Anyone wanting to get to the top of international business, medicine or academia (but possibly not sport) needs to be able to speak English to a pretty high level. Equally, any native English speaker wanting to deal with these new high achievers needs to know how to talk without baffling them.
　　　　在国际商业、医学、学术（可能不包括体育）领域，任何人想要登上顶峰，都需要学会很流利地说英语。同样，以英语为母语的人如果要与这些新取得卓著成就的人打交道，就要学会说不绕口的英语。
　　　　Because so many English-speakers today are monoglots, they have little idea how difficult it is to master another language. Many think the best way to make foreigners understand is to be chatty and informal. This may seem friendly but, as it probably involves using colloquial expressions (“shall we crack on then?”), it makes comprehension harder.
　　　　因为现在很多说英语的人都只会这门语言，他们不知道掌握一门外语有多难。很多人认为，让外国人听懂你说话的最佳方式就是不要说得太正式。这或许显得很友好，因为可能会用到很多口语（比如 “shall we crack on then?”），但却让人更难以理解。
　　　　Speaking slowly helps, but more important is avoiding figurative or idiomatic expressions. You may think you’ve bent over backwards to make yourself clear and that understanding your English is a piece of cake, but your audience is unlikely to have the foggiest idea what you are on about. Phrasal verbs (verb plus a particle) are another bugbear for non-native English speakers: imagine trying to understand the difference between “I couldn’t put up with him” and “I agreed to put him up”. Far better to say “I couldn’t tolerate him” and “I agreed to offer him accommodation”. The words may be longer but the meaning is easier to grasp.
　　　　语速放慢会让人更好听懂，但更重要的是，要避免使用修饰语或者是习惯用语。你费了九牛二虎之力，以为你已经清楚表达了自己的意思，别人要理解你说的话就是小菜一碟，但听者可能根本就不知道你在说什么。对于非英语国家的人来说，短语动词（动词加小品词）也很让人伤脑筋：试想一下，理解“我受不了他”(I couldn’t put up with him)和“我同意为他提供住宿”(I agreed to put him up)的区别有多难。还不如说得直白一点呢。或许句子会比较长，但意思却更好理解。
　　　　Academic studies have shown that learners of English go to great lengths to avoid using phrasal verbs. They are happier to try when the meaning is literal, such as “go out” or “take away”. Figurative phrasal verbs, such as “let down” or “brush up on”, are a real problem, even for speakers of languages such as Dutch that have very similar constructions. And as people have difficulty using phrasal verbs, they are probably not that keen on hearing them either.
　　　　学术研究显示，学英语的人会尽力避免使用动词短语。但如果是“go out”、“take away”等意思比较直接的短语，他们还是乐意使用的。诸如“let down”、“brush up on”等带比喻色彩的动词短语，即使对于讲荷兰语之类语言（语言结构与英语极为相似）的人来说也是个问题。既然人们使用这些动词短语很困难，当然也就不希望别人口中冒出这些字眼。
　　　　The greatest friend to anyone trying to understand another language is repetition: not saying the same thing over and over again, but saying it in different ways. “So, Eric Cantona, you were a great Manchester United player. They loved you here. Now you’re on the other side. You’re their opponent. How does that make you feel? What will it be like in the away dugout?”
　　　　要让人听懂外语，最有效的方式就是重复：当然不是反复不停地说同样的话，而是用不同的表达来重复。比如可以这么说：“埃里克 坎通纳，你曾经是曼联的一位优秀球员，大家都很喜欢你。但你现在属于另一边，成为他们的对手。队友变成了对手，对此你有什么感想？”
　　　　Even if he fails to understand the final question, the rest will compensate (and note how we avoid using the complicated phrase “will make up for it”).
　　　　即使他没能理解最后一句话，整个语境也会帮助（compensate，注意，在这里我们避免了使用“make up for”这一复杂短语）他理解。