42种语言
42 languages
Hello I'm Rob. Welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm joined today by Finn.
大家好我是Rob。欢迎来到6分钟英语节目。今天我的搭档是Finn。
Hello. Or, as we say in Chinese, "你好，我是 Finn", which means "Hello, I'm Finn".
大家好，或者我们用中文说“你好，我是Finn”意思是“Hello, I‘m Finn”。
Ah, 你好. Where did you learn to speak Chinese?
呃，你好。你在哪学的中文?
At university. Though I must say I'm a bit rusty now!
在大学。但我不得不说现在已经生疏了。
Rusty? You look OK, but what you really mean is you're not as fluent as you were before!
生疏？你说的还不错啦，但你的意思是你不如以前说的流利？
That's right.
没错。
Learning, and practising, a language requires effort.
学了，就要练习，学语言需要下功夫。
But the children of the school in London that we're going to be hearing about today had no choice.
正如那些我们今天要去采访的伦敦一所学校的孩子们，他们同样别无选择。
They're from different countries and no less than 42 languages are spoken in the playground.
他们来自不同的国家，操场上至少能听到42种语言。
It's incredible! In the playground – that's the area in the schoolyard where children play during their break between lessons – they speak 42 languages?! Wow.
真令人难以置信！在操场上---那是他们课间休息的地方---他们竟然说42种语言？哇！
Yes. Of course they all have to learn English because they live here.
是的。 当然了，因为在这里生活，他们都要学习英语的。
But more on that in a moment.
但同时还学习其他的语言。
First, as the tradition goes,
首先，按照惯例。
I'm going to challenge you with a question, Finn.
我要问你一个问题，Finn。
OK. I'm ready or... 我准备好了!
好的，或者说“我准备好了！”
Huh?
啊？
I'm ready!
我准备好了。
OK. Which country has the most official languages? Is it:
好。哪个国家拥有的官方语种数量最多？它是
a) India
印度
b) Nigeria
尼日利亚
c) South Africa
南非
Good question. I would say India or Nigeria... Let's say Nigeria.
不错的问题哦，是印度还是尼日利亚呢……是尼日利亚。
OK. I will reveal the answer at the end of the programme!
好的。我会在节目最后揭晓答案。
So let's talk about Byron Court, a school with 600 pupils in north-west London.
让我们谈谈位于伦敦西北部有600名学生的拜伦宫廷学校。
The school gets high marks for integration.
这所学校用高分数体现整合的效果。
Marks - so here you mean scores in tests or exams.
分数--你指的是测验或考试中的分数？
They get high marks for integration - integration means bringing people together - as they have pupils from all over the world.
他们用高分体现整合效果----整合意味着让人们融合为一体---他们的学生正是来自于世界各地。
Yes, they come from places as far apart as Iraq, Somalia, India, Romania and Slovakia.
是的，他们来自偏远的伊拉克，索马里，印度，罗马尼亚和斯洛伐克。
Many are children of immigrants and refugees.
许多孩子是移民或是难民。
So how difficult is it for these children to learn English?
那这些孩子学习英语有多困难？
Well, let's listen to this pupil from Byron Court.
来，让我们听听这位来自拜伦宫廷学习的孩子是怎么说的。
Where did she learn her first words in English?
她在哪学的第一个英文单词。
When I was two years old I went to nursery and then I learnt a bit of English there.
在我2岁的时候我去了托儿所，在那学了一点英语。
And when I came here I got to learn all my English.
我来了这儿以后开始全面学习英语。
She says she began to learn English at nursery - that's a place where very young children are looked after while their parents are at work.
她说她是在托儿所开始学英语的 - 那是因为父母外出工作托管孩子的地方。
Byron Court's head teacher - the person in charge of a school - believes children feel integrated because she tries to celebrate all the different cultures and avoids suggesting one culture is better than the other.
拜伦宫廷的校长---这个学校的负责人----相信学生们会融洽相处，因为她总是试着赞美不同的文化并努力避免某种文化优于其他文化。
It all sounds very nice, Rob, but I wonder what happens in the classroom.
听起来不错，Rob， 但我很好奇教室里是怎么样的。
I mean, many pupils are learning basic words in English while, at the same time, studying things like science and maths also in English. So, quite a challenge?
我是说许多孩子用英语学习基础的单词，同时还用英语学习科学和数学。很有挑战性吧？
It is indeed a big problem.
这的确是个大问题。
So does this lower educational standards?
那么这会降低教育水准吗？
Those are the knowledge and skills students should have at a particular level.
也就是学生们对于知识应该掌握的一般水准。
Yes it does, but not for long, says Martyn Pendergast, educational officer at Brent Council, that's the area where the school is located.
“会的，但不会持续很长时间，”来自学校所在地布伦特区的教学主任Martyn Pendergast说到。
Listen out for the verb he uses which means testing children's performance.(Martin Pendergast, educational officer at Brent Council)
注意一下这些他用来测试孩子们的动词。（Martin Pendergast，布伦特区的教学主任）
In Brent our children perform just below national averages when they are assessed at seven years old.
“在布伦特，对7岁的孩子进行评估，这些孩子的表现会稍微低于平均水平。
But by the time they're 11 they've caught up with national standards, and at 16 they're flying.
但到了11岁的时候，他们已迎头赶上，到了16岁时，可以说是进步飞快。”
He says they are assessed - which means tested and given scores - when they are seven years old.
在他们7岁的时候进行评估 - 也就是接受测试和打分。
At that time they have worse results than children in other British schools.
那时候他们的结果要比英国其他的孩子们差。
But by the time they celebrate their 11th birthday, they've caught up - they've become equal with pupils of their age elsewhere in the country.
但当他们庆祝11岁生日的时候，他们已经迎头赶上了---他们已经拥有和任何地区同龄孩子相同的水平。
And by 16, he says, "they are flying", which is a nice way to describe these children's progress.
到了16岁，他说“他们进步飞快”用来形容孩子们的进步真是很恰当啊。
It's good for them because they end up as bilingual adults - speaking two languages fluently.
这对他们是有好处的，因为他们收获了双语---能流利的说两种语言。
So their effort pays off.
他们的付出有了回报。
At Byron Court the concern is more about pupils who are native speakers of English.
在拜伦宫廷学校，关注点更多放在了讲英语的本地学生身上。
Parents worry about their children not learning much.
家长们担心他们学的不够。
Maybe the best thing is for everybody to try to learn a second language.
也许最好让所有孩子都能尝试去学二语。
Not a bad thing in today's small world.
在如今这个世界不是坏事。
Talking about learning languages, I want to know if I got the answer to your question right.
说到学习语言，我想知道我的答案对不对。
The question was about the country with the most official languages.
关于哪个国家使用的官方语言最多的问题。
And the options I put to you were India, Nigeria or South Africa.
我给你的选项是印度，尼日利亚和南非。
And I said Nigeria. But... maybe I think India now.
我选的尼日利亚，但我现在觉得是印度。
Can I change my mind?
我可以改吗？
You can if you want because you'd still be wrong.
如果你想的话可以，因为你的答案还是错的。
Oh, no, really?
噢，不是吧，真的？
The country with most official languages is the Republic of South Africa with 11 languages.
拥有数量最多的官方语种的国家是南非共和国，11种。
Eleven!
11种！
Interestingly India has 18 languages that are recognised by its constitution and can be considered as official, however, the difference is that each language is recognised as the official language of a certain area such as Kashmir, for example.
有趣的是印度有18种被认可的语言作为官方语种， 然而，区别在于每种语言都被限定在某个地区作为官方语言使用，例如克什米尔语。
OK. Right. So I was kind of right in a different way.
好的，那在某种程度上来说我答对了。
The overall official language is Hindi.
通用的官方语言是北印度语。
Fascinating! Well, lots of languages to learn, in any case.
真有趣。无论如何，还是有很多语言可以学。
I'll stick with English for now.
目前我还是说英语吧。
It's time to wrap up.
是时候总结一下了。
OK
好的。
So let's remember some of the words we explained today.
让我们回顾一下我们今天解释过的单词。
They were:
它们是
Rusty
生锈，生疏
playground
操场
marks
分数
integration
整合，一体，融合
nursery
托儿所
head teacher
（英国）校长
educational standards
教育标准（水平）
assessed
被评估的
caught up
赶上，追上
bilingual
双语的
Merci beaucoup. Thank you, Finn. That's it for today.
非常感谢，Finn.今天就到这里。
But please do log on to bbclearningenglish.com to find more 6 Minute English.
请登录我们的网站bbclearningenglish.com浏览更多6分钟英语节目，再见。
Bye for now!
再见。
Bye or, as we say in China, 再见!
或者应该用中文说再见。