編者按： 　　隨著2008年奧運會的臨近，民眾越來越關(guān)心“中國”品牌的樹立，學(xué)習(xí)英語的熱情也被點燃。越來越多的外宣干部和業(yè)內(nèi)同行向我們表達了期待看到雙語欄目的期望。因此，我們從2006年第一期起開辦了《雙語視窗》欄目以滿足廣大讀者的需求。
　　看看周圍的媒體，《北京青年報》、《參考消息》、《國門時報》上有許多精粹的小短文，像一只只啄木鳥，善意地提醒了中國人習(xí)以為常的行為背后“尚未和國際接軌”的細節(jié)，讀后讓人回味不已，在獲得借鑒意義的同時，也帶來更深入的思考。我們效仿中英文對照的版面形式，旨在通過外國友人的視角來看中國，從中折射出東西方觀念、習(xí)俗的異同。通過一篇篇這樣的文章，讓讀者在領(lǐng)略異域文化的同時，也能達到學(xué)習(xí)英語的目的。
　　
　　不管你是否愿意，英語已經(jīng)成為用于交流的一種國際語言，當(dāng)更多的人以普通話為母語時，英語則成為使用最多的第二語言。大多數(shù)來中國的外國旅游者至少會懂英語。
　　很多中國的機構(gòu)，無論是國有的還是私營的，都已決定在他們的宣傳冊和標(biāo)志中使用英文，但所用英文往往有很多地方有待改進，下面就是個例子，摘自在其他各方面都很出色的北京古建筑博物館，錯誤英文的相應(yīng)中文是：
　　燕省是來自南一點兒和北一點兒瓷器的少數(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，這段話對于母語是說英文的人都很難懂，更別說那些英語水平不高的人了。這種傷痕累累的英語初看會讓人覺得可笑，但看上一會兒就會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有英文說明。就我個人來說，但愿我能直接看懂中文說明，可我不行，而絕大多數(shù)外國參觀者也不行。如果這個世界要對中國五千年文明的豐富與輝煌有更好的理解，那么在文化場所、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。
　　我極為喜愛秦腔。我在蘭州大學(xué)任教期間，晚上常常在東方紅廣場站上幾個小時聽秦腔。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。在長安大戲院所看的一場演出讓我開始想到了北京文化場所的英語翻譯存在的問題。那天晚上的演出在視覺上漂亮極了，唱得也好，但提供的英文字幕卻十分怪異，以至于觀眾在一個極為不宜的時刻爆笑起來。我在此處所談及的英文錯誤包括語句不通順、語法錯誤、拼寫錯誤以及行尾不正確的斷字回行。下面是《大鬧天宮》里的一個例子，譯成中文相當(dāng)于：
　　“……為何一點兒皆沒吉樣的竹本蛋，眼前一片悄悄靜，沒有一點兒的惡燈？”(注②)
　　當(dāng)你不得不琢磨這種費解的英文時，就使你無法欣賞劇目了。請記住，我真心地?zé)釔壑袊�文化。試想，�?dāng)老外們必須一步步地才能喜歡上難懂而奇異，但受到無限稱贊的藝術(shù)形式如京劇時，糟糕的英文譯文會使情況怎樣呢？
　　我和我的“二外”學(xué)生談起這事時，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)在一個小范圍內(nèi)開始了這項工作。我們很高興地看到，頤和園已經(jīng)達到了很不錯的水準(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所都做成那樣該多好呀！
　　但事實上，提高各種標(biāo)志上的英文水平所需要做的工作比我們設(shè)想的要多，并且需要大量的協(xié)作。有時候，一個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，重來就要花費很多錢。作為部分的、短期的解決辦法就是準(zhǔn)備出英語和其他語言的小冊子，在外國參觀者購買門票時發(fā)給他們。
　　但這是一項必須在更大范圍內(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，我也愿意協(xié)助翻譯京劇唱詞。
　　由母語是英語的老外和大學(xué)英語專業(yè)的學(xué)生組成的小隊可以帶著他們的筆記本電腦去文化場所對英文進行現(xiàn)場更正，或是給沒有英文的地方加上英文，這對于學(xué)生們提高英語水平同時又服務(wù)于社會是多么好的機會呀！政府可以為好心的老外提供一個熱線電話，以便于他們報告在公共場所發(fā)現(xiàn)的令人糊涂的英文錯誤，或是報告還沒有任何英文標(biāo)志的重要場所。
　　當(dāng)2008奧運會到來時，全世界的注意力將被吸引到中國來。我們必須在這方面努力，使外國人屆時能夠欣賞到中國文化的燦爛。
　　注①原意為：燕國是中國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自中原的文化影響。
　　注②原意為：……為何這里沒有一片祥云，眼前一片靜悄悄，沒有一點光亮？
　�。ū疚淖髡攥F(xiàn)在北京第二外國語學(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《雙語視窗》欄目張愛學(xué)編輯對本文提供的支持。）
　　責(zé)編：雷向晴

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