VOA慢速英语2011--Economy Pushes Spanish to Learn English

Education Report - Economy Pushes Spanish to Learn English

教育报道 - 经济衰退推动西班牙人学英语
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道。
Spain is struggling with a recession¹. More than one in five Spaniards are out of work. Unemployment is the highest of the seventeen nations that use the euro. But one area of the economy that seems to be doing well is English classes.
西班牙正疲于应对经济衰退。超过1/5的西班牙人失业，在17个欧元区国家中，西班牙失业率最高。但还有一个经济领域状况似乎不错，那就是英语学习班。
A report this year from the EF Education First company listed Spain is a "low proficiency²" country in English. Spain ranked just below Italy and just above Taiwan.
英孚教育本年度的一份报告将西班牙列为英语“低熟练度”国家，其排名介于意大利和台湾之间。
About a fifth of the world speaks Spanish.
全球大约1/5人口使用西班牙语。
(SOUND)
There are many Spanish language TV shows and movies. Spaniards can also watch Hollywood movies dubbed³ in Spanish or news from Latin America.
全球有很多西班牙语电视节目和电影。西班牙人还可以观看西班牙语配音的好莱坞电影，或来自拉丁美洲的新闻。
注：拉丁美洲大部分国家以西班牙语为官方语言。
One of the few English voices on Spanish TV belongs to Richard Vaughan.
西班牙电视台上为数不多的英语声音之一来自理查德·沃恩（Richard Vaughan）。
RICHARD VAUGHAN: "Hello and welcome back to another half-hour segment⁴ of Cloverdale's Corner. Today is Tuesday, and Lourdes has had to leave but we still have four people here ... "
沃恩：“大家好，欢迎收看Cloverdale's Corner又一期半小时的节目。今天是星期二，卢德不得不离开了，但还有我们四个...”
Richard Vaughan is from Texas but for thirty-five years has lived in Spain. He operates that country's biggest English teaching company. It even has its own TV channel. "Aprende Ingles" -- Learn English -- is Spain's only national channel in English.
沃恩来自美国德克萨斯州，他已经西班牙居住了35年。他经营着西班牙最大的英语教学公司，该公司甚至有自己的电视频道。“Aprende Ingles”是西班牙唯一的全国性英语电视频道。
注:Aprende Ingles是西班牙语，意思是Learn English。
He says people watch his channel and take his classes to get a better job.
他说，人们观看他的电视节目，参加他的英语课程以找到更好的工作。
RICHARD VAUGHAN: "People don't learn English here for cultural reasons. Some do. But the motive⁵ is always, ninety-nine percent of the time, professional."
沃恩：“这里的人们学习英语不是出于文化原因，当然有些人也许是。但99%的人学英语的动机是出于职业原因。”
Modern changes in the world economy -- globalization -- may offer chances for a better job in another country. But economic problems at home can also make people feel they have few other choices.
世界经济的近代嬗变，也就是所谓的全球化，可能在其他国家能够提供一个更好的工作机会。但国内的经济问题也会使人们感觉选择余地不多。
NICK BYRNE: "People realize, you know, they are not only going to have to be mobile out of a choice, but they are going to have to be mobile because of necessity."
尼克·伯恩：“人们意识到，他们不但将因为自主选择，还将因为需求而不得不在全球流动。”
Nick Byrne is director of the language center at the London School of Economics⁶.
伯恩是伦敦经济学院语言中心主任。
NICK BYRNE: "We found that, in our university language centers across the UK and indeed across Europe, that language learning is up. We're not talking about people doing a whole degree in languages, but people going on evening courses -- English courses particularly."
伯恩：“我们发现，在整个英国乃至整个欧洲的大学语言中心，语言学习的人数在上升。我们说的并不是读语言学位的人，而是参加晚间制语言课程尤其是英语课程的人。”
In Spain, some of those studying English hope for jobs in Britain or the United States. But others want to work for international companies with offices in Spain. Many companies now require workers to be bilingual.
在西班牙，一些学习英语的人希望在英国或美国找到工作。但也有人希望在跨国公司驻西班牙办事处工作。现在很多公司都要求员工会两种语言。
Dominic Campbell is an American who lives in Madrid and teaches English part time.
多米尼克·坎贝尔（Dominic Campbell）是一位居住在西班牙马德里，兼职教英语的美国人。
DOMINIC CAMPBELL: "It's a lot of jobs now are actually mandatory⁷ that you know at least two languages and a lot of them actually want at least Spanish and English. And, a lot of them are asking for Spanish, English and French -- especially airlines."
坎贝尔：“现在很多工作实际上强制性要求你至少会两种语言，其中大部分要求至少会西班牙语和英语。甚至很多工作要求会西班牙语、英语和法语，特别是航空公司。”
Mr. Campbell says many of his students thought speaking Spanish was enough.
卡贝尔先生表示，他的许多学生曾认为会西班牙语就够了。
DOMINIC CAMPBELL: "They just think, you know, 'My English is poor, I don't want to speak it, I don't want to learn how to speak it. I've got Spanish, that's all I need.'"
坎贝尔：“他们只是觉得，‘我的英语很差，我不想说也不想学英语，我已经会西班牙语，这就够了。’”
But people also need jobs. More than forty percent of Spaniards in their twenties are out of work. Inigo Gomez has a degree in education.
但人们还需要工作。二十多岁的年轻人中，超过40%没有工作。伊尼戈·戈麦斯(Inigo Gomez)拥有教育学学位。
INIGO GOMEZ: "I'm a teacher, and I couldn't find a job here. So I think it's a good idea to go to the United Kingdom and try to find a job as a Spanish teacher."
戈麦斯：“我是一名教师，我在西班牙找不到工作。所以我认为最好去英国，找一份西班牙语教师的工作。”
And while he does that, many Spaniards for the first time will be spreading their new education in English at home.
而与此同时，很多西班牙人将首次在国内普及英语方面的教育。
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report. I'm Bob Doughty⁸.
___
Contributing: Lauren Frayer

1 recession   

n.（工商业的）衷退（期），萧条（期）

参考例句：

• Manufacturing fell sharply under the impact of the recession.受到经济萧条的影响，制造业急剧衰退。
• A rise in interest rates plunged Britain deeper into recession.利率的提高导致英国经济更加萧条。

2 proficiency   

n.精通，熟练，精练

参考例句：

• He plied his trade and gained proficiency in it.他勤习手艺，技术渐渐达到了十分娴熟的地步。
• How do you think of your proficiency in written and spoken English?你认为你的书面英语和口语熟练程度如何？

3 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 segment   

n.切片，部分，段，节

参考例句：

• The company dominates this segment of the market.这家公司控制着这一部分市场。
• Give me a segment of a tangerine to taste.给我一瓣柑橘尝一尝。

5 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

6 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

7 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

8 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。