這一週在臺北過得相當充實。除了訓練自己重溫臺灣國語,需要說英語的時候,我也一如往常堅持說標準英語,儘管很多人說我有廣東口音,我也堅持說一口有聲調的英語。
星馬地區說的英語通常平淡無聲調,而且參雜了一大堆馬來語、粵語、閩南語詞彙,反正大家都以為會說幾個英文字就是懂英文,所以很多人說著狗屁不通的星式或馬式英語也以為自己說著國際標準的英語,但若要檢驗他們的英文程度,他們是應該為自己無能力掌握標準英語而覺得羞恥。
身為一個譯者,我時時提醒自己必須說國際英語,千萬不可變成那些自以為掌握英文的人的那個模樣。人望高處,水往低流,亦是一輩子提升語文專業能力的必備態度。
I have had a fruitful week in Taipei. Other than training myself to speak proper Taiwanese Mandarin, I also spoke standard English with intonation whenever I needed to speak English. The fact that many find mine to be a Cantonese-English accent doesn’t stop me to always insist to speak English with intonation.
In Malaysia and Singapore, people usually speak a special variety of English which mixes with Malay, Cantonese and Hokkien terms. It is normal that people who speak several words of English thought themselves to be speaking standard and proper English. If we are to examine their English standard, they should feel shame for their failure to master standard English.
As a translator, I always remind myself to always speak international English and never allow myself to become one of those lousy speakers. If you are to master professional language standard, you need to look up to the better speakers and refuse to stoop to lower standard.
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