英語能否維持其世界通用語的地位
Globalization in English as Lingua Franca
(Financial Times, August 20, 2013) —What do Airbus, Nokia and Rwanda have in common? They all regard English as their preferred language, writes Michael Skapinker. As a European aircraft manufacturer with French, German, British and Spanish roots, Airbus has always used English as its common language. Nokia, the mobile phone maker based in Finland, uses the language as its gateway to the world. And Rwanda has adopted English as an official language and promotes its use in its education system.
專欄作家Michael Skapinker指出，空中巴士(Airbus)、諾基亞(Nokia)和盧安達有什麼共同點呢？答案是它們都把英語當作它們的首選語言。作為一家擁有法國、德國、英國和西班牙「血統」的歐洲飛機製造商，空中巴士公司一直將英語作為其通用的語言。對於總部位在芬蘭的手機製造商諾基亞(Nokia)來說，英語就是其通向世界的大門。而盧安達，則將英語定為其官方語言之一，並在教育系統中推廣使用。
There have been languages before that have been widely spoken. In his book The Last Lingua Franca, Nicholas Ostler writes that in 100AD a traveller could go from Spain to the Hindu Kush speaking Greek all the way. But no language has ever been spoken in as many places as English is today.
以前也有一些語言曾得到廣泛使用。Nicholas Ostler在其著作「最後的通用語言 (The Last Lingua Franca)」一書中寫道，西元100年時，如果一名旅行者從西班牙走到興都庫什山脈，沿途他只需說希臘語便可與人交流。但是，從來沒有哪種語言能像今天的英語一樣在如此多的地區得到使用。
When a Brazilian meets a German, they will almost certainly speak to each other in English. In business conferences from Berlin to São Paulo, it is taken for granted that speeches will be in English. In many sectors, such as banking and management consultancy, it would be impossible to rise to the top without fluent English.
當一名巴西人遇見一名德國人，他們彼此幾乎肯定會用英語來交流。從柏林到聖保羅，商務會議上的發言理所當然地會用英語來完成。在銀行和管理諮詢等諸多行業，一個人如果英語不流利，是不可能晉升到高層的。
Such is English’s importance in business that those who speak it can earn significantly more. A British Council report, The Benefits of the English Language for Individuals and Societies: Quantitative Indicators from Cameroon, Nigeria, Rwanda, Bangladesh and Pakistan, found English speakers in those countries earned 25 percent more than colleagues who didn’t speak the language. In Rwanda, in some jobs the difference was 181 percent.
英語對商業是如此重要，以至於會說英語的人的收入可比不會說英語的人多出許多。英國文化協會的一份報告「英語對個人和社會的好處：喀麥隆、奈及利亞、盧安達、孟加拉和巴基斯坦的量化指標」中可發現，這些國家中，會說英語的人其收入比不會說英語的同事多出25%。在盧安達的一些工作中，這項差距還可達到181%。
Does this mean native English speakers can expect to get the best jobs? Not necessarily. First, they are more likely to be monoglot – to speak no languages other than English. Non-native English-speaking business high-flyers can manage in both English and their own language, which is helpful in dealing with local customers.
這是否意味著母語為英語的人有望得到最好的工作？不一定。首先，他們更有可能只懂一門語言，意即他們不會說除英文之外的任何其他語言。母語非英語的業界精英人士既能使用英語又能使用自己的母語，這有利於他們與當地的客戶打交道。
Second, studies have shown international business gatherings in English often proceed more smoothly when there are no native English speakers around. The native English speakers often speak too quickly and use metaphors the others do not understand. Jean-Paul Nerrière, a French former IBM executive who observed this at many meetings, promoted what he called Globish, composed of 1,500 English words he said were perfectly adequate for business purposes.
其次，研究表明，當沒有母語為英語的人在場時，使用英語的國際商務會議往往進行得更順利。母語為英語的人常常語速太快，而且會使用其他人不懂的隱喻。前IBM高階主管─法國人尚•保羅•內裡埃在許多會議上都注意到了這個現象，因此他著手推廣其所稱的「全球語」。全球語由1500個英語單詞組成，內裡埃表示，它們足以滿足商務交流需要。
But could English be supplanted by another global business language, such as Mandarin? It could happen, but given the time and effort learning a new language requires, it is difficult to see English being supplanted for at least several decades.
不過英語有沒有可能被另一門全球商務語言（如中文）取代呢？有可能。但考慮到學習一門新語言費時費力，英語至少在幾十年內都很難被取代。
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