策马优课（南京）丨英国脱欧会导致英语地位下降吗?

小马驹南京策马翻译 2022-10-02

策马优课，带你玩转高大上英文外刊，指点超地道规范表达，四两拨千斤，晦涩难懂秒变口语日常~

大家好，这里是最新出炉的策马优课（南京）第14期栏目！Ryan老师又来和大家见面了！

本期为大家讲解的这篇文章来自《Economist 经济学人》，是一篇关于自英国脱欧后，英语这门语言在欧盟的地位的讨论。

下面就让我们来听一听老师的深入讲解吧~

此处奉上策马优课（南京）第14期的音频，让老师带着我们将音频解析、英文文本、词汇整理一网打尽！

English in theEU：Lingua franca

Britain is leaving. Its language is staying

“SLOWLY but surely, English is losing importance,” quipped Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, before switching to French for a speech on May 5th. Is this true? Not really, and it seems not to have been intended as seriously as easily oﬀended British headline-writers took it. After all, Mr Juncker, who is known for going oﬀ-script inspeeches, delivered his barb in English, and the audience laughed.

In any case,speakers of la langue de Shakespearehave little to worry about. The European Union has 24 oﬃcial languages, three of them considered “working languages”: French, German and English. Eurocrats are polyglots,often able to speak all three tongues, plus another of their own. Mr Juncker maybe right that in the halls of the EU’s institutions, English will be heardsomewhat less after Brexit, simply because of the exodusof a big group of Anglophones.

But English isnot just British: it is also an oﬃcial language inIreland and Malta. More important, the three enlargements of the EU since 2004 have decisively shiftedthe balance in Brussels from French towards English. There is no consensus forgoing back, still less for switching to German.

Besides,English is putting down deep roots among ordinary people on the continent. Forall of France’s notorious linguistic nationalism, it is telling that François Hollande, the outgoing president, was mockedon Le Petit Journal, a news and entertainment show, for his ropey English. Emmanuel Macron,a generation younger, is ﬂuent. Fully 66% of EU citizens speak anotherlanguage, a number that is growing steadily.

词汇整理:

School voucher:

lingua franca (讲不同母语的人之间的)通用语 [正式]

A quip isa remark that is intended be amusing or clever. 俏皮话; 妙语

让·克洛德·容克（Jean-Claude Juncker），委员会主席

European Commission：欧盟委员会

European Council：欧洲理事会

Off-script 脱稿

A barb isan unkind remark meant as a criticism of someone or something. 讽刺; 伤人的话或事

Eurocrat ：欧盟行政官员

A polyglot is aperson who speaks or understands many languages. 通晓数种语言的人

exodus大批离开