學習法語還有用嗎 A winner inthe battle of global tongues

What is the point of learning French? In a notoriously monoglot nation such as ours, the answer is usually something along the lines of the old justification for forcing cod-liver oil down children’s throats: it is good for you.

學法語的意義何在？在像英國這樣衆所周知的單語國家，答案通常是類似強迫孩子把魚肝油吞下去的古老理由：這對你有好處。

It is time to realise that in many parts of the world, being expected to learn French is positively bad for you. If you were to emerge from school unable to add up, you would, rightly, be furious. Yet it is possible to finish schooling all over the world fluent in French but ignorant of the skill absolutely necessary get by in the global economy: English.

是時候意識到這一點了：在世界很多地方，被期望學法語對你確實有壞處。如果你從學校畢業卻不會做加法，你理所應當地會感到憤怒。然而，在世界各地都可能發生以下這種情況：你在完成學業後能說一口流利的法語，卻不會說一門在全球化經濟中生存絕對必須掌握的語言——英語。

There is one big culprit for this absurd state of affairs. The bloc known as “La Francophonie” passes itself off as a pale imitation of the Commonwealth, if you can imagine anything quite so etiolated. Actually, the comparison is unfair to the Commonwealth , which is a well-meaning, low-key organisation doing good by stealth. La Francophonie has a more strident tone, promoting “active solidarity” (whatever that is) between member states, based on “the French language and its humanist values”.

這種荒謬的事態有一大罪魁禍首。名爲“法語國家組織”(La Francophonie)的聯盟假裝自己是一個類似英聯邦(Commonwealth)一樣的組織——如果你能設想如此蒼白無力的模仿的話。實際上，這種比較對英聯邦而言是不公平的。英聯邦是一個悄悄做好事的善意、低調的組織。法語國家組織的風格更爲激烈，旨在促進成員國之間基於“法語語言及其人文主義價值觀”的“積極團結”（誰知道這個詞是什麼意思）。

There is nothing inherently evil in promoting the teaching of French and its “humanist values”. And there is nothing wrong with encouraging the cultivation of dahlias. But we might look askance at an organisation which proclaimed that growing dahlias was the way to thrive in the 21st century.

促進法語教學及其“人文主義價值觀”教育在本質上並沒有什麼不好。鼓勵栽培大麗花也沒有什麼錯。但如果一個組織宣稱種植大麗花是在21世紀取得成功的方法，我們或許會用懷疑的眼光打量它。

In many of the countries where French is most actively taught — one thinks immediately of north Africa — the indigenous tongue is very different. So learning a foreign language which uses a different alphabet is no mean feat. The problem is not that French is impossible to learn: you can hear it spoken perfectly in Tunisia, Algeria or Morocco. No, the real problem with French is that it is a useless language.

在法國教學最積極的國家（人們馬上會想起北非）中，很多國家的母語與法語截然不同。因此學習一門使用不同字母的外國語言是一種了不起的成就。問題不在於法語不可能學會：在突尼斯、阿爾及利亞或者摩洛哥，你都能聽到人們說一口流利的法語。不，法語真正的問題是它是一門無用的語言。

Let us block our ears to the middle-class English and their forelock-tugging deference to France’s highly subsidised rural living, high-speed trains and “marvellous food”. Homage to Escoffier is no principle for modern life.

讓我們堵住耳朵，不去理會英國中產階級以及他們對法國的高補貼鄉村生活、高速列車和“絕世美食”的敬意。對頂級大廚奧古斯特•埃斯科菲耶(Auguste Escoffier)的崇敬並不是能夠指導現代生活的原則。

No one is going to deny that, historically, France has enhanced civilisation. European culture would be a thin thing without Montaigne, Descartes, Debussy and Cézanne, to say nothing of the dictator’s dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte. The problem is that it is all long past and the new world is anglophone. In the centuries-long struggle between English and French there is one victor, and to pretend otherwise is like suggesting that Johnny Hallyday is the future of pop.

沒人打算否認法國在歷史上促進了文明的發展。如果沒有蒙田(Montaigne)、笛卡爾(Descartes)、德彪西(Debussy)和塞尚(Cézanne)，更不必說第一個現代獨裁者拿破崙•波拿巴(Napoleon Bonaparte)，歐洲文化將單薄得多。問題在於，這些早已成爲過去，英語是新世界的通用語。英語和法語長達數世紀的鬥爭決出了一個勝者，假裝結果不是這樣就像是說約翰尼•阿利代(Johnny Hallyday)是流行音樂的未來一樣。

There is really no reason for the British to gloat about this victory, for it is much more to do with the legacy of an empire built generations ago, and with the dominance of the US in the modern world. But the outcome of the struggle is clear: English is the language of science, technology, travel, entertainment and sport. To be a citizen of the world it is the one language that you must have.

對於這場勝利，英國人真的沒有什麼理由沾沾自喜，因爲決定這場勝利的，主要是一個在數代人以前建立的帝國的遺產以及美國在現代世界的主導地位。但這場鬥爭的結果很明確：英語是科學、技術、旅行、娛樂和運動的語言。要當一個世界公民，英語就是你必須掌握的那一門語言。

How the French government chooses to spend its money is its affair. For most of us, the only important question is whether promoting French language and values does any good. When the one-time German South West Africa attained independence as Namibia, it sensibly adopted English as its official language, for the very good reason that it would give its citizens a future.

法國政府選擇如何花錢是它自己的事。對我們大多數人來說，唯一重要的問題是推廣法語及其價值觀能否帶來任何好處。當曾經的德屬西南非州(German South West Africa)以納米比亞的身份獲得獨立後，該國理智地採用英語作爲官方語言，因爲一個充分的理由：英語會給該國公民一個未來。

The truth is that while other imperial powers were running down their flags around the world, France never really decolonised. Promotion of the French language and its supposed values is just another form of imperialism.

真相是，當其他帝國主義國家在全世界各地降下自己的旗幟時，法國從未真正地去殖民化。推行法語及其所謂的價值觀只不過是帝國主義的另一種形式。

There is absolutely nothing wrong with studying any language as a hobby or mental discipline. But let us not pretend that understanding Sanskrit has great practical value.

作爲一種愛好或者頭腦訓練方式學習任何語言當然沒有任何過錯。但讓我們不要再假裝懂得梵文有很大的實用價值。

If you are a native English speaker, by all means learn Chinese or Arabic or Spanish. If you must, study French, because it is a beautiful language. But let us have no truck with suggestions that it is much worth learning as a medium of communication.

如果你的母語是英語，請務必學習中文、阿拉伯語或者西班牙語。如果你非要學法語，那就學吧，因爲它是一門美麗的語言。但請拒絕接受法語作爲溝通媒介非常值得學習的說法。