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随着2008年奥运会的临近，民众越来越关心“中国”品牌的树立，学习英语的热情也被点燃。越来越多的外宣干部和业内同行向我们表达了期待看到双语栏目的期望。因此，我们从2006年第一期起开办了《双语视窗》栏目以满足广大读者的需求。
看看周围的媒体，《北京青年报》、《参考消息》、《国门时报》上有许多精粹的小短文，像一只只啄木鸟，善意地提醒了中国人习以为常的行为背后“尚未和国际接轨”的细节，读后让人回味不已，在获得借鉴意义的同时，也带来更深入的思考。我们效仿中英文对照的版面形式，旨在通过外国友人的视角来看中国，从中折射出东西方观念、习俗的异同。通过一篇篇这样的文章，让读者在领略异域文化的同时，也能达到学习英语的目的。
不管你是否愿意，英语已经成为用于交流的一种国际语言，当更多的人以普通话为母语时，英语则成为使用最多的第二语言。大多数来中国的外国旅游者至少会懂英语。
很多中国的机构，无论是国有的还是私营的，都已决定在他们的宣传册和标志中使用英文，但所用英文往往有很多地方有待改进，下面就是个例子，摘自在其他各方面都很出色的北京古建筑博物馆，错误英文的相应中文是：
燕省是来自南一点儿和北一点儿瓷器的少数民族交又一起居的唯一地区，从这里出土的海量那文物代表了拿自那中原的文化影响。(注①)
我敢说，这段话对于母语是说英文的人都很难懂，更别说那些英语水平不高的人了。这种伤痕累累的英语初看会让人觉得可笑，但看上一会儿就会让你连想都不想搞懂它们了。
此外，很多有意思的文化展品根本就没有英文说明。就我个人来说，但愿我能直接看懂中文说明，可我不行，而绝大多数外国参观者也不行。如果这个世界要对中国五千年文明的丰富与辉煌有更好的理解，那么在文化场所、博物馆以及展品前用正确的英文给出更好更完整的解释则是必不可缺的。
我极为喜爱秦腔。我在兰州大学任教期间，晚上常常在东方红广场站上几个小时听秦腔。在去剧院看正式的秦腔演出之前，我先了解那些故事和剧中人物，这样就能理解表演。在北京，我看了京剧。在长安大戏院所看的一场演出让我开始想到了北京文化场所的英语翻译存在的问题。那天晚上的演出在视觉上漂亮极了，唱得也好，但提供的英文字幕却十分怪异，以至于观众在一个极为不宜的时刻爆笑起来。我在此处所谈及的英文错误包括语句不通顺、语法错误、拼写错误以及行尾不正确的断字回行。下面是《大闹天宫》里的一个例子，译成中文相当于：
“……为何一点儿皆没吉样的竹本蛋，眼前一片悄悄静，没有一点儿的恶灯？”(注②)
当你不得不琢磨这种费解的英文时，就使你无法欣赏剧目了。请记住，我真心地热爱中国文化。试想，当老外们必须一步步地才能喜欢上难懂而奇异，但受到无限称赞的艺术形式如京剧时，糟糕的英文译文会使情况怎样呢？
我和我的“二外”学生谈起这事时，他们建议我们作为志愿者帮助文化单位更正标签和标志上的英文，并且与当地工作人员一起把中文内容翻译成英文。我们已经在一个小范围内开始了这项工作。我们很高兴地看到，颐和园已经达到了很不错的水准：那儿的英文解释很充分，几乎完全正确。如果全北京的文化场所都做成那样该多好呀！
但事实上，提高各种标志上的英文水平所需要做的工作比我们设想的要多，并且需要大量的协作。有时候，一个地方我们必须去三趟才能确信已经准确地理解了要翻译什么。有些地方的不正确英文已经刻在了石头上或是铸到了青铜上，重来就要花费很多钱。作为部分的、短期的解决办法就是准备出英语和其他语言的小册子，在外国参观者购买门票时发给他们。
但这是一项必须在更大范围内所做的工作，并且需要更好的合作，绝非我们“二外”这一小拨儿人所能做的。令人高兴的是，北京奥组委正在着手做这件事。作为一名退休的美军上校，我特别愿意帮助军事博物馆的工作人员。不用说，我也愿意协助翻译京剧唱词。
由母语是英语的老外和大学英语专业的学生组成的小队可以带着他们的笔记本电脑去文化场所对英文进行现场更正，或是给没有英文的地方加上英文，这对于学生们提高英语水平同时又服务于社会是多么好的机会呀！政府可以为好心的老外提供一个热线电话，以便于他们报告在公共场所发现的令人糊涂的英文错误，或是报告还没有任何英文标志的重要场所。
当2008奥运会到来时，全世界的注意力将被吸引到中国来。我们必须在这方面努力，使外国人届时能够欣赏到中国文化的灿烂。
注①原意为：燕国是中国南方和北方的居民混居的地方。这里出土的大量文物表明了来自中原的文化影响。
注②原意为：……为何这里没有一片祥云，眼前一片静悄悄，没有一点光亮？
（本文作者现在北京第二外国语学院任教）
原文：
Like it or not, English has become the international language of communication. While more people speak Mandarin as a native tongue, English is the language most used as a second language. The majority of international travelers who come to China have at least a basic understanding of English.
Many Chinese organizations, public and private, have decided to use English in their brochures and signs. Too often the English leaves a great deal to be desired. Here's an example from the otherwise excellent Beijing Museum of Ancient Architecture:
Yan state is the area where the minority nationalities from te souther an
d norther China crisscrissly inhabited together,the big amount of the relics excavated from te area embodies the cultural influence getting from the cen
tral China...
I can assure you that this is a challenge for native speakers to decipher, let alone people with only a modest grasp of the language. Tortured English may cause a certain amusement at first, but after a while people stop even trying to make sense of it.
Moreover, many interesting cultural exhibits have no English explanations at all. Personally, I wish I could read the Chinese explanations directly, but I can't, and neither can the vast majority of non-Chinese visitors. If the world is ever to have a stronger sense of the richness and splendor of China's 5,000-year-old culture, better and more complete information in good English at cultural sites, museums and exhibits is indispensable.
I love Qinqiang opera very much. When I taught at Lanzhou University, I used to stand for hours on the Dongfanghong Guangchang listening to the evening performances. Before going to formal performances in the opera houses, I studied the stories and characters so that I would understand the action. Here in Beijing I have attended Jingju performances. A performance at the Chang'an Theater first got me thinking about the problem of English translation at Beijing cultural sites. The performance that night was visually beautiful and well sung, but the English translation provided was so oddly worded that at one very inappropriate moment the audience broke into laughter. The errors I am talking about include unidiomatic English, grammatical blunders, misspellings and improper word division at the end of the lines. Here's an example from Wreaking Havoc in Heaven:
??How is it there's not augspicius c
lods here, all is so quite without a h
int of sining lights?
Having to make heads or tails of this sort of "English" detracts from one's enjoyment of opera. And remember: I truly love Chinese culture. What happens when foreigners have to be won over to an appreciation of a difficult and alien but immensely rewarding art form like Beijing opera?
I talked this over with some of my students at the Beijing Second Foreign Language Institute. They suggested that we volunteer to help cultural institutions to correct English labels and signs, and also work with the staff at these facilities to translate explanatory texts into English. We have started doing this on a very small scale. The Summer Palace, we have been pleased to discover, sets an excellent standard: The explanations there are full and almost completely correct. It would be wonderful if all Beijing's cultural facilities did as well.
It turns out that upgrading the English of signs is more work than we had thought and takes considerable coordination. In some cases we have had to visit a site three times to make sure that we understand exactly what needs to be said. Some of the incorrect English has already been engraved in stone or cast in bronze, making revision costly. One partial or short-term solution would be to prepare brochures in English and other languages to hand out to visitors when they purchase tickets.
But this is a job that must be done on a much larger scale and with better coordination than our little group can supply. Happily, an Olympic organization is being set up to deal with it. As a retired US Army colonel, I would particularly enjoy helping the staff of the Military Museum. And needless to say, I would love to be of assistance in translating opera librettos.
Teams of native speakers and university English students could take their laptops out to sites and make on-the-spot corrections, or develop English explanations where none now exist. What a great chance for students to improve their English skills while being of service to society! The government could also have a telephone number for well-meaning laowai to call in order to report confusing errors in public places or important points where there is no English at all.
The attention of the world will be riveted on China as the 2008 Olympics approach. We must work hard to enable foreigners to appreciate the glories of Chinese culture.
（感谢北京青年报《双语视窗》栏目张爱学编辑对本文提供的支持。）
责编：雷向晴
随着2008年奥运会的临近，民众越来越关心“中国”品牌的树立，学习英语的热情也被点燃。越来越多的外宣干部和业内同行向我们表达了期待看到双语栏目的期望。因此，我们从2006年第一期起开办了《双语视窗》栏目以满足广大读者的需求。
看看周围的媒体，《北京青年报》、《参考消息》、《国门时报》上有许多精粹的小短文，像一只只啄木鸟，善意地提醒了中国人习以为常的行为背后“尚未和国际接轨”的细节，读后让人回味不已，在获得借鉴意义的同时，也带来更深入的思考。我们效仿中英文对照的版面形式，旨在通过外国友人的视角来看中国，从中折射出东西方观念、习俗的异同。通过一篇篇这样的文章，让读者在领略异域文化的同时，也能达到学习英语的目的。
不管你是否愿意，英语已经成为用于交流的一种国际语言，当更多的人以普通话为母语时，英语则成为使用最多的第二语言。大多数来中国的外国旅游者至少会懂英语。
很多中国的机构，无论是国有的还是私营的，都已决定在他们的宣传册和标志中使用英文，但所用英文往往有很多地方有待改进，下面就是个例子，摘自在其他各方面都很出色的北京古建筑博物馆，错误英文的相应中文是：
燕省是来自南一点儿和北一点儿瓷器的少数民族交又一起居的唯一地区，从这里出土的海量那文物代表了拿自那中原的文化影响。(注①)
我敢说，这段话对于母语是说英文的人都很难懂，更别说那些英语水平不高的人了。这种伤痕累累的英语初看会让人觉得可笑，但看上一会儿就会让你连想都不想搞懂它们了。
此外，很多有意思的文化展品根本就没有英文说明。就我个人来说，但愿我能直接看懂中文说明，可我不行，而绝大多数外国参观者也不行。如果这个世界要对中国五千年文明的丰富与辉煌有更好的理解，那么在文化场所、博物馆以及展品前用正确的英文给出更好更完整的解释则是必不可缺的。
我极为喜爱秦腔。我在兰州大学任教期间，晚上常常在东方红广场站上几个小时听秦腔。在去剧院看正式的秦腔演出之前，我先了解那些故事和剧中人物，这样就能理解表演。在北京，我看了京剧。在长安大戏院所看的一场演出让我开始想到了北京文化场所的英语翻译存在的问题。那天晚上的演出在视觉上漂亮极了，唱得也好，但提供的英文字幕却十分怪异，以至于观众在一个极为不宜的时刻爆笑起来。我在此处所谈及的英文错误包括语句不通顺、语法错误、拼写错误以及行尾不正确的断字回行。下面是《大闹天宫》里的一个例子，译成中文相当于：
“……为何一点儿皆没吉样的竹本蛋，眼前一片悄悄静，没有一点儿的恶灯？”(注②)
当你不得不琢磨这种费解的英文时，就使你无法欣赏剧目了。请记住，我真心地热爱中国文化。试想，当老外们必须一步步地才能喜欢上难懂而奇异，但受到无限称赞的艺术形式如京剧时，糟糕的英文译文会使情况怎样呢？
我和我的“二外”学生谈起这事时，他们建议我们作为志愿者帮助文化单位更正标签和标志上的英文，并且与当地工作人员一起把中文内容翻译成英文。我们已经在一个小范围内开始了这项工作。我们很高兴地看到，颐和园已经达到了很不错的水准：那儿的英文解释很充分，几乎完全正确。如果全北京的文化场所都做成那样该多好呀！
但事实上，提高各种标志上的英文水平所需要做的工作比我们设想的要多，并且需要大量的协作。有时候，一个地方我们必须去三趟才能确信已经准确地理解了要翻译什么。有些地方的不正确英文已经刻在了石头上或是铸到了青铜上，重来就要花费很多钱。作为部分的、短期的解决办法就是准备出英语和其他语言的小册子，在外国参观者购买门票时发给他们。
但这是一项必须在更大范围内所做的工作，并且需要更好的合作，绝非我们“二外”这一小拨儿人所能做的。令人高兴的是，北京奥组委正在着手做这件事。作为一名退休的美军上校，我特别愿意帮助军事博物馆的工作人员。不用说，我也愿意协助翻译京剧唱词。
由母语是英语的老外和大学英语专业的学生组成的小队可以带着他们的笔记本电脑去文化场所对英文进行现场更正，或是给没有英文的地方加上英文，这对于学生们提高英语水平同时又服务于社会是多么好的机会呀！政府可以为好心的老外提供一个热线电话，以便于他们报告在公共场所发现的令人糊涂的英文错误，或是报告还没有任何英文标志的重要场所。
当2008奥运会到来时，全世界的注意力将被吸引到中国来。我们必须在这方面努力，使外国人届时能够欣赏到中国文化的灿烂。
注①原意为：燕国是中国南方和北方的居民混居的地方。这里出土的大量文物表明了来自中原的文化影响。
注②原意为：……为何这里没有一片祥云，眼前一片静悄悄，没有一点光亮？
（本文作者现在北京第二外国语学院任教）
原文：
Like it or not, English has become the international language of communication. While more people speak Mandarin as a native tongue, English is the language most used as a second language. The majority of international travelers who come to China have at least a basic understanding of English.
Many Chinese organizations, public and private, have decided to use English in their brochures and signs. Too often the English leaves a great deal to be desired. Here's an example from the otherwise excellent Beijing Museum of Ancient Architecture:
Yan state is the area where the minority nationalities from te souther an
d norther China crisscrissly inhabited together,the big amount of the relics excavated from te area embodies the cultural influence getting from the cen
tral China...
I can assure you that this is a challenge for native speakers to decipher, let alone people with only a modest grasp of the language. Tortured English may cause a certain amusement at first, but after a while people stop even trying to make sense of it.
Moreover, many interesting cultural exhibits have no English explanations at all. Personally, I wish I could read the Chinese explanations directly, but I can't, and neither can the vast majority of non-Chinese visitors. If the world is ever to have a stronger sense of the richness and splendor of China's 5,000-year-old culture, better and more complete information in good English at cultural sites, museums and exhibits is indispensable.
I love Qinqiang opera very much. When I taught at Lanzhou University, I used to stand for hours on the Dongfanghong Guangchang listening to the evening performances. Before going to formal performances in the opera houses, I studied the stories and characters so that I would understand the action. Here in Beijing I have attended Jingju performances. A performance at the Chang'an Theater first got me thinking about the problem of English translation at Beijing cultural sites. The performance that night was visually beautiful and well sung, but the English translation provided was so oddly worded that at one very inappropriate moment the audience broke into laughter. The errors I am talking about include unidiomatic English, grammatical blunders, misspellings and improper word division at the end of the lines. Here's an example from Wreaking Havoc in Heaven:
??How is it there's not augspicius c
lods here, all is so quite without a h
int of sining lights?
Having to make heads or tails of this sort of "English" detracts from one's enjoyment of opera. And remember: I truly love Chinese culture. What happens when foreigners have to be won over to an appreciation of a difficult and alien but immensely rewarding art form like Beijing opera?
I talked this over with some of my students at the Beijing Second Foreign Language Institute. They suggested that we volunteer to help cultural institutions to correct English labels and signs, and also work with the staff at these facilities to translate explanatory texts into English. We have started doing this on a very small scale. The Summer Palace, we have been pleased to discover, sets an excellent standard: The explanations there are full and almost completely correct. It would be wonderful if all Beijing's cultural facilities did as well.
It turns out that upgrading the English of signs is more work than we had thought and takes considerable coordination. In some cases we have had to visit a site three times to make sure that we understand exactly what needs to be said. Some of the incorrect English has already been engraved in stone or cast in bronze, making revision costly. One partial or short-term solution would be to prepare brochures in English and other languages to hand out to visitors when they purchase tickets.
But this is a job that must be done on a much larger scale and with better coordination than our little group can supply. Happily, an Olympic organization is being set up to deal with it. As a retired US Army colonel, I would particularly enjoy helping the staff of the Military Museum. And needless to say, I would love to be of assistance in translating opera librettos.
Teams of native speakers and university English students could take their laptops out to sites and make on-the-spot corrections, or develop English explanations where none now exist. What a great chance for students to improve their English skills while being of service to society! The government could also have a telephone number for well-meaning laowai to call in order to report confusing errors in public places or important points where there is no English at all.
The attention of the world will be riveted on China as the 2008 Olympics approach. We must work hard to enable foreigners to appreciate the glories of Chinese culture.
（感谢北京青年报《双语视窗》栏目张爱学编辑对本文提供的支持。）
责编：雷向晴