Do you know which is the second most spoken language in England? 大家猜猜看，在英國最多人說的第二語言是甚麼呢?
聯合翻譯 引用自http://elitelovebbc.pixnet.net/blog/post/174853515
在很多國家，第二語言是非常平凡的事，以台灣來說好了，最多人說的第二語言就是台語啦~ 其他還有客家話、原住名的語言等都是台灣特有的名產~今天這篇文章就是要帶大家了解一下，不是只有我們需要學第二語言，外國人也是不例外的喔~以前在加拿大的時候，第二語言就是法文，所以你在加拿大買的東西，上面標示都會有英文和法文，當有兩種語言同時出現的時候，你可以說這個東西是bilingual。當一個人會講兩種語言的話，你也可以說他是bilingual。
Rob: Now you're just showing off! Not being able to speak a foreign language is a bit of a British trait – or a particular British characteristic. We're not very good at it although Finn is an exception, he can speak many foreign languages, can't you?
在這裡 Trait 的意思有點是在暗指英國人的普遍優越感，認為學習其他國語言是沒有必要的，因為他們認為他們的英文最高尚，其他國家應該都要學會英文來跟他們做溝通。Showing off 是愛現或愛出風頭的意思
Finn: Not that many – a bit of German, some French, Polish a little, Chinese of course, Hokkien, a bit of Japanese… That's about it.
Rob: I'm impressed Finn. Well, now the rest of us Brits are being encouraged to learn at least 1,000 words of another language. We'll talk more about that soon but before I start learning my new words, how about a question Finn?
Impressed是印象深刻的意思，當你被某件事情或是某個人留下深刻印象，可能因為他做的事情超乎你預期，這時候你就可以說 I am impressed by what you did。 Rob提到 Brits 是指英國佬的意思，外國人很喜歡把自做縮寫，有點類似我們稱呼 “台客” 那樣
Finn: Très bien!
Rob: Do you know which is the second most spoken language in England? Is it:
a) Polish
b) Urdu
c) French
Finn: I think I know this one, Rob. I'm going to say a) Polish.
Rob: OK, well, as always I'll let you know the answer at the end of programme. So, as I mentioned, the British are generally considered to be lazy linguists – they just don't bother to learn another language.
Linguist 是語言學家的意思，大部分的英國人都很懶的學習其他語言，因為英文幾本上就可以在世界各地暢通無阻，所以他們don’t bother去學習其他語言。Don’t bother 就是不放在心上或是沒有心去做某件事的意思。
Finn: I guess the main reason is that when British people travel around the world they find that English is spoken almost everywhere – so they get by – they survive on just using their native language.
Get by 就是通過的意思，在這裡是指英國人不需要多做努力就可以用英文暢遊世界各國，不像我們還要特別去學英文。因為英文是他們的native language也就是母語的意思。
Rob: I think, in the past, the education system was also to blame. Learning a foreign language was not compulsory – it didn't have to be studied - when I went to school, we didn't have to study languages to exam level – so I took the easy option and studied photography instead of French! But of course I regret it now. But that wasn't the same for you Finn?
英國的教育制度也是導致他們不喜歡學習其他語言的因素之一。在學期間，學校並沒有強制學生一定要選修第二語言，這不是 compulsory 的，也就是必要的意思。因此Rob寧願選擇比較簡單的課程，像是好玩的攝影課，也不願學法文。他現在覺得有點後悔，Regret 這個動詞可以當作後悔使用，當作名詞的話，也可以是遺憾的意思
Rob 開始提到說，英國最近有在提倡國人要踴躍的學習1000個其他語言的單字的活動，這邊是用campaign。主要是希望可以增加英國在國際上的貿易交流。
Gary Lineker:
I think it gives you self-satisfaction and self-esteem if you can speak another language when you're travelling. I think it also gives you an edge in a lot of different areas in the workplace, not just football.
Gary Lineker是一位前足球選手，現在是電視的主持人，他非常贊同這項campaign。他認為，可以學會講其他語言其實可以讓一個人提昇自我成就感和尊榮感。Give you an edge 的意思是讓你能力提升，edge的意思有點類似鋒芒畢露
Rob: He also says it improves self-esteem –so you feel good about yourself and it boosts your confidence. Imagine going on holiday to Spain and being able to converse with – or speak to –the locals.
Boost 這個動詞可以用來形容一件事情或是一個狀況的快速提升，這邊是指快速提升自信。Converse 是Conversation的動詞，Converse with 顧名思義就是 與某人對話 的意思。Locals可以用來指 “當地人”，不局限哪一國人。
Finn: It feels good! And he also mentioned the economic benefits of speaking another language; it gives you the edge in the workplace. That means it gives you an advantage, especially if you are dealing with foreign companies.
Give you the edge也可以解釋成 give you an advantage，就像之前說的，在職場上鋒芒畢露，略勝他人一籌
Rob: And it also shows politeness and respect for other people by showing you have made an effort.
可以說其他語言也可以讓其他國家的人對你刮目相看，他們也會覺得你是尊重他們國家語言的，就算講得不好，至少，他們會覺得你made an effort，也就是付出努力去學習了。
Rob: Yes, that's the question I posed earlier: what is Britain's second most spoken language.
所以到底英國人最常說的第二語言是哪一國呢?
Finn: I said Polish. Polski.
答案揭曉! 是芬蘭語呢~
Rob: Yes, of course you are right. According to the 2011 census, the answer is Polish. The census also found over 104different languages are spoken in the UK.
這項統計是2011的結果，結果發現，在英國人還會說104種其他國家的語言喔!
聯合翻譯 引用自http://elitelovebbc.pixnet.net/blog/post/174853515
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