SeveralLanguagesCalledEnglish（几种语言称之为英语）Englishisn’tmanagingtosweepallelsebeforeit-andifeverdoesbecometheuniversallanguage,manyofthosewhospeakitwon’tunderstandoneanother.在此之前，英语不能支配其他的全部，如果当初就成为通用的语言，那么那些说话人也是不能够相互理解的。MuchofwhatwillhappentoEnglishwecanonlyspeculateabout.Butlet'spursueanideathatlanguageresearchersregardasfairlywellgrounded:nativespeakersofEnglisharealreadyoutnumberedbysecond-languageandforeign-languagespeakers,andwillbemoreheavilyoutnumberedastimegoeson.关于英语将会发生的许多变化我们仅仅只能作出推测。但是，让我们来追寻被语言研究者们认为是相关的背景：将英语作为第二语言或外语的人，在数量上超过了以英语作为母语的人；并且随着时间的推移，还将超出更多。OneobviousimplicationisthatsomeproportionofthepeopleusingEnglishforbusinessorprofessionalpurposesaroundtheworldaren'tandneedn'tbefluentinit.RecentlyItalkedwithMichaelHenryHeim,aprofessorofSlavicliteraturesattheUniversityofCaliforniaatLosAngelesandaprofessionaltranslatorwhohasrenderedintoEnglishmajorworksbyMilanKunderaandGunterGrass.Byhiscount,hespeaks"tenorso"languages.Hetoldmeflatly,"Englishismucheasiertolearnpoorlyandtocommunicateinpoorlythananyotherlanguage.I'msurethatifHungaryweretheleaderoftheworld,Hungarianwouldnotbetheworldlanguage.Tocommunicateonaday-to-daybasis--toorderameal,tobookaroom--there'snolanguageassimpleasEnglish."Research,though,suggeststhatpeoplearelikelytofindalanguageeasierorhardertolearnaccordingtohowsimilaritistotheirnativetongue,intermsofthingslikewordorder,grammaticalstructure,andcognatewords.AstheresearcherTerenceOdlinnotedinhisbookLanguageTransfer(1989),thedurationoffull-timeintensivecoursesgiventoEnglish-speakingU.S.foreign-servicepersonnelamountstoaroughmeasurementofhowdifferent,intheseways,otherlanguagesarefromEnglish.Todaythecoursesforforeign-serviceemployeeswhoneedtolearnGerman,Italian,French,Spanish,orPortugueselasttwenty-fourweeks.ThoseforemployeeslearningSwahili,Indonesian,orMalaylastthirty-sixweeks,andforpeoplelearninglanguagesincludingHindi,Urdu,Russian,andHungarian,forty-fourweeks.Arabic,Chinese,Japanese,andKoreantakeeighty-eightweeks.Notethatalltheworld'sothercommonestnativelanguagesexceptSpanishareinthegroupsmostdemandingofEnglish-speakers.Itmightbereasonabletosupposethatthereverseisalsotrue--thatArabic-andChinese-speakersfindfluencyinEnglishtobemoreofachallengethanSpanish-speakersdo.一个显而易见的含义就是：在世界上，一部分人们出于商业和职业的目的而使用英语，他们的英语不流利，也不需要流利。最近我和麦克尔亨利交谈，他是洛杉矶加利福尼亚大学的斯拉乎文学教授，也是一位专职翻译，他曾将米兰和甘特的主要著作翻译成英语。以他的计算，他能说出大约十种语言。他平和地跟我说：“英语较其他语言更能草草地学会，简单交流，我确信，假如匈牙利是这个世界的领导者，匈牙利语也不能成为世界性的语言。在日常基本交流中，如点餐、定房，没有语言象英语一样的简单。”尽管，研究表明人们认为一种语言的简单与困难与否，是根据这种语言相对于其母语的语序、语法结构和同根词语的相似度而言的。根据TerenceOdlin的研究在《语言的演变》一书中提到，为使英语会话及涉外服务人员开设一段时间的全日制强化课程，当作一个粗略的度量，用这种方法来比较英语与其他语言之间的不同。今天，这类为涉外服务人员需要学习德语、意大利语、法语、西班牙语和葡萄牙语设置的课程为期24周。而那些员工学习斯瓦西语、印度尼西亚语或马来语的课程，为期为36周。还有那些学习北印度语、乌尔都语、匈牙利语的则为44周。阿...
