Lingua franca
Britain is leaving the EU, but its language will stay
Despite Jean-Claude Juncker’s joke, Anglophones should rest easy May 13th 2017
通用语言 英国虽然脱欧但英语依旧被大量使用
尽管欧盟主席开玩笑但英语使用者大可不必担心
“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 in speeches, delivered his barb in English, and the audience laughed.
欧盟轮值主席容克五月五号，在他的演讲切换成法语前用英语说：“很慢但可以确定的是英语正在丧失它的重要性”。这可能吗？然而并不尽然，连那些易怒的英国畅销书都没当回事儿，民众更是一笑置之。毕竟容克以脱稿演讲出名（或者叫信口开河 b(￣▽￣)d），只不过讽刺了英国脱欧。
In any case, speakers of 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 may be right that in the halls of the EU’s institutions, English will be heard somewhat less after Brexit, simply because of the exodus of a big group of Anglophones. But English is not just British: it is also an official language in Ireland and Malta. More important, the three enlargements of the EU since 2004 have decisively shifted the balance in Brussels from French towards English. There is no consensus for going back, still less for switching to German.
无论什么时候英语使用者都不用担心。欧盟有24种官方语言，其中成为工作语言的是法语、德语和英语。欧盟工作人员是多语言使用者通常可以说三种语言和自己的当地语言。英国脱欧后英语可能在欧盟官员中用得少了，毕竟英语母语使用者（英国人）离开了，在这一点上容克说的有道理。但英语可不仅仅只是英国的，同样也是爱尔兰和马耳他的官方语言。更为重要的是2004年开始的欧盟三次扩张果断地使欧盟总部的工作语言从法语为主转换成英语为主。（法语也会用，但以英语为主）没有任何迹象会重拾法语，更不可能是德语。
Besides, English is putting down deep roots among ordinary people on the continent. For all of France’s notorious linguistic nationalism, it is telling that François Hollande, the outgoing president, was mocked on 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 another language, a number that is growing steadily. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, does not break those figures down by language spoken, but it is easy to extrapolate from what is studied in schools. Among students at lower secondary level outside Britain, 97% are learning English. Only 34% are studying French and 23% German. In primary school 79% of students are already learning English, against just 4% for French. Some countries, such as Denmark, begin English in the very first year.
除此之外，英语深植欧洲大陆老百姓的心底。法国语言民族主义者臭名远扬，连法国的新闻和娱乐小报《法国画报》都讽刺即将卸任的法国总统奥朗德蹩脚的英语。当选总统马克龙的英语非常流利。66%的欧洲城区人口都会说其他语言而且这个数量会越来越多。欧盟统计局中英国官员的人数减少并不影响英语的使用，然而英语学习的人数增加却会提高英语的使用。英国以外的初中生中有97%在学习英语。法语只有34%，德语23%。小学中学英语的已经高达79%远超法语的4%。有些国家如丹麦，小学第一年级就是英语教学。
A language increases in value with the number of people able to speak it, so tongues that are valuable tend to become more so over time. And language knowledge takes a long time to acquire; societies do not quickly change the languages they speak. The trend of English in Europe began well before the vote for Brexit and is unlikely to dissipate, even “slowly but surely”. Mr Juncker might better have said that although Britain, unfortunately, is exiting the EU, its former partners will always remember the linguistic gift it is leaving behind.
一种语言的重要性取决于语言使用者的数量，所以有价值的语言（英语）更会随着时间变得越来越重要。语言技能的习得需要长时间；社会无法迅速改变语言的使用。虽然容克这么开玩笑，但脱欧前英语大量使用的趋势不会因此戛然而止。容克如果这么说会更适宜：“很遗憾英国离开我们，但我们将永远记得英国留下的语言礼物”。
原文 http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21721861-despite-jean-claude-junckers-joke-anglophones-should-rest-easy-britain-leaving-eu-its
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