正文翻譯

Why do many Indians feel proud about preferring English over their mother tongues?

為什么許多印度人為喜歡英語(yǔ)多與母語(yǔ)而自豪？

評(píng)論翻譯

Balaji Viswanathan
I guess many Indians are quite proud of our mother tongues, but the question is still valid. A few years ago, I went to a HP service center in Chennai for fixing my tablet. Since I knew they know Tamil I asked them questions in Tamil, although the lady there gave replies in broken English, trying hard to appear educated.
Why do people feel proud to speak in English?

我想很多印度人都為我們的母語(yǔ)感到驕傲，但這個(gè)問(wèn)題仍然是對(duì)的。
幾年前，我去金奈的一家惠普服務(wù)中心修理平板電腦。
因?yàn)槲抑浪麄兌┟谞栒Z(yǔ)，我用泰米爾語(yǔ)問(wèn)了他們一些問(wèn)題，那里的女士卻用蹩腳的英語(yǔ)回答，努力表現(xiàn)出受過(guò)教育的樣子。
為什么人們要為用英語(yǔ)說(shuō)話而感到自豪？

1. Show that they are educated. In India, the ability to speak English is strongly correlated with college degrees and in general better education. Given that education is a premium asset in India, people try hard to speak in English when possible and show others that they make the cut.
2. Throughout the world, "educated" people often try to include words that the common folks don't use to draw a line between them. Thus, the English nobility of medi period started using French and Latin words to appear more refined compared to the boors. Same is the case of some pretentious Indians in cocktail parties.

1、表明他們受過(guò)教育。
在印度，說(shuō)英語(yǔ)的能力與大學(xué)學(xué)位和普通高等教育密切相關(guān)。鑒于教育在印度是一項(xiàng)寶貴的資產(chǎn)，人們盡可能努力用英語(yǔ)說(shuō)話，向其他人表明他們成功了。
2、在世界各地，“受過(guò)教育”的人，經(jīng)常試圖加入普通人不會(huì)用的詞語(yǔ)，用來(lái)表明他們和普通人之間的界限。因此，在中世紀(jì)的英國(guó)，貴族會(huì)使用法語(yǔ)和拉丁語(yǔ)單詞，這會(huì)讓他們感覺(jué)自己比鄉(xiāng)巴佬更精致。一些自命不凡的印度人在雞尾酒會(huì)上也是如此。

3. Improper exposure to mother tongue. For many Indians, mother tongue is not used to express higher level ideas. Thus, while they could convey their emotions in their mother tongue, they might not be able to talk scientific ideas in their mother tongue. Thus, they would want to talk in English when they want to express their erudite opinions.
4. Some of us were forced to use English at school & home. In some of the schools I studied, we needed to pay a penalty of Rs.0.50 for every non-English word we used in the class. Quite a sick system if I think about it now. The school thought that their brand would go down if the society saw us speaking in those "dirty" native languages. We still used Tamil words when our Mam was not looking at us, and it was as though we were hiding as highway robbers. Fortunately for me, my parents always encouraged me to learn Tamil, Hindi and Sanskrit (I can speak in only the first two).

3、無(wú)法正確的使用母語(yǔ)表達(dá)。
對(duì)許多印度人來(lái)說(shuō)，母語(yǔ)并不是用來(lái)表達(dá)更高層次的思想的。因此，雖然他們可以用母語(yǔ)表達(dá)自己的情感，但他們可能無(wú)法用母語(yǔ)談?wù)摽茖W(xué)思想。因此，當(dāng)他們想表達(dá)自己博學(xué)的觀點(diǎn)時(shí)，他們會(huì)想用英語(yǔ)交談。
4、我們中的一些人被迫在學(xué)校和家里使用英語(yǔ)。
在我學(xué)習(xí)過(guò)的一些學(xué)校，當(dāng)我們?cè)谡n堂上使用非英語(yǔ)單詞的時(shí)候，一個(gè)單詞需要支付0.50盧比的罰款。
我現(xiàn)在想想，這真的是一個(gè)相當(dāng)病態(tài)的系統(tǒng)。
學(xué)校認(rèn)為，如果社會(huì)看到我們用那些“骯臟”的母語(yǔ)說(shuō)話，他們的品牌就會(huì)衰落。
當(dāng)管理者不看我們的時(shí)候，我們?nèi)匀皇褂锰┟谞栒Z(yǔ)單詞，就好像我們躲在高速公路上搶劫一樣。
幸運(yùn)的是，我的父母總是鼓勵(lì)我學(xué)習(xí)泰米爾語(yǔ)、印地語(yǔ)和梵語(yǔ)（我只能說(shuō)前兩種）。

Rohit Murthy
We have a saying in India - "Angrez chale gaye, angrezi chhod gaye." In a satirical sense, it translates to "The British left India but left behind the English language".
Some excellent answers have already been given on this question. I'll elaborate a bit more on the reasons that they have mentioned from a historical point of view.
To begin with, how did the English language become a part of India's lingual landscape?
Stage 1: Dinos Arrive

我們印度有一句諺語(yǔ)："Angrez chale gaye, angrezi chhod gaye."
從諷刺的意義上來(lái)說(shuō)，它可以翻譯成：“英國(guó)人離開(kāi)了印度，但留下了英語(yǔ)”。
關(guān)于這個(gè)問(wèn)題，有人已經(jīng)給出了一些很好的答案。我將從歷史的角度詳細(xì)闡述他們提到的原因。
首先，英語(yǔ)是如何成為印度語(yǔ)言景觀的一部分的？
第一階段：恐龍抵達(dá)
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.ltaaa.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處

The British came to India initially as traders and established a number of trading posts under the control of the East India Company. In due course of time, it became more powerful with its private armies and took military and administrative control of India. Towards the latter part of the 18th century the Company dissolved but the British Crown took over and took control of the divided world that was India. English as a language initially was taught informally mostly by Christian missionaries. However, once the British took control of India, it became the language of administration, law and the Government. The dinos had indeed arrived!

英國(guó)人最初以貿(mào)易商的身份來(lái)到印度，并在東印度公司的控制下建立了一些貿(mào)易站。經(jīng)過(guò)一段時(shí)間，它的私人軍隊(duì)變得更加強(qiáng)大，并對(duì)印度進(jìn)行了軍事和行政控制。
18世紀(jì)后半葉，該公司解散，但英國(guó)王室接管并控制了分裂的印度世界。英語(yǔ)最初是一種非正式的語(yǔ)言，主要由基督教傳教士教授。然而，當(dāng)英國(guó)控制了印度，它就成為了行政、法律和政府的語(yǔ)言?？铸堈娴膩?lái)了！

Stage 2: 'Dinosaursim' Spreads
In the early part of the 19th century the English Education Act was passed which gave a huge impetus to the establishments of English medium schools and educational institutions teaching Western curriculum. Clerical posts in administrative and government offices started requiring exams taken in English and testing language ability. Now, Indians were forced to adopt this new language as a means of social advancement. The fact was that in this British controlled world, learning English and adopting their culture gave us the 3 things we craved for - wealth, power and position. A government job was not only a coveted job, but also came along with post-retirement pensions. Soon, a number of English-educated Indians started getting involved in the governing machinery and also played a pivotal role in guiding freedom movements across the country. English became the interface between the British and us. The 'Dinosaurism' had spread across the country.

第二階段：“恐龍族群”擴(kuò)張階段
19世紀(jì)初，英國(guó)通過(guò)了《英語(yǔ)教育法》，極大地推動(dòng)了以英語(yǔ)為媒介的學(xué)校，和教授西方課程的教育機(jī)構(gòu)的建立。
行政和政府辦公室的文員職位，開(kāi)始要求參加英語(yǔ)考試和語(yǔ)言能力測(cè)試。
就這樣，印度人被迫采用這種新語(yǔ)言作為社會(huì)進(jìn)步的手段。
事實(shí)是，在這個(gè)英國(guó)控制的世界里，學(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)和接受他們的文化，給了我們渴望的三樣?xùn)|西——財(cái)富、權(quán)力和地位。
政府工作不僅是一份令人垂涎的工作，而且還伴隨著退休后的養(yǎng)老金。
很快，一些受過(guò)英語(yǔ)教育的印度人，開(kāi)始參與管理機(jī)制，并在指導(dǎo)全國(guó)各地的自由運(yùn)動(dòng)中發(fā)揮了關(guān)鍵作用。
英語(yǔ)成為了英國(guó)人和我們之間的交流界面?！翱铸堊迦骸币呀?jīng)在全國(guó)蔓延。

Stage3: Dinos leave, Dinosaurism survives
When India gained independence in 1947, it was this educated class that filled up the positions left by the British. Attempts were then made to have an Indian language as the national language. But in a country with more than 30 languages and 1600 mother tongues, that really is a tough ask. Hindi was made the first official languages and attempts to make it the national language met with strong opposition from Tamil Nadu and other non-Hindi speaking states. Eventually, the English Language Amendment Bill was passed making English the "Associate language" of India alongside Hindi. It was to remain as an associate language until such time as all non-Hindi speaking states agree to it being dropped. However, that has never happened and English became indispensable in India. It had become the interface between the Hindi and non-Hindi speaking population. Later it also became our interface with the outside world, particularly the West. It became a means of inclusion of all under one umbrella.

第三階段：恐龍離開(kāi)，恐龍族群存活下來(lái)
1947年印度獨(dú)立時(shí)，這些受過(guò)教育的階層填補(bǔ)了英國(guó)留下的職位。
隨后，人們?cè)噲D將印度的語(yǔ)言作為國(guó)家語(yǔ)言。但在一個(gè)擁有30多種語(yǔ)言和1600多種母語(yǔ)的國(guó)家，這真的是一個(gè)艱難的要求。
印地語(yǔ)成為第一種官方語(yǔ)言，并試圖將其作為國(guó)家語(yǔ)言，但遭到了泰米爾納德邦和其他非印地語(yǔ)地區(qū)的強(qiáng)烈反對(duì)。
最終，《英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)言修正法案》獲得通過(guò)，使英語(yǔ)與印地語(yǔ)一起成為印度的“聯(lián)合語(yǔ)言”。
在所有非印地語(yǔ)地區(qū)同意放棄之前，就只能一直使用聯(lián)合語(yǔ)言。然而，他們從未放棄，英語(yǔ)在印度變得不可或缺。
它已經(jīng)成為印地語(yǔ)和非印地語(yǔ)人口之間的交流界面。后來(lái)，它也成為了我們與外部世界，特別是西方世界的接口。它成為一種將所有人納入一個(gè)保護(hù)傘下的手段。

So what does all this have to do with your question?
Firstly, it's wrong to generalize that Indians prefer English over their native language or mother tongues. More likely, it depends on the environment and the people involved during communication. In businesses, jobs and education, English is used almost as an automatic choice of communication. But in an informal environment of native people, the native language becomes the automatic choice of communication.
Secondly, as both Balaji and Siddharth have mentioned, speaking in English is still a sign of education. In a country where education still remains a luxury, an English-bred education does improve your brand image.
Thirdly, we are a country where about 20% of our population speaks English and only about 4% speak it fluently. In a social setting trying hard to emulate the West, speaking in English can boost your social image and admit it, social image is as inherent in India as it can get. Possibly the human race.

那么，這一切與你的問(wèn)題有什么關(guān)系呢？
首先，認(rèn)為印度人更喜歡英語(yǔ)，而不是他們的母語(yǔ)，這是錯(cuò)誤的。更有可能的是，這取決于溝通過(guò)程中所涉及的環(huán)境和人員。
在商業(yè)、工作和教育中，英語(yǔ)幾乎是一種自動(dòng)選擇的交流方式。但在原住民的非正式環(huán)境中，母語(yǔ)成為交流的自動(dòng)選擇。
其次，正如 Balaji 和 Siddharth 提到的那樣，用英語(yǔ)說(shuō)話仍然是教育的標(biāo)志。
在一個(gè)教育仍然是奢侈品的國(guó)家，英國(guó)教育確實(shí)能改善你的品牌形象。
第三，在我們國(guó)家，大約20%的人口會(huì)說(shuō)英語(yǔ)，只有大約4%的人能流利地說(shuō)英語(yǔ)。
在一個(gè)試圖模仿西方的社會(huì)環(huán)境中，用英語(yǔ)說(shuō)話可以提升你的社會(huì)形象，和人們對(duì)你的認(rèn)可程度。在印度社會(huì)，盡己所能的提升社會(huì)形象是一種傳統(tǒng)。可能人類社會(huì)皆如此。
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.ltaaa.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處

Fourthly, as more and more MNCs have started entering India and with the corporate culture spreading rapidly, Indians, and working professionals in particular, have begun to accept English as a native language over their actual native languages. Migration of more and more people from their native towns and villages to the cosmopolitans has resulted in a gradual erosion of their native roots. Their exposure to English is more than their native languages/mother tongues and their succeeding generations are raised in an English-speaking environment.
Finally, We like to beat the English at their own game. Cricket anybody?

第四，隨著越來(lái)越多的跨國(guó)公司開(kāi)始進(jìn)入印度，隨著企業(yè)文化的迅速傳播，印度人，尤其是在職專業(yè)人士，已經(jīng)開(kāi)始接受英語(yǔ)作為本族語(yǔ)言，而不是他們實(shí)際的母語(yǔ)。
越來(lái)越多的人，從他們的家鄉(xiāng)城鎮(zhèn)和村莊遷移到世界各地，導(dǎo)致他們的本土根基逐漸被侵蝕。他們接觸英語(yǔ)的時(shí)間超過(guò)了他們接觸母語(yǔ)的時(shí)間。他們的后代都是在講英語(yǔ)的環(huán)境中長(zhǎng)大的。
最后，我們喜歡在英國(guó)人的比賽中擊敗英國(guó)人。有人想來(lái)場(chǎng)板球嗎？