英国人的英语最难懂：母语人士请学会说通用英语.docVIP

英国人的英语最难懂：母语人士请学会说通用英语 If native speakers of English are not to become international corporate pariahs， they will need to learn how to speak general English―in other words， to communicate with non-native speakers. 如果英语母语人士不想被国际商业界所遗弃，他们就需要去学习如何讲通用英语――换言之，就是和非母语人士沟通。 Resentment at the complexity of native speakers’ English is widespread in international business. During a study carried out at Kone Elevators of Finland， one Finnish manager blurted out， “The British are the worst... It is much more difficult to understand their English than that of other nationalities. When we non-native speakers of English talk， it is much easier to understand. We have the same limited vocabulary.” How can native speakers of English make themselves more comprehensible and more likeable？ The most obvious way is to learn someone else’s language. The great benefit of learning other languages is that you have some idea of what non-native speakers are up against. However， news that fewer than half of English schoolchildren are learning a foreign language suggests that this is not going to be a profitable route for many. So what should native English-speakers do to make themselves better understood？ First， slow down， but not to the point where members of your audience think you are patronising them. Second， avoid idiomatic and metaphorical expressions： that’s the way the cookie crumbles， people in glass houses， and the like. Jokes are a difficult area. You will not forget the silence that follows one that is found baffling. On the other hand， when jokes work， they can be a huge success with a non-native speaking audience. If you have learnt other languages， you will know that very few achievements are as satisfying as understanding your first foreign joke. Try a few out with your non-native speaking audience； you will soon learn which ones are worth repeating. It is often unnecessary to avoid longer words such as “association” and “nationality”， which are common to the Romance languages and