Idon’tthinktranslationappswillmakelearningforeignlanguagescompletelyoutdated.Noprogramcanaccuratelyrecreatetheimplicationofrealconversation.Forexample,bydropping“will”or“amgoingto”in“TomorrowIstartmydiet,”Iamimplyingapreviousdelayofthediet.Atypicaltranslationbyappswouldbe“TomorrowIamgoingtostartmydiet,”whichgetsacrossthebasicideabutlackstheintendedimplication.
However,technologyiseliminatingtheneedtolearnforeignlanguagesforpracticalpurposessuchasreservinghotelroomsororderingmealsinaforeigncountry,sincepracticalityiswhymostpeoplewanttolearnanewlanguage.
DouglasHofstadter,acognitivescientist,seeshismasteryofforeignlanguagesasareflectionofhisidentity.Asanenthusiasticlanguagelearnermyself,Idon’tentirelysharehisperspective,butIdoagreewiththewriterGraemeWood,whohasnoted“toactivelyenjoypiecingtogetherhowotherlanguagesworkisanindividualquirk(怪癖),notahumanuniversal.”Trueenthusiastslearnnewlanguagesforthesheerjoysofdiscoveryoraccomplishment.Mostpeople,however,areuninterestedinthisodddesire.
Somewouldsayaforeignlanguageisawindowintoanewwayofprocessingtheworld.ButdidthehumblelevelofFrenchorSpanishwepickedupinschoolprovideuswithanewlensontheworldIfourgoalisgettingdirectionstothebusstationinRome,technologynowmakesthatpossibleatthepressofabutton.
Assomeoneendlesslyfascinatedbylanguages,Iamworkinghardtoacceptthisnewreality.WithaniPhonehandyandanappropriateappdownloaded,foreignlanguageswillnolongerpresentmostpeoplewiththebarriertheyoncedid.Learninganewlanguagewilllikelybecomeapursuitofinteresttoamuchsmallerbutmorecommittedsetofenthusiasts.
Ontwitter,afriendasked“Twentyyearsfromnow,howmanyChinesewordswillbecommonparlance(常用词)inEnglish”Irepliedthatwe’vealreadyhad35yearssinceDengXiaopingbeganopeningChina‘seconomy,resultinginitsstratosphericrise—butalmostnorecentChineseborrowingsinEnglish.
ManyexpertsarewillingtoexplainChinatocurious(andanxious)westerners.AndyetIcan'tthinkofevenoneChinesewordorphrasethathasbecome“commonparlanceinEnglish”recently.Theonlywordthatcomesclosemightbeguanxi,thepersonalconnectionsandrelationshipscriticaltogettingthingsdoneinChina.Plentyofarticlescanbefounddiscussingtheimportanceofguanxi,butthewordisn't“commoninEnglish”byanystretch.
MostChinesewordsnowpartofEnglishareknown,intheirspellingandmeaning,tohavebeenborrowedalongtimeagofromnon-MandarinChinesevarietieslikeCantonese.Kowtow,gunghoandtoshanghaiarenowimpeccably(无可挑剔地)EnglishwordsweusewithnoreferencetoChinaitself.Kungfu,taichi,fengshuiandthelikeareChineseconceptsandpracticeswesternersareawareof.Andofcoursebokchoy,chowmeinandothersaremerelyChinesefoodsthatwesternerslike;Iwouldsayweborrowedthefoods,andtheirChinesenamesmerelyhitchedarideintoEnglish.
GivenChina’srocket-ridetoprominence(突起),whysolittleborrowingWeimportwordsfromotherlanguagesthatarehardforEnglish-speakerstopronounce.Weborrowfromlanguageswithotherwritingsystems(Yiddish,Russian，Arabic).Weborrowfromculturallydistantplaces(India,Japan).Weborrownotonlyfromfriends,butfromrivalsandenemies(GermanwordsintheSecondWorldWar,RussianwordsduringtheColdWarandtoomanywordstocountfromFrenchduringthelongAnglo-Frenchrivalry).
SoperhapsChina’sriseissimplytoonew,andwejustneedanother20yearsorso.We’veseenasimilarfilmbefore.Japan’ssuddenopeningtotheworld,aworldwar,andthenfortyyearsofaneconomicboomputquiteafewJapanesewordsandconceptsintotheAnglophonemind:kamikaze,futon,haiku,kabuki,origami,karaoke,tycoon,tsunami,jiu-jitsu,zenandhonchoareallcommonEnglishwordsthatnowadayscanbeusedwithoutanyreferencetoJapan.AddtothatthemorespecificallyJapanesephenomenawellknowntotheEnglish-speakingworld:karate,judo,sumo,bonsai,manga,pachinko,samurai,shogun,nohandkimono.Ofcourse,JapaneseborrowedsomeofthesewordsfromChinese,likezen(modernMandarinchán)andtofu(dòufu).ButEnglishborrowedthemfromJapanese,notChinese.
ItseemslikelyEnglishwillborrowfromChinese,too,astrade,culturalandpersonalconnectionsbetweenChinaandtheWestgrow.China’sdevelopmentandhowtheWestrespondsaretwodecisivefactorswhenitcomestowhetherfutureChineseborrowingswillbenewedibles,culturalitemsorevenphilosophicalterms.
【推荐2】Whenisthecorrecttimetousethearticle(冠词)“a”and“an”Weknow“abike”and“anapple”.Butisit“aURL”or“anURL”WhatexactlyistheruleDespitetheconfusiononwhentousethesetwowords,theruleregardingtheiruseisactuallyquitesimple.
Thebasicruleforusing“a”inasentenceis:Use“a”beforewords,orlettersthatbeginwithasoundofaconsonant(辅音字母),regardlessoftheirspelling,suchasadog,auniversity,aCBSnewsreport.
Theimportantpartisthesoundofthewordthatfollows,notnecessarilytheletterwithwhichitstarts.Theaboveexampleshavewordsthatbeginwithvowels(元音字母)andconsonants,butweuse“a”forallofthembecausetheybeginwiththesoundofaconsonant.
“An”isusedbeforewords,orlettersthatbeginwithavowelsound,regardlessoftheirspelling,suchasanidea,anhonor,anHTMLdocument.
Theruleonlybecomestrickywhenyouhaveavowelwithaconsonantsoundoraconsonantwithavowelsound.Whenyoucomeacrossthese,ignorewhatthefirstletterisandjustlistentothesoundthatitmakes.
Whatifanadjective(形容词)isaddedinfrontofanoun(名词)Somepeoplearen’tsurehowtoapplythisrulewhenanadjectiveappearsbeforethenounbeingreferredto.Thesamerulestillapplies.“A”isusedbeforewordsstartinginconsonantsoundsand“an”isusedbeforewordsstartingwithvowelsounds.Itdoesn’tmatterifthewordisanadjective,anoun,oranythingelse;theruleisexactlythesame.
【推荐3】WhenIwasyoung,Ineverfullyappreciatedwhymyparentssignedmeupforeverymusicclass.Iviewedpracticingthepianoandtheviolinasaburden,orsomethingthathadtobedoneeverydaybeforebeingabletowatchDisneyChannel.
Whilethemajorityofmyclassmateswouldbondovertheirdislikeoflearninganinstrument,Ifoundmyselfgraduallyexpectingtolearnnewsongs,practicethemandperformthem.Maybeit’sbecausemyparentsusedDisneyChannelasanincentive,ormaybeIjustneededtheirearlypush.Regardless,Icametoappreciatemusicasaformofself-expression.
Learningmusicalnoteshasbenefitstolanguagedevelopmentandcognitive(认知的)functions.Studieshaveshownthattheleftplanumtemporale,thepartofthebraininvolvedinhearingprocessingandreceptivelanguage,isactivewhenmusiciansareeitherreadingandlisteningtomusicorcomprehendingspeech.But,whennon-musiciansarelisteningtomusic,theirbrainsdonotprocessitinthesameareaaslanguage—whileprocessinglanguageisanaturalability,musicawarenessissomethingthatcanbeobtainedthroughpracticing.
TakeFinland,forexample,wheretheaveragepersonlearnstospeakthreetofivelanguages.Thisisaresultofthecountry’scustomofearlymusictraining,inwhichchildrenlearnthefundamentalsofmusicalnotesthroughsongsandgames.Infact,astudyrevealsastrongconnectionbetweenchildrenwhostudymusicbeforeandthedevelopmentofhigherIQsandabiggerrangeofvocabulary.
Inaddition,evolutionaryevidencefromOxfordUniversityhighlightshowspeechandlanguagestarteddevelopingmerely200,000yearsago.It’sclearthattheneuralnetworksofbothmusicandlanguagehaveoverlap(重叠部分),andthatouruseofspeechasaformofcommunicationhasitsrootsintheoriginalevolutionaryhistoryofmusic.Soifyou’relookingtolearnsomethingnew,considerpickingupanewinstrument!
【推荐1】Today,theimaginationofgoingsomewhereinacarwithnooneinthedriver’sseathascometrue.However,theself-drivingcarsstillaskahumantobereadytotakeoverdrivingifneeded.
Knownasautonomouscars,theycanmakegoinganywheremuchmoreconvenient.Theadultsoftenspendmorethan300hoursbehindthewheeleachyear.Self-drivingcarscouldgivethemthattimeback.
Inaddition,autonomouscarsmaypossiblytransformwhatacarisandhowitworks.Thinkaboutit.Withnoneedforadriver,doesthereneedadriver’sseatorasteeringwheelSelf-drivingcarscouldhavesofas,bedsorevenanentirekitchen.Passengerscouldsitandtalkwithoneanotherfacetofaceorgotosleepatthestartofadriveandwakeupinanewplace.Theinsideofacarcouldalsobeanoffice,hairsalon,orpersonalgym.Suddenly,carsaremuchmorethanjustawaytogetfromoneplacetoanother.
Butafutureofcarsdrivingthemselvesaroundcitystreetswithnooneinsideisstillyearsaway.That’sbecausethetechnologybehindautonomousvehiclesisstillimperfect.Thecamerasandothersystemsthatself-drivingcarsusetoguidethemselveshavetrouble“seeing”theroadinbadweatherorheavytraffic.Theyalsohavedifficultydealingwithdifferentkindsofroads.Theroadsigns,andturnsofahighwayareverydifferentfromthoseofaneighborhoodroad.So,atleastforawhile,therewillstillneedtobeahumandriverreadytotakethewheelinself-drivingcars.
【推荐2】SPACE:THEFINALFRONTIER
“ArewealoneWhat’soutthere”Lookingupatthestars,peoplehavealwayswantedtolearnmoreaboutspace,andscientistsworkhardtofindanswers.Theymakevehiclestocarrybravepeopleintospacetofindoutthesecretsoftheuniverse.Theyalsoreallywishtodiscoverotherplanetsthataresuitableenoughtosupportlife.
Beforethemid-20thcentury,mostpeoplefelttravellingintospacewasanimpossibledream.However,somescientistsweredeterminedtohelphumansrealisetheirdreamtoexplorespace.Aftermanyexperiments,theysucceededinmakingrocketsthatcouldescapeEarth’sgravity.On4October1957,theSputnik1satellitewaslaunchedbytheUSSRandsuccessfullyorbitedaroundEarth.Afterwards,theUSSRfocusedonsendingpeopleintospace,andon12April1961,YuriGagarinbecamethefirstpersonintheworldtogointospace.Overeightyearslater,on20July1969,AmericanastronautNeilArmstrongsteppedontothemoon,famouslysaying,“That’sonesmallstepforaman,onegiantleapformankind.”Followingthis,manymoregoalswereachieved.Forexample,America’sNASAspaceagencylaunchedVoyager1on5September1977tostudydeepspace,anditstilltransmitsdatatoday.
Althoughscientiststrytomakesurenothinggoeswrong,accidentscanstillhappen.AlltheastronautsontheUSSR’sSoyuz11andAmerica’sChallengerdiedduringtheirmissions.Thesedisastersmadeeveryonesadanddisappointed,butthedesiretoexploretheuniverseneverdied.Thisisbecausepeoplebelieveintheimportanceofcarryingonspaceexplorationdespitethehugerisks.AnexampleofthisongoingworkistheInternationalSpaceStation.ItorbitsEarthandhasastronautsfromdifferentcountriesonboard,providingacontinuoushumanpresenceinspace.
China’sspaceprogrammestartedlaterthanthoseofRussiaandtheUS,butithasmadegreatprogressinashorttime.Chinabecamethethirdcountryintheworldtoindependentlysendhumansintospacein2003,whenYangLiweisuccessfullyorbitedEarthintheShenzhou5spacecraft.ThenShenzhou6and7completedasecondmannedorbitandthefirstChinesespacewalk,followedbythevehicleJadeRabbitbeingsenttothemoontostudyitssurface.Afterthat,ChinalaunchedtheTiangong2spacelabintospaceandTianzhou1todockwithit.ThissignalledonestepfurtherinChina’splantoestablishaspacestationinthefuture.Morerecently,ChinahassentChang’e4toexplorethesurfaceofthefarsideofthemoontomakemeasurementsandobservations.
Thefutureofspaceexplorationremainsbright.Europe,theUS,andChinaallhaveplanstofurtherstudyandexploreplanetslikeMarsandJupiter.Despitethedifficulties,scientistshopefuturediscoverieswillnotonlyenableustounderstandhowtheuniversebegan,butalsohelpussurvivewellintothefuture.
【推荐3】Often,duringhisformativeyears,a500-year-oldginkgotree(银杏树)thatdidnotsproutleavesfortwotothreeyearsatastretchusedtobeadailysightforYangZhongkaionhiswaytoandfromhighschool.Sincevillagerswidelyregardeditasonethatmadetheirwishescometrue,theyusedtokneeldowninfrontofthe“lucky”treeandburnofferingsunderit.This,Yangrecalled,ledtolong-timeheatexposureatitsroots,stuntingitsgrowth.
“Millionsofsucholdtreesareinurgentneedofprotectiongiventheirimportanceasvitalbiologicalresourcesandsymbolsofecologicalcivilization,”saidYang,theinitiatorofateam—Zhiyue—dedicatedtoprotectingancienttrees.
“ButtherecordingandmanagementofancientandfamoustreesnationwidecommonlyrelyonExcelspreadsheets,whicharetroubledbyinformationsilos(信息孤岛),lackofreal-timeupdatesandincompletecontent,”hesaid.
However,thingshavechangedoflate.
YangandhisteamnowusetheartificialintelligencetechnologydevelopedbyTencentCloudtoidentifyandregistertreesaccurately,basedonindividualtraitsandGPStracking.TheyarepartofthefourthLightTechnologyPublicWelfareCreationCamp,ascienceandtechnologypublicwelfareplatformlaunchedbyTencentHoldings.AsoneofthemostinfluentialtechnologypublicwelfareplatformsinChina,itaimstoencouragemorepeopletosolvesocialproblemsusingscientificandtechnologicalknowledgeandopenupmorethan300AIfunctionsofTencentCloudtoparticipants.Morethan3,600teamsand18,000developershaveparticipatedinthisinfluentialtechcharityplatformsinceitsestablishmentin2020.
“Digitaltechnologies,representedbyAI,largemodels,andvirtualreality,willdeeplyimpactcharitythroughplatformslikethecamp.Sucheffortswillcreategreatervalueforsocialdevelopmentandhumanprogress,”saidGuoKaitian,seniorvice-presidentofTencent.
【推荐1】OnApril12th,twoAfricanAmericanmenwalkedintoaStarbucksinPhiladelphia,andsatdowntowaitfortheirfriend.Becausetheyhadnotboughtanything,anemployeeaskedthemtoleave.Whenthetwomenrefused,theemployeecalledthepolice,andinminutes,theywerearrested.Itwasnotuntillaterthatdaythattheywereletgo.
ThevideoofthisincidentpostedonTwitterwentviral.PeopleacrosstheUSwereoutraged.Unfortunately,thesepracticesarenotuncommontoday.Thisincidentisjustoneexampleofimplicitbias(内隐偏见),somethingthatisapartofhumannature.
Mostofthetime,implicitbiasreferstopeopleshowingnegativeassociationstowardspeopleofadifferentrace.Startingfromayoungage,thesefeelingsdevelopunconsciouslyandnaturally,becauseourbraindrawsassociationsbasedonourbackground,culturalenvironmentandpersonalexperiences.
Implicitbiasaffectsoureverydayspeechandactionsandtheseunconsciousdecisionscanbeharmfultooursociety.Therehavebeenmanyexamplesofblacksunfairlykilledbywhiteofficers,suchasinthecasesofPhilandoCastileandAltonSterling,whichhappenedonlytwoyearsago.Implicitbiasaffectsthejusticesystem,ourmedicalsystemwherestudiesshowminoritiesarelesslikelytobetakenseriously,andjobplacementswherewhitemalesarelikelytobejudgedasmorecapablecomparedtowomenandotherminorities.
StarbucksCEOKevinJohnsonandthepolicehavepubliclyapologizedtothetwomen,andStarbuckswillbeholdingananti-biastrainingmeetingonMay29th.AllStarbucksstoreswillbeclosedonthatday.However,criticsandexpertshavesaidthatsuchtrainingisdone"forshow"ratherthantopromotechange.
Toaddressthisissue,manyexpertsagreethatwhattheworldneedsisalong-termprogramthattargetstherootcause.Italsostartswithpromotingdiversityinchildrenfromanearlyagewhentheyhavefriendsandplaymatesfromdifferentracesandcultures.
【推荐2】Sometimeslifedoesn’tseemtoplayfair.Itblindsidesyouattheuntimeliestmoments,andevenifwecanlearntogrinandbeartheupsanddowns,theycantaketheirtollonourpsyche.Soratherthansufferinsilenceorletthesethingsgetyoudown,maybethereisanotherway:whatifhumourcanhelpyougetthroughthedarktimes
AccordingtoauthorandclinicianKristenLee:“Laughterandtearsareboththerapeutic—weneedbothtoprocesssuchhardtimes.”ButhowcanwefindthetoughthingsthathappenfunnyOurlivesarereallyserious,oftenfilledwithmundaneandrepetitiveactivities,whetherit’sarbitrarybillpayingorfightingforaseatonyourcommute,weneedtomaketimeforfunandplay—enjoythelittlethings.Whynotmakefunnynoisestoremindyoutostoptakingthingsseriously,orlearnsomesillyjokes,justtotellwhentimesgethardTheycouldmakeyouorotherpeoplearoundyoulaugh!
Whenahurdlepopsupinlife,it’seasytogetboggeddown—butthewaywerecounteventscanimpactonourresilience.Ratherthanseethenegatives,lookfortheironicmomentsandtellpeopleaboutthem!Whynotwriteparodies(诙谐的改编)inyoursparetimeabouteventsthattakeplacetohelpyoucompartmentaliseScriptwhathappenedasifitwashappeningtoacharacterratherthanyourself.
Weallknowthatsomethingsinlifearen’tfair.Buttakethoseeventsandsendthemupabitinyourscripts!Sometimeslifeneedsabitofaroastingtogetyourthoughtsinorder,andembracingyourcomedicside,seeinglife’sdifficultmomentsasobstaclesthatcanbemadefunofratherthanoverwhelmyou,mayhelpyougetthroughthemmoreeasily.Andwhoknows,youmayjustdiscoveratalentforwritingattheendofit.
【推荐3】Manypeoplebelievethatthereisoneformoftheirlanguagethatismorecorrectthanothers.TheymaybelieveforexamplethatBritishEnglishismorecorrectthanothervarieties;orthatwrittenEnglishismorecorrectthanspokenEnglish.Oftenthisbeliefissupportedbyreferencebookstogrammars,usageguidesordictionaries:Ifsomethinggoesagainstaruleinagrammar,orifthewordisn’tinthedictionary,it“mustbewrong”.Sincethereferencebooksaremostoftenbasedonobservationofthestandardwrittenlanguage,theargumentisreallycircular:Thesebookswillnaturallydescribestandardusage,becausethatiswhattheyarefor;butthisdoesnotmeanthatthereisanythingwrongwithotherkindsofusagethatarelessoftendescribed.
Abetterwayoflookingatthingsistosaythatusageis“correctinitsplace”.StandardAmericanEnglishiscorrectinAmerica,andformalwrittengrammarisemployedinformalwriting.Sothismeansthereisnoanswertothequestion:“WhatkindofEnglishshouldlearnersstudy”Itdependsontheirpurposes.Formanylearners,thebestmodelisoneorotherofthetwomainstandardvarieties:BritishorAmericanEnglish.Neitheroftheseis“better”thantheother,andtheyarebothusedandunderstoodworldwide.
Peoplearealsoworriedbylanguagechange.Ifyoungerpeople“break”therulesthatolderpeoplehavelearnt,olderpeopleoftenfeeldisturbed:theyareconcernedthatyoungerpeoplenolongerknowtheirgrammar,andthatthelanguageisgoingdownhill.Thisisaneedlessworry:changeisnaturalandinevitable,itcannotbestopped,anditdoesnotgenerallyaffectalanguagesefficiencyasacommunicativetool.AgreatdealofmodernEnglishgrammarwouldhavebeenwrongthreehundredyearsago,andwillperhapsbewrongagainthreehundredyearsfromnow.
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