【中國人該練練口才了】中國人笑開顏口才

　　編者按：隨著北京2008年奧運會的逼近，民眾越來越關(guān)心“中國”品牌的樹立，學習英語的熱情也被點燃。越來越多的外宣干部和業(yè)內(nèi)同行向我們表達了期待看到雙語欄目的愿望。因此，我們自2006年第1期起開辦了《雙語視窗》欄目以滿足廣大讀者的需求。
　　看看周圍的媒體，在《北京青年報》、《參考消息》、《國門時報》上有許多精粹的小短文，像一只只啄木鳥，善意地提醒了中國人習以為常的行為背后“尚未和國際接軌”的細節(jié)，讀后讓人回味不已。在獲得借鑒意義的同時，也帶來更深入的思考。我們效仿中英文對照的版面形式，旨在通過外國友人的視角來看中國，從中折射出東西方觀念、習俗的異同。通過一篇篇這樣的文章，讓讀者在領(lǐng)略異域文化的同時，也能達到學習英語的目的。
　　
　　當我就讀于美國耶魯大學時，有幸遇到了很多有天分的中國學生。雖然他們在美國已經(jīng)上了幾年學，但在與美國人的交往上仍有很大困難。“我掌握了那么多的英語單詞，語法也很棒，”他們常常這樣對我說，“但我還是不能與美國人很好地交流�！�
　　問題在于，雖然他們擁有了一部機器的所有零件，但卻缺乏一種簡單的理論使這部機器變得有實際用途�！半m然你對英文理解得很好，”我說，“但你還沒有理解當?shù)厝耸侨绾问褂迷撜Z言來達到他們的目的。”當我來到北京開始教授英語時，我意識到對于如何在社會中運用語言這一能力的掌握，不僅在課堂上缺乏，而且在生活的多個層面都很缺乏。
　　有一次，一名中國女足球隊球迷的美國人對我說：“為什么沒有人去看她們踢球？那是因為人們覺得沒太大意思�！�
　　“是的，沒人對中國女足感興趣，”我說，“因為人們不相信女人踢球有什么意思。”
　　“但是如果女足球隊有善于公關(guān)的人，使人們對女足感興趣，其結(jié)果就可能說服人們認同女足是有意思的。你可知道一個出色的廣告人，曾把佛羅里達州變成了老年人喜歡的度假地，并使人們相信冬天吃冰激凌是個好主意？而市場營銷與公關(guān)在中國尚不存在�！�
　　他最后的結(jié)論恐怕過于夸張，但有一點是真實的，那就是中國人缺乏市場營銷與公關(guān)技巧，這是因為人們?nèi)狈�對如何應用語言的精妙理解。缺乏這種精妙的理解，就不可能創(chuàng)造出市場與公關(guān)技巧，甚至不容易從其他文化中來借鑒。美國人之所以精于市場與公關(guān)，是因為他們懂得語言的力量。如果中國人想與西方人溝通，就必須了解這種力量。而達到這一理念的道路就是運用語言的技能。在西方，源于修辭學的一些原則在指導著語言的應用，以闡述觀點。
　　對于不同的人來說，修辭學意味著不同的內(nèi)容。但基本上說來，它是對作為力量的語言的分析――一種與他人交流并說服別人接受你的觀點的方法，但語言也是了解你自己和周圍世界的一種力量。
　　因此，語言技巧就是關(guān)于交流與表達自我的技巧。在你使別人理解你的想法和感受之前，你首先要理解別人的想法和感受。比如，如果你是個想找工作的西方人，在你向公司提出要求之前，首先要努力向公司說明你能為公司做些什么。正如美國人所說的，在面試之前，必須做“家庭作業(yè)”：搞清該公司的經(jīng)營范圍，公司需要的是什么，公司負責人在求職者身上尋求的是什么，然后，以你所了解到的這些資料為基準，盡可能多地表現(xiàn)自己。從根本上說這就意味著你必須琢磨、組織、調(diào)整你的語言，以適應你的聽眾。
　　存在于語言技巧背后的想法則是，我們只能通過語言來理解這個世界，是語言，溝通了我們對世界與他人的理解。因此，能夠駕馭語言的人就能構(gòu)筑（甚至也能駕馭）別人的觀念。這就是為什么在美國市場營銷與公關(guān)如此盛行，因為美國人相信語言可以用來改變?nèi)藗兊乃季S方式，可以用來表現(xiàn)自己。
　　中國人視謙虛為美德，也很容易將自我表現(xiàn)視為傲慢。他們往往自我反省，甚至很內(nèi)向。讓人覺得有點奇怪的是，中國人將語言技巧視為與西方人的好辯和直言不諱是同樣不可接受的東西。但是，如果一個中國人希望與美國人交流，就應首先了解西方人運用語言的方式。如果一個中國人增強了語言技巧的意識，最終他會發(fā)現(xiàn)，在生活中的某個領(lǐng)域，他已經(jīng)在不知不覺地使用著語言技巧了。
　　修辭技巧遠非僅僅是語言的問題，它終歸是生活與生存的理論。
　　
　　作者曾是美國最具影響力的高等教育周刊
　　While I was studying at Yale, I had the good fortune to meet many intelligent and talented Chinese students that, even though they had been studying in the US for a few years, still had great difficulty in communicating with Americans.“I know so many English words and my grammar is perfect,” they would say to me, “but I still cannot communicate very well with Americans.”
　　The problem is that although they have all the parts to make the machine, they lack the simple theory to make the machine functional. “Although you understand English wellenough,” I would reply,“you still don’t understand hownative speakers use the language to achieve their ends.” When I came to Beijing to teach English, I realized that this grasp of how language is used socially was absent not only in the classroom but also in all walks of life.
　　An American who is a fan of the Chinese women’s football team once said to me, “Why is it that no one goes towatch the team?It’s because they don’t believe it’s interesting enough.”
　　“Right. No one is interested in the Chinese women’s football team,” I replied, “because they don’t believe thatit’s interesting.”
　　“But if the team had someone competent to handle public relations, then that person could make people interested in the team - could, in effect, persuade people that it was interesting. Did you know that a good advertiser was able to turn Florida into a favorite vacation spot for old people and convince people that eating ice cream in winter was a good idea? Marketing and public relations don’t exist in China.”
　　His last remark was perhaps an exaggeration, but it is substantially true that Chinese lack marketing and public relations skills. And this is because they lack a subtle understanding of how language can be used. Without that understanding, they cannot create these skills or even readily assimilate them from other cultures. Americans are so adept at marketing and PR because they understand the power of language. If Chinese wish to communicate with Westerners, they must also come to understand this power.The path to such an understanding is the field known as rhetoric. Principles derived from rhetoric govern the use of language to shape opinion in the West.
　　Rhetoric means different things to different people, but essentially it is the analysis of language as power - as a way to communicate with others and persuade them to accept your views, but also as power to understand yourself and the world around you.
　　Thus rhetoric is about communication and self-expression.And you must first understand how others think and feel before you can enable them to understand how you think and feel.For example, if you were a Westerner applying for a job, you would first strive to tell the firm what you could do for them before telling the firm what they could do for you.As Americans put it, you have to do your homework before you go to a serious job interview:find out what the company does, what it needs, what its executives are looking for in potential employees.Then as much as possible present yourself in line with what you’ve discovered.Essentially this means that you must plan, order and adjust your words to suit your audience.
　　The assumption behind rhetoric is that we can only comprehend the world through language; it is language that shapes our understanding of the world and others. Accordingly, someone who can control language can shapeand perhaps even control others’ perceptions.That is why in America marketing and public relations are so pervasive-because Americans believe that language can be used to change the way people think, and that language is used to express oneself.
　　The Chinese view modesty as a virtue and easily equate self-expression with arrogance; they tend to be introspective, even introverted.
　　Little wonder then that they find rhetoric as alien as Western argumentativeness and outspokenness. However, if a Chinese wishes to communicate with an American, then heshould understand the Western approach to language first. And if a Chinese develops an awareness of rhetoric, he may eventually discover that he too, in some sphere or other of his life, has been using rhetoric without knowing it.
　　In the end, rhetoric is more than just an approach to language- it is a theory of life and living.
　�。ǜ兄x《北京青年報》“雙語視窗”欄目張愛學編輯對本文提供的支持。）
　　責編：周瑾

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