China's recent rise has brought with it a new conventional wisdom: that everyone must learn Mandarin. But no one's told South Korea yet. Though Chinese is increasingly popular in South Korea, the nation seems to be suffering a profound case of English fever.

中國最近崛起，連帶產生一種新的流行看法：人人都要學中文。這點倒是還沒有人告知南韓。雖然中文在南韓越來越紅，全國卻似乎都陷入嚴重的英文熱中。

South Korea now boasts at least 10 "English villages"—mock Western communities complete with post offices, pharmacies and the like where kids can practice their language skills. An entire English-only town is due to open on Cheju Island in 2010. And one Internet-based company here even offers English courses for fetuses in the womb.

南韓現在號稱至少有10個「英語村」，模仿西方社區五臟俱全，有郵局、藥房等設施，孩童可以在這裡磨練他們的語言能力。濟州島也將在2010年成立一個只能說英語的小鎮，當地一家網路公司還為在子宮中的胎兒上英文課。

Next door, mighty China itself seems to have caught the English bug. Beijing guesses that more than 40 million non-native speakers now study Mandarin worldwide. But that pales next to the number of those learning English. In China alone, some 175 million people are now studying English in the formal education system. And an estimated 2 billion people will be studying it by 2010, according to a British Council report last year.

隔鄰強大的中國本身，似乎也很熱中英文。北京揣測，目前全球至少有4,000萬中文不是母語的人在學中文。但這和學英文的人比仍相形見絀。在中國大陸，目前就有約1億7,500萬人在正規教育系統中學英文。據英國文化協會去年的報告，到2010年，合計約有20億人會學英文。

"The impression is that 'Mandarin fever' is rampant and spreading, but a close look shows this is an exaggeration," says Stephen Krashen, a second-language-acquisition expert at the University of Southern California. "The dominance of English as an international language is growing."

「印象中，『中文熱』正在猛烈蔓延，但再細看會發現，其實是誇大其詞，」南加大第二語言專家克萊森說。「英語在國際語言中愈來愈獨占鰲頭。」

To be sure, Mandarin has become increasingly useful, particularly in Asian business circles. And its utility will rise as China's clout grows. But English is—and, for the foreseeable future, seems set to remain—essential for those hoping to compete in the globalized world. From Brussels to Beijing, English is now the common language spoken in multinational firms, top universities and the scientific community.

當然，中文愈來愈實用，尤其在亞洲商業界。而隨著中國實力更強大，中文的實用性也會增加。但對那些希望在全球化世界競爭的人，英文仍很重要，而且在可預見的未來似乎仍將如此。從布魯塞爾到北京，英文如今是跨國企業、頂尖大學和科學界的通用語言。

A recent survey by the San Francisco-based firm GlobalEnglish found that 91 percent of employees at multinationals in Latin America, Europe and Asia believed English was "critical" or "important" to their current positions. And the consulting group McKinsey warned China in 2005 that fewer than 10 percent of its college graduates were suitable for employment at multinationals—primarily because they couldn't speak English.

舊金山全球英語公司最近的一項調查發現，在拉丁美洲、歐洲和亞洲，91%多國企業員工相信。英文對他們目前的職位很「關鍵」或「重要」。麥肯錫投顧集團也在2005年警告中共，大陸大學畢業生只有不到10%適合任職多國企業，主要因為他們不會說英語。

In recognition of this fact, numer-ous countries are starting to teach their kids English at ever youngerages. According to the British Council, the prevailing model is to ensure that students gain basic English proficien-cy in primary school and then use it as a language of study in secondary school. This model is much evident in Europe; Eurydice (an EU educa-tion unit) reports that more than 90 percent of primary-school students in Austria and Norway study English, as do more than 80 percent in Spain. In South America, Colombia and Chile have implemented ambitious

programs to boost English skills. And the Philippines mandated in 2003 that English be the medium of in-struction for math and science be-ginning in the third grade, and for all subjects in secondary school.

在認清這個事實後，無數國家在孩子年幼時就開始教他們英文。英國文化協會指出，一般模式是確保學生上小學就會基本的流利英語，等上初中再用英語學習。這種模式在歐洲更明顯，歐盟教育單位「歐洲教育資訊網」報告指出，奧地利和挪威有90%以上小學生學英文，西班牙則超過80%。在南美洲，哥倫比亞和智利也推動企圖心很大的提高英語能力計畫。菲律賓在2003年明文規定，從小學三年級開始，用英文教數學和科學，上了初中，所有學科都以英語教學。

But no country compares with China, which has the world's largest number of English students. In 2001, Beijing ordered that English classes start in the third grade, rather than in high school as before. In big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, such in-struction now begins in grade one. And many Chinese parents try to ac-celerate the process by sticking their kids into English buxiban—cram schools—as early as possible.

但沒有任何國家可以和中國相比，中國學英語的學生高居世界之冠。2001年，北京下令從小三開始上英文課，不像過去從中學才開始上。在北京、上海等大城市，甚至從小一就開始教英文。大陸很多家長為了加速進程，還盡早把孩子塞到補習班。

As for Taiwan; 3 million students now study English in its schools, com-pared with roughly 1 million in 2001. Taiwan is also following South Korea's lead by opening an "English village."

至於台灣，有300萬學生目前在校學英文，相形之下，2001年只有約100萬。台灣也繼南韓之後要辦「英語村」。

《詞解》

conventional wisdom 流行看法
Mandarin fever中文熱
mock模仿
British Council 英國文化協會
Cheju Island 濟州島
catch the bug 熱中
native speakers 說母語的人
pales next to 相形見絀
dominance 獨占獒頭
multinational
firms,multinationals跨國企業
Eurydice歐洲教育資訊網
mandated明文規定
cram schools補習班