Suzanne Talhouk: Don't kill your language

Translator: khalid marbou Reviewer: Anwar Dafa-Alla

譯者: NAN-KUN WU 審譯者: Li Li

Good morning!

早上好！

Are you awake?

你們醒著嗎？

They took my name tag, but I wanted to ask you,

他們拿走了我的名牌 但我想問大家

did anyone here write their name on the tag in Arabic?

這裡有人是用阿拉伯語寫名牌的嗎？

Anyone! No one? All right, no problem.

有嗎！沒有？ 好吧，沒事。

Once upon a time, not long ago,

不久以前

I was sitting in a restaurant with my friend, ordering food.

我和朋友坐在餐廳裡點菜

So I looked at the waiter and said,

我望著侍應生說

"Do you have a menu (Arabic)?"

“你有菜單嗎？（阿拉伯語）”

He looked at me strangely, thinking that he misheard.

他很奇怪地望著我 好像聽錯了一樣

He said, "Sorry? (English)."

他說，“對不起？（英語）”

I said, "The menu (Arabic), please."

我說，“菜單（阿拉伯語），謝謝”

He replied, "Don't you know what they call it?"

他回答說 "難道你不知道這個怎麼說？"

"I do."

“我知道。”

He said, "No! It's called "menu" (English), or "menu" (French)."

他說，“你不知道！ 這叫做“菜單”（英文），或者“菜單”（法文）”

Is the French pronunciation correct?

法語發音對嗎？

"Come, come, take care of this one!" said the waiter.

“過來過來，這桌歸你管！” 這侍應生說。

He was disgusted when talking to me, as if he was saying to himself,

他和我說話的時候表現得很厭煩 就好像在心裡說

"If this was the last girl on Earth, I wouldn't look at her!"

“如果這是地球上剩下的唯一一個女孩， 我也不會理她的！”

What's the meaning of saying "menu" in Arabic?

用阿拉伯語說“菜單” 這個動作的意義是什麽？

Two words made a Lebanese young man judge a girl as being backward

這兩個字讓一個黎巴嫩的年輕男人覺得

and ignorant.

一個女孩落後而無知

How could she speak that way?

“她怎麼能那樣說話呢？”

At that moment, I started thinking.

在那一刻，我開始思考

It made me mad.

這讓我憤怒

It definitely hurts!

這當然很傷人！

I'm denied the right to speak my own language in my own country?

我在我自己的國家 被剝奪了說自己語言的權利？

Where could this happen?

哪裡能有這樣的事？

How did we get here?

這怎麼會發生的？

Well, while we are here, there are many people like me,

好吧，在這裡，有很多人和我一樣

who would reach a stage in their lives, where they involuntarily give up

他們來到了人生一個這樣的階段

everything that has happened to them in the past,

不得不放棄過去發生在他們身上的一切

just so they can say that they're modern

才能藉此說明他們是文明的

and civilized.

開化的

Should I forget all my culture, thoughts,

我應該忘記我所有的文化、思想、

intellect and all my memories?

才智，和我所有的回憶嗎？

Childhood stories might be the best memories we have of the war!

童年的故事可能是我們 對戰爭擁有的最好記憶了！

Should I forget everything I learned in Arabic, just to conform?

我應該爲了妥協而忘記所有我用阿拉伯語學到的東西嗎？就爲了成為芸芸眾生中的一員？

To be one of them?

這一切邏輯在哪裡？

Where's the logic in that?

除了這些想法以外， 我也試著去理解那個侍應生 他很殘忍地評判我，但我不想那樣評判他 阿拉伯語無法滿足現代的需要

Despite all that, I tried to understand him.

它不符合科學、

I didn't want to judge him with the same cruelty that he judged me.

研究的需要

The Arabic language doesn't satisfy today's needs.

不是一門我們在大學裡習慣使用的語言

It's not a language for science,

不是我們在工作中用的語言

research,

我們如果要進行先進 研究計劃的時候不會使用它

a language we're used to in universities,

而且它也絕不是我們會在機場使用的語言

a language we use in the workplace,

如果我們說了阿拉伯語 他們會扒光我們的衣服來檢查

a language we rely on if we were to perform an advanced research project,

那麼我可以在哪裡說阿拉伯語呢？ 我們大家都可以問這個問題！

and it definitely isn't a language we use at the airport.

你要我們用阿拉伯語 我們要在哪裡用呢？

If we did so, they'd strip us of our clothes.

這是一種現狀

Where can I use it, then? We could all ask this question!

但還有另一個更重要的 現實問題值得我們思考

So, you want us to use Arabic. Where are we to do so?

阿拉伯語是母語

This is one reality.

研究表明，要掌握其他語言

But we have another more important reality that we ought to think about.

需要先掌握母語

Arabic is the mother tongue.

掌握母語是能用其他語言 進行創造性表達的先決條件

Research says that mastery of other languages

爲什麽？

demands mastery of the mother tongue.

紀伯倫·哈利勒·紀伯倫 （Gibran Khalil Gibran，黎巴嫩詩人）

Mastery of the mother tongue is a prerequisite for creative expression in other languages.

當他剛開始寫作的時候，用的是阿拉伯語 他所有的想法、想像力和哲學思考

How?

都是被他當年還是一個 村莊裡的小男孩時賦予的靈感

Gibran Khalil Gibran,

聞到的味道

when he first started writing, he used Arabic.

聽到的聲音

All his ideas, imagination and philosophy

以及思考的想法

were inspired by this little boy in the village

所以當他開始用英語寫作時 他有了足夠的儲備

where he grew up, smelling a specific smell,

甚至在他用英文寫作

hearing a specific voice,

你讀那些作品時，還是會聞到一樣的味道

and thinking a specific thought.

有一樣的感覺

So, when he started writing in English, he had enough baggage.

你想像得到，是同一個來自山裡的小男孩

Even when he wrote in English,

來自黎巴嫩山村裡的小男孩 在用英語寫作

when you read his writings in English, you smell the same smell,

這是一個無可爭議的例子

sense the same feeling.

第二，人們經常說 如果你要滅掉一個國家

You can imagine that that's him writing in English,

毀滅一個國家唯一的辦法

the same boy who came from the mountain. From a village on Mount Lebanon.

是消滅它的語言

So, this is an example no one can argue with.

這是發達社會意識到的一個現實

Second, it's often said that if you want to kill a nation,

德國、法國、日本、中國 這些國家都知道這個道理

the only way to kill a nation,

這是爲什麽他們都立法 來保護他們的語言

is to kill its language.

他們讓自己的母語變得神聖。

This is a reality that developed societies are aware of.

這是爲什麽他們在生產製作中使用母語 花很多錢來發展語言

The Germans, French, Japanese and Chinese, all these nations are aware of this.

我們比他們更知道這點嗎？

That's why they legislate to protect their language.

好吧

They make it sacred.

我們不發達

That's why they use it in production, they pay a lot of money to develop it.

還不知道這種先進的想法

Do we know better than them?

但我們想要追上這個文明世界的腳步

All right,

有些國家曾經和我們的現狀一樣

we aren't from the developed world,

但努力發展做科學研究

this advanced thinking hasn't reached us yet,

趕上發達國家腳步

and we would like to catch up with the civilized world.

比如土耳其，馬來西亞，以及其他一些國家

Countries that were once like us, but decided to strive for development,

他們在攀登階梯的時候 都保持了自己的語言

do research,

像鑽石一樣保護語言

and catch up with those countries,

他們始終和母語緊密聯繫

such as Turkey, Malaysia and others,

如果你在土耳其或其他地方買的產品

they carried their language with them as they were climbing the ladder,

沒有土耳其文標籤

protected it like a diamond.

那一定不是當地產的

They kept it close to them.

你不相信這是當地產的

Because if you get any product from Turkey or elsewhere

他們需要回到消費者的心理

and it's not labeled in Turkish,

理解一個毫無頭緒的消費者 就像我們大多數時候一樣

then it isn't a local product.

所以爲了創新和生產 他們需要保護自己的語言

You wouldn't believe it's a local product.

如果我說，“自由，尊嚴，獨立（阿拉伯語）”

They'd go back to being consumers,

你會想到什麽？

clueless consumers, like we are most of the time.

沒什麼共鳴，是吧？

So, in order for them to innovate and produce, they had to protect their language.

不管是誰，怎樣，爲什麽

If I say, "Freedom, sovereignty, independence (Arabic),"

語言不僅僅是爲了說話 不僅是我們嘴裡蹦出來的詞彙

what does this remind you of?

語言體現了我們人生中特定的階段

It doesn't ring a bell, does it?

以及和情緒聯繫在一起的名詞

Regardless of the who, how and why.

所以當我們說“自由，尊嚴，獨立”

Language isn't just for conversing, just words coming out of our mouths.

你們每個人都在自己腦海中畫了一幅畫

Language represents specific stages in our lives,

裡面有對某個特殊歷史階段中

and terminology that is linked to our emotions.

特殊一天的特殊感覺

So when we say, "Freedom, sovereignty, independence,"

語言並不是兩三個單詞拼湊在一起

each one of you draws a specific image in their own mind,

語言是關於我們怎樣思考

there are specific feelings

我們怎麼看其他人、 以及其他人怎麼看我們的想法 才智是指什麽？

of a specific day in a specific historical period.

你會怎麼說這個人是否理解了？

Language isn't one, two or three words or letters put together.

所以，如果我說，“自由，尊嚴，獨立（英語）”

It's an idea inside that relates to how we think,

或者，你的兒子到你面前說

and how we see each other and how others see us.

“爸爸，你經歷過自由（英語）標語的時代嗎？”

What is our intellect?

你會怎樣感覺？

How do you say whether this guy understands or not?

如果你不覺得有問題，

So, if I say, "Freedom, sovereignty, independence (English),"

那麼我最好現在就走，放棄徒勞的演說

or if your son came up to you and said,

我的意思是，這些話應該 提醒我們想起一些特別的事

"Dad, have you lived through the period of the freedom (English) slogan?"

我有一位說法語的朋友嫁給了一個法國人

How would you feel?

有一次我問她近況如何

If you don't see a problem,

她說 “一切都很好，

then I'd better leave, and stop talking in vain.

但就有一次，我花了整個晚上去向他解釋 ‘toqborni’的意思。” （阿拉伯語，直譯為“請把我埋起來”，意思是我深愛著你）

The idea is that these expressions remind us of a specific thing.

（笑聲）

I have a francophone friend who's married to a French man.

（掌聲）

I asked her once how things were going.

這個可憐的女人不小心和他說了“toqborni”

She said, "Everything is fine,

然後花了一整個晚上來解釋。

but once, I spent a whole night asking and trying to translate

她丈夫感到非常困惑： “怎麼會有人這麼殘忍呢？

the meaning of the word 'toqborni' for him."

她想自殺嗎？

(Laughter)

‘把我埋起來’（英語）？”

(Applause)

這是例子之一。

The poor woman had mistakenly told him "toqborni,"

這讓我們覺得，她不可能把意思解釋清楚。

and then spent the whole night trying to explain it to him.

因為他理解不了

He was puzzled by the thought: "How could anyone be this cruel?

而且他也確實理解不了： 思維的方式不一樣。

Does she want to commit suicide?

她和我說： “他和我一起聽Fairuz（黎巴嫩歌手）， 有天晚上，我試著給他翻譯

'Bury me?' (English)"

這樣他就能體會我聽Fairuz的感覺。”

This is one of the few examples.

這個可憐的女人試著去翻譯這些話：

It made us feel that she's unable to tell that word to her husband,

“從他們那裡，我伸出手，把你偷來 ——”

since he won't understand,

（笑聲）

and he's right not to; his way of thinking is different.

現在來句難的：

She said to me, "He listens to Fairuz with me,

“因為你屬於他們，我收回手，把你留下”

and one night, I tried to translate for him

（笑聲）

so he can feel what I feel when I listen to Fairuz."

幫我翻譯這句話。

The poor woman tried to translate this for him:

（掌聲）

"From them I extended my hands and stole you --"

那麼，我們做了什麽去保護阿拉伯語呢？

(Laughter)

我們把對語言的重視轉化成文明社會的需要

And here's the pickle:

然後我們爲了保護阿拉伯語開始了活動。

"And because you belong to them, I returned my hands and left you."

儘管很多人和我說， "你爲什麽要去自討苦吃呢？

(Laughter)

忘記這頭疼的事，去享受生活吧。”

Translate that for me.

沒事！

(Applause)

這個保護阿語活動有一個口號：

So, what have we done to protect the Arabic language?

“我從東方對你說話，你卻用西方的方式回答我”

We turned this into a concern of the civil society,

我們沒有說： “不！我們不接受這樣或者那樣。”

and we launched a campaign to preserve the Arabic language.

我們沒有用那樣的方式， 因為那樣更沒有人會理解我們了

Even though many people told me, "Why do you bother?

而且當別人用那樣的方式和我說話時 我討厭阿拉伯語。 我們說——

Forget about this headache and go have fun."

（掌聲）

No problem!

我們想要改變現狀

The campaign to preserve Arabic launched a slogan that says,

而且需要這樣確信 這種表達方式反映了 我們的夢想、激情和日常生活

"I talk to you from the East, but you reply from the West."

如同我們一樣表達和思考

We didn't say, "No! We do not accept this or that."

所以我們說 “我從東方對你說話，而你卻從西方回答”

We didn't adopt this style because that way, we wouldn't be understood.

這句話正中目標

And when someone talks to me that way, I hate the Arabic language.

很簡單，卻很有創意和說服力

We say--

在那之後，我們又發起了另一個活動

(Applause)

是在地上用字母構成場景

We want to change our reality,

你在外面看到其中一個例子

and be convinced in a way that reflects our dreams, aspirations and day-to-day life.

那是一個字母被黑色和黃色膠帶包圍

In a way that dresses like us and thinks like we do.

上面寫著“不要殺死你的語言！”

So, "I talk to you from the East, but you reply from the West"

爲什麽？ 真的，不要殺死你的語言。

has hit the spot.

我們真的不該殺死我們的語言。

Something very easy, yet creative and persuasive.

如果我們失去了我們的語言 就要去尋找另一個身份

After that, we launched another campaign

尋找自己的存在

with scenes of letters on the ground.

我們會需要一切從頭開始

You've seen an example of it outside,

這中間的意義絕不僅僅是 失去成為現代文明社會的機會

a scene of a letter surrounded by black and yellow tape

之後，我們發佈了男孩女孩們 身穿阿拉伯字母的照片

with "Don't kill your language!" written on it.

很“酷”的男孩和女孩的照片

Why? Seriously, don't kill your language.

我們很酷！

We really shouldn't kill our language.

如果有人說 "哈！你用了一個英語的詞！"

If we were to kill the language, we'd have to find an identity.

我會回答， “不！我只是把'cool'這個詞收為己用了。”

We'd have to find an existence.

如果他們要反對就讓他們去吧， 但請給我一個更好 更貼合現實的詞

We'd go back to the beginning.

我會繼續說“網際網路”(internet)

This is beyond just missing our chance of being modern and civilized.

我不會說， “我要去上世界萬維網” （笑聲）

After that we released photos of guys and girls wearing the Arabic letter.

因為那不現實！ 我們不該自欺欺人。

Photos of "cool" guys and girls.

但是到了這裡， 我們都該相信

We are very cool!

不能允許任何“重要人物”

And to whoever might say, "Ha! You used an English word!"

或者認為在語言問題上統治我們的人

I say, "No! I adopt the word 'cool.'"

來控制我們，逼我們用 他們想要的方式去思考和感受。

Let them object however they want, but give me a word that's nicer

創新是關鍵。

and matches the reality better.

即便我們不能去太空，不能造火箭什麽的

I will keep on saying "Internet"

我們仍然可以有創意。

I wouldn't say: "I'm going to the world wide web"

在這一刻，你們每個人都是一個創新的課題 你母語中蘊含的創造力就是我們該遵循的道路

(Laughs)

讓我們從現在開始

Because it doesn't fit! We shouldn't kid ourselves.

讓我們寫一部小說，拍一部短片

But to reach this point, we all have to be convinced

一本小說就可能讓我們重新聞名全球

that we shouldn't allow anyone who is bigger

它可能讓阿拉伯語重回世界第一語言

or thinks they have any authority over us when it comes to language,

誰說沒有出路；我們有辦法！

to control us or make us think and feel what they want.

但是我們必須知道而且確信，我們有辦法

Creativity is the idea.

而且我們有責任去實行

So, if we can't reach space or build a rocket and so on,

讓我來總結，你今天可以做什麽？

we can be creative.

現在，推特，誰現在在發推特？

At this moment, every one of you is a creative project.

拜託，我請求你， 儘管我已經到時間了

Creativity in your mother tongue is the path.

不管你寫的是阿拉伯語，英語，法語還是中文

Let's start from this moment.

但請不要在發阿拉伯文時夾雜拉丁字母和數字！

Let's write a novel or produce a short film.

（掌聲）

A single novel could make us global again.

那是場災難！ 那不是一種語言

It could bring the Arabic language back to being number one.

你會以一種虛擬的語言進入一個虛擬世界

So, it's not true that there's no solution; there is a solution!

但是我們必須知道而且確信，我們有辦法

But we have to know that, and be convinced that a solution exists,

這是我們可以做的第一件事

that we have a duty to be part of that solution.

而且我們有責任去實行

In conclusion, what can you do today?

讓我來總結，你今天可以做什麽？

Now, tweets, who's tweeting?

現在，推特，誰現在在發推特？

Please, I beg of you, even though my time has finished,

拜託，我請求你， 儘管我已經到時間了

either Arabic, English, French or Chinese.

不管你寫的是阿拉伯語，英語，法語還是中文

But don't write Arabic with Latin characters mixed with numbers!

但請不要在發阿拉伯文時夾雜拉丁字母和數字！

(Applause)

（掌聲）

It's a disaster! That's not a language.

那是場災難！ 那不是一種語言

You'd be entering a virtual world with a virtual language.

你會以一種虛擬的語言進入一個虛擬世界

It's not easy to come back from such a place and rise.

從那個虛擬的地方回來然後重新崛起可不容易

That's the first thing we can do.

這是我們可以做的第一件事

Second, there are many other things that we can do.

第二，還有很多事情可以做

We're not here today to convince each other.

我們今天來到這裡不是爲了說服彼此

We're here to bring attention to the necessity of preserving this language.

而是爲了讓大家注意到 保護這門語言的重要性

Now I will tell you a secret.

現在我要告訴你一個秘密

A baby first identifies its father

嬰兒通過語言

through language.

來初次認出父親

When my daughter is born, I'll tell her, "This is your father, honey (Arabic)."

當我的女兒出生時，我會和她說： “這是你的爸爸，親愛的”(阿拉伯語)

I wouldn't say, "This is your dad, honey (English)."

我不會說： “這是你的爸爸，親愛的”（英語）

And in the supermarket, I promise my daughter Noor,

在超級市場，我向我女兒Noor保證

that if she says to me, "Thanks (Arabic),"

如果她和我說“謝謝”（阿拉伯語）

I won't say, "Dis, 'Merci, Maman,'" and hope no one has heard her.

我不會說，“你該說，'謝謝你，媽媽'”（法語） 然後希望沒人剛才聽到她說阿拉伯語

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Let's get rid of this cultural cringe.

讓我們擺脫文化上的卑躬屈膝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）