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漲姿勢:2/3英國人是外語盲 | 禮貌用語「Thank you」正逐漸消亡

Two-thirds of Britons Cannot Speak a Single Foreign Word

三分之二英國人是外語盲

Two-thirds of Britons cannot say anything in a foreign language—with one fifth even unsure of what bonjour1 means, a study claims. The findings appear to confirm the cliche about Britons being notoriously bad at making an effort to speak the lingo when abroad.2

Overall, 64 percent of those polled3 admitted they did not know a single word in any language other than English. And just one third—34 percent—said they were willing to make an attempt at speaking a foreign language while on holiday. One fifth (19 percent) did not know the meaning of the French word for hello, one of the most recognisable foreign greetings in the world.

Young Britons were found to be worst at making the effort, with nearly half—47 percent—of those aged 16 to 24 admitting they have never spoken the foreign language they learned at school. But 45 percent of the over-55s said they liked to try to speak the local language when abroad, the poll of 2,000 adults found.

「yes, I'm bilingual. I speak English and computerese.」

It is compulsory for all pupils to study a foreign language up to the age of 14 and French, German and Spanish are all on the national curriculum.4 Yet only one in ten of those polled considered themselves able to speak one of them. Of these, a quarter could ask only "everyday questions", 21 percent said they were limited to "hello" and "goodbye", and one in 50 claimed they could understand everything said to them in another language, but were unable to reply.

Reasons for not trying to speak a local language included not being bothered5, fear of making a mistake or expecting hosts to be able to speak English.

1. bonjour:〈法〉你好。

2. cliche: 偏見,陳詞濫調;notoriously: 臭名昭著地,聲名狼藉地;lingo: 語言(尤指外語)。

3. poll: v. 對……進行調查。

4. compulsory: 強制性的;curriculum: 課程。

5. not be bothered (to do sth.): 不想費心(去做某事),懶得(做某事) 。

Death of "Thank you"

禮貌用語「Thank you」正逐漸消亡

It is considered one of the basics of politeness, but saying 「thank you」 may be dying out1, according to a new research.

Rather than failing to show gratitude2, however, we are simply using other words. In fact, one in three people say they usually use another word to express gratitude. Among the most popular phrases were the less formal "ta" and "cool" as well as the French word "merci".

1/20 say "nice one" instead of "thank you"

Although the average Briton still says thank you up to 5,000 times a year, the results indicate an increasingly casual way of speaking, with 40 percent believing they use "thank you" less than previous generations. The poll by television channel Food Network UK also showed that one in 20 said "nice one" instead.But 95 percent still believe good manners are important and eight in 10 Britons say they are polite.

Nick Thorogood, the managing director of Food Network, said: 「This highlights3 that taking the time and effort to say thanks is still very important to us.

People will always find the way that works best for them. It is interesting to see what the act means to different people.❖

1. die out: 絕跡,消失。

2. gratitude: 感激。

3. highlight: 強調,突出。

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