我知道你们在想什么，你们觉得我迷路了，马上就会有人走上台温和地把我带回我的座
位上。（掌声）。我在迪拜总会遇上这种事。“来这里度假的吗，亲爱的？”（笑声）“来探望孩
子的吗？这次要待多久呢？
恩，事实上，我希望能再待久一点。我在波斯湾这边生活和教书已经超过30年了。（掌
声）这段时间里，我看到了很多变化。现在这份数据是挺吓人的，而我今天要和你们说的是
有关语言的消失和英语的全球化。我想和你们谈谈我的朋友，她在阿布达比教成人英语。在
一个晴朗的日子里，她决定带她的学生到花园去教他们一些大自然的词汇。但最后却变成是
她在学习所有当地植物在阿拉伯语中是怎么说的。还有这些植物是如何被用作药材，化妆品，
烹饪，香草。这些学生是怎么得到这些知识的呢？当然是从他们的祖父母，甚至曾祖父母那
里得来的。不需要我来告诉你们能够跨代沟通是多么重要。
but sadly, today, languages are dying at an unprecedented rate. a language dies
every 14 days. now, at the same time, english is the undisputed global language. could
there be a connection? well i dont know. but i do know that ive seen a lot of changes.
when i first came out to the gulf, i came to kuwait in the days when it was still
a hardship post. actually, not that long ago. that is a little bit too early. but nevertheless, i was
recruited by the british council along with about 25 other teachers. and we were the first non-muslims to teach in the state schools
there in kuwait. we were brought to teach english because the government wanted to
modernize the country and empower the citizens through education. and of course, the
u.k. benefited from some of that lovely oil wealth. 但遗憾的是，今天很多语言正在
以前所未有的速度消失。每14天就有一种语言消失，而与此同时，英语却无庸置疑地成为全
球性的语言。这其中有关联吗？我不知道。但我知道的是，我见证过许多改变。初次来到海
湾地区时，我去了科威特。当时教英文仍然是个困难的工作。其实，没有那么久啦，这有点
太久以前了。总之，我和其他25位老师一起被英国文化协会聘用。我们是第一批非穆斯林的
老师，在科威特的国立学校任教。我们被派到那里教英语，是因为当地政府希望国家可以现
代化并透过教育提升公民的水平。当然，英国也能得到些好处，产油国可是很有钱的。
okay. now this is the major change that ive seen -- how teaching english has
morphed from being a mutually
english-speaking nation on earth. and why not? after all, the best education --
according to the latest world university rankings -- is to be found in the universities
of the u.k. and the u.s. so everybody wants to have an english education, naturally.
but if youre not a native speaker, you have to pass a test.
言归正传，我见过最大的改变，就是英语教学的蜕变如何从一个互惠互利的行为变成今
天这种大规模的国际产业。英语不再是学校课程里的外语学科，也不再只是英国的专利。英
语（教学）已经成为所有英语系国家追逐的潮流。何乐而不为呢？毕竟，最好的教育来自于
最好的大学，而根据最新的世界大学排名，那些名列前茅的都是英国和美国的大学。所以自
然每个人都想接受英语教育，但如果你不是以英文为母语，你就要通过考试。
now can it be right to reject a student on linguistic ability well, i dont think so. we english teachers reject them all the time. we put a
stop sign, and we stop them in their tracks. they cant pursue their dream any longer,
till they get english. now let me put it this way, if i met a dutch speaker who had the cure for cancer, would i stop him from entering my british
university? i dont think so. but indeed, that is exactly what we do. we english
