News Item -美式英語(yǔ)開(kāi)始在香港流行
People in Hong Kong speak a rich mixture of languages. Hong Kong was a British colony for more than 150 years before was returned to Chinese control in 1997. English was the only official language until 1994.
香港人講多種語(yǔ)言。香港曾淪為英國(guó)殖民地長(zhǎng)達(dá) 150 多年，1997 年才回歸中國(guó)。在 1994 年之前，英語(yǔ)是唯一的官方語(yǔ)言。
Most people in Hong Kong today speak Cantonese(粵語(yǔ)), but Mandarin and other dialects also are heard, and English as the British used it is still widely spoken and taught here. Now however, many people are choosing to learn English as it is spoken in the United States.
今天，大多數(shù)香港人講粵語(yǔ)，但也能聽(tīng)到普通話和其他方言，英國(guó)人使用的英語(yǔ)仍在這里廣泛使用和教授。不過(guò)，現(xiàn)在很多人選擇學(xué)習(xí)美國(guó)人說(shuō)的英語(yǔ)。
Victor Chan, for example, has children who attend a school called Nature EQ on Saturday and Sunday, they are learning to say words the American way. Mr. Chan says he wants his sons to learn American English, because he plans to send them to the United States for further study.
例如，Victor Chan的孩子在一所名為 "自然情商"（Nature EQ）的學(xué)校上學(xué)，每周六和周日，他們都在學(xué)習(xí)用美國(guó)方式說(shuō)單詞。陳先生說(shuō)，他希望自己的兒子學(xué)習(xí)美式英語(yǔ)，因?yàn)樗蛩闼退麄內(nèi)ッ绹?guó)深造。
Student Sam Yu has another reason for studying English spoken in the American way.
學(xué)生 Sam Yu 學(xué)習(xí)美式英語(yǔ)還有另一個(gè)原因。
“The thing is getting more and more important, and maybe it’s taking over the dominance(主導(dǎo))of British English.
他說(shuō)："這件事越來(lái)越重要，也許它正在取代英式英語(yǔ)的主導(dǎo)地位。
Yes. So I’m willing to learn.”
是的，所以我愿意學(xué)習(xí)。
Public schools in the former British colony still teach mostly British English. But the number of private language schools teaching American English is growing.
前英國(guó)殖民地的公立學(xué)校仍然主要教授英式英語(yǔ)。但教授美式英語(yǔ)的私立語(yǔ)言學(xué)校數(shù)量正在增加。
Some observers say American English is becoming the language of international business. Increased contact with American culture, like movies, television programs, computer games and the Internet is spreading American expressions and accents in areas other than business.
一些觀察家說(shuō)，美式英語(yǔ)正在成為國(guó)際商務(wù)語(yǔ)言。與美國(guó)文化的接觸越來(lái)越多，如電影、電視節(jié)目、電腦游戲和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)，使美國(guó)的表達(dá)方式和口音在商業(yè)以外的領(lǐng)域傳播開(kāi)來(lái)。
Language teachers in Hong Kong say wealthy people who live in mainland China are helping to increase the demand for classes in American English. Mainland Chinese are crossing into Hong Kong because it has more educational choices.
香港的語(yǔ)言教師說(shuō)，居住在中國(guó)大陸的富人正在幫助增加對(duì)美式英語(yǔ)課程的需求。中國(guó)大陸人正在進(jìn)入香港，因?yàn)橄愀塾懈嗟慕逃x擇。
But for now, people hearing English in the streets of Hong Kong are mainly hearing traditional British English.
但目前，人們?cè)谙愀劢诸^聽(tīng)到的英語(yǔ)主要是傳統(tǒng)的英式英語(yǔ)。
