（媒库文选）脱欧后英语可能是英国的利器

ittle noticed amid the political turmoil， the Government has begun the legal process to establish a post-Brexit Britain as a standalone economy.

It"s the firmest sign yet of the seeming inexorability of Brexit， that business is heading towards a very different future， regardless of whether the exit is soft or hard.

The introduction of the Trade Bill is the first tangible step on that path. With it comes a hardening of planning，and in some quarters， a darkening of mood.

The proposed legislation only deals with the mechanics， however. It"s very easy， reading it， to be swamped with gloom， to wonder how this newly isolated UK can really hope to pick up from where the comfort blanket afforded by membership of the EU left off.

We"ve got some appealing assets. Our legal system， transparency of public administration， and education are popularly cited as winning over foreign trading partners. We lead， or we"re placed among the leaders， in fintech， pharma， bio-tech，financial services， and the creative industries.

There is though， one jewel we possess that is often overlooked. English. Across the world， 2 billion people are using the English language. Of those， about a quarter， or 500 million， are native English speakers – those for whom English is their first language. The rest have to learn it. And learn it they do.

There may be more native Mandarin speakers than there are native English speakers， but 350 million of the former are also learning English. No other tongue has the same draw， no other language has the same global positioning.

And it"s ours. This was brought home at an event last week aimed at foreign investors. When they were being asked what they liked about doing business in Britain the one aspect upon which they could all agree was English.

Without realising it， we"re sitting on gold. God forbid， if we were Bulgaria or Hungary departing the EU， what then？

What does this amount to？ An enormous advantage and huge opportunity. Proficiency in English is equated around the globe with access to knowledge， with research and development， innovation and investment.

There is an argument that says our own strength in English is our undoing， that we do not see the need to learn other languages， that linguistically we lag far behind the likes of Finland， Holland and France， that we excel in what is the world"s most common second language.

The danger with this approach is that we become mired in our own narrow sphere， we"re not open to new ideas and thought， we don"t really understand what others are thinking， and we retreat into an Anglo-bunker built on past glories. It is also true that trading partners would respect us more if we addressed them in their first language rather than rely on them to become proficient in a second.

There"s no reason， though， why one has to exclude the other. We"re good at English， it"s what we do， who we are. It"s in our DNA. But we can still learn foreign languages， while maintaining and nurturing our given hegemony in English.

However multilingual we are though， we will never be as good as we are at English. Neither do foreigners expect or want us to be. We should wake up. English is our greatest natural resource. We should thank our lucky stars we have it， and we must exploit it and sell it.

在政治乱象中不知不觉的是，英国政府启动了旨在把脱欧后的英国建成一个独立经济体的法律程序。

在看似不可阻挡的英国脱欧进程中，这是以迄今为止最明确的迹象说明，不管是软脱欧还是硬脱欧，商界都将迎来截然不同的未来。

贸易法案的推出是在这条路上迈出的坚实的第一步。随之而来的是规划变得确定，以及对某些人而言情绪变得阴郁。

不过，拟议中的这项法案只针对技术性细节。看到这样的内容很容易陷入沮丧，不知道这个刚被孤立的英国如何能真的指望在欧盟成员国地位赋予的安乐窝不复存在后振作前行。

我们拥有一些令人艳羡的长处。我们的法律制度、公共行政领域的透明度以及教育普遍被认为胜过外国贸易伙伴。我们在金融科技、制药、生物科技、金融服务以及创意产业方面发挥着引领作用，或者说跻身于引领者行列。

不过我们有一笔宝贵财富经常被忽视。英语。在世界各地，20亿人在使用英语这门语言。其中约四分之一，也就是5亿人是以英语为母语的人——对他们而言英语是第一语言。其他人要学习英语。他们的确在学。

母语是普通话的人或许比母语是英语的人更多，但是在前者当中，有3.5亿人也在学习英语。没有其他哪种语言具有同样的吸引力，也没有其他哪种语言拥有同样的全球地位。

而它是属于我们的。上周针对外国投资者的一次活动清楚表明了这一点。当他们被问及喜欢在英国做生意的哪一点时，所有人都认同的一个方面是英语。

不自觉中，我们正坐拥财富。如果我们是要脱离欧盟的保加利亚或者匈牙利，那会怎样？老天保佑，千万别！

这意味着什么？巨大的优势和广大的机遇。精通英语在全球各地等同于获取知识的渠道，等同于研发、创新和投资。

有一种观点认为我们在英语方面的优势毁了我们，认为我们看不到学习其他语言的必要性，认为我们在语言上远远落后于芬兰、荷兰和法国人民，认为我们只是擅长世界上最常见的第二语言而已。

这种态度的危险性在于我们会陷入自己的小圈子，我们不愿意接受新的理念和想法，我们并不真的了解其他人在想什么，我们躲进了建立在昔日荣光之上的英国地堡。确定无疑的另外一点是，如果我们用贸易伙伴的第一语言和他们打交道而不是指望他们精通第二语言，他们会更加敬重我们。

不过，一门语言没有理由非要去排斥另一门语言。我们擅长英语，就是这样，生来如此。它存在于我们的DNA中。但是我们仍然可以学习外语，同时保持并滋养我们在英语上被赋予的霸主地位。

不过，不管我们有多么擅长使用多国语言，我们永远都不会像对英语那么精通。外国人也不指望或希望我们如此。我们应该醒悟。英语是我们最宝贵的自然资源。我们应该庆幸自己拥有它，我们也必须利用它并推广它。（李凤芹译自英国《独立报》网站11月11日文章，作者为Chris Blackhurst 克里斯·布莱克赫斯特）