让“老外”学中文(32214)-英语教育-(79)-21英语网

本文作者： MICHAEL CROOK

　　Michael Crook:英国人，出生于北京，中文名柯马凯。在英国、美国、中国从事中、英语言文化教学与翻译工作多年。

　　中国饮食文化素来享誉世界，但却缺乏统一规范的英文译名。为迎接北京2008奥运会，北京市外办正组织专家审核中国菜单译文，相应译名标准即将出台。本栏目将介绍如何正确翻译中国菜名及其译名背后的文化内涵。

　　WE should encourage foreigners to learn some Chinese. I suggest besides an English translation of each dish, next to the names of really popular Chinese dishes, we give the name in pinyin. So if they really like 宫保鸡丁, next time they go into a Chinese restaurant they can say "gongbao jiding!"

　　Most foreigners have already learned some Chinese words for food and drink. Many Americans say "Tofu" for 豆腐. In recent times, many Chinese words have entered the English language, like "chop suey"（杂碎） or "chow mien"（炒面）. We might not recognize them because they are not spelt in pinyin, or because they come from southern Chinese dialect.

　　Did you know that the English word "Tea" is from 茶? The reason they do not say "cha" is because they took the word from Fujian, where it is pronounced "tei". Many can even name different teas, like Oolong (乌龙) or Kemun (祁门).

　　Every English speaker should know the word Ketchup（番茄酱）. Most do not know that it comes from Chinese. Even many Chinese do not know that it comes from Chinese. Ketchup (also spelt catsup) is from 茄汁, which is pronounced "ket-sup" in Cantonese（广东话）. These words entered the English language a long time ago. It is now time for foreigners to learn a few more Chinese words, especially for food! Only now they can learn it from putonghua Chinese, spelt in pinyin.

　　