There is a story about one of the authors. He worked for an American oil exploration company in his youth. He did not grow up in Oklahoma or Texas like the other workers. One time he had to work with map makers in the high plains of Wyoming. There, the strong winds are always the enemy of communication.

这里有个关于一个作家的故事。他年轻的时候为美国的一家石油勘探公司工作。他的同事们都是在俄克拉荷马州或德克萨斯州长大的，而他却不是。一次，他不得不与地图绘制人员在怀俄明州的高原上工作。在那里，强风总是阻碍人们的交流。

His job was to place recording devices on a long line with the map makers. He would go ahead first with a tall stick, and the oil company map makers behind would sight the stick from far away. They waved at him, to guide him left or right. Then he would shout out the number of the device he planted there, on that straight line. The wind was very loud and he had to shout over it. But often the map makers from Oklahoma and Texas would just shake their heads. They could not understand what he shouted. The boy couldn’t talk right – they said.

他的工作是与地图绘制人员一起沿着一条长线放置记录设备。他会拿着一根长长的杆子走在前面，而石油公司的地图绘制人员会在后面很远的地方用仪器观察。他们会朝他挥手，引导他向左或向右。之后他要大声喊出沿着那条直线放置的设备数量。狂风呼啸着，而他的音量必须盖过风的声音。但是这些来自俄克拉荷马和德克萨斯的地图绘制人员往往只是冲着他摇头。他们听不懂他喊了什么。这孩子不会说话——他们说道。

Then one night, all the men had drinks together. They said they did not want to fire him, but they could not understand his numbers in the wind. After a few more drinks, they decided they could be language teachers. They taught him a new way to count, so the wind would not take away the numbers when he shouted them.

后来，一天晚上所有人在一起喝酒。地图绘制人员说他们不想解雇他，但是他们听不懂他在刮风时喊的数字。酒过数巡之后，他们决定当一回语言老师。他们教他一种新的计数方法，这样即使是刮大风的时候，他们也可以听清楚他喊的数字。

Some of the numbers in the new dialect of English sounded familiar, but others were totally different: (1) “wuhn” (2) “teu” (3) “thray” (4) “foar” (5) “fahve” (6) “seex” (7) “sebn” (8) “ate” (9) “nahne” (10) “teeyuhn” (11) “lebn”, and on like that. The map-makers were very happy, and not just because of the drinks. They had saved more than a job. They felt they had saved a soul. They had taught someone to “talk right” as they knew it.

有些数字在这新的英语方言中听起来很熟悉，但是其他的却完全不同： (1) “wuhn” （一）(2) “teu”（二） (3) “thray”（三） (4) “foar”（四） (5) “fahve”（五） (6) “seex”（六）(7) “sebn”（七） (8) “ate”（八） (9) “nahne”（九） (10) “teeyuhn”（十） (11) “lebn”（十一），这样依此类推。这些地图绘制人员非常开心，但不只是因为喝酒。他们挽救的不仅是一份工作，他们觉得他们还挽救了一个灵魂。他们教会了某人用他们熟知的方式来“正常说话”。

Many people have experiences like this. If we do not speak different languages or dialects, at least we speak differently at times. We can copy different accents. Sometimes we speak in new ways to make it easier for others to understand us, and sometimes to sound like others so we are more like them. We often use different ways of speaking for jokes.

许多人都曾有那样的经历。如果我们不会说不同的语言或方言，至少我们偶尔会转换说话的方式。我们可以模仿不同的口音。有时，我们用不同的方式说话是为了让其他人能够更容易理解，而有时我们模仿别人这样我们就可以更相像。通常我们会用不同的说话方式来讲笑话。

It should be easy to use Globish – the same words for everyone everywhere in the world. One language for everyone would be the best tool ever. It would be a tool for communication in a useful way. It might not be as good for word games as English, or as good for describing deep feelings. But Globish would be much better for communication between – or with – people who are not native English speakers. And, of course, native English speakers could understand it too.

全球语应该易于使用——因为世界上任何地方的任何人都会使用同样的词语。一种所有人都使用的语言将永远是最好的语言。它将成为一种有用的交流工具。它可能不会像英语那样可以玩拼字游戏，或许也不能用来表达深厚的感情。但全球语将是非英语母语人士之间或与非英语母语人士进行交流的更好工具。当然，英语母语人士也能理解。

So Globish makes an effective tool. You’ll be able to do almost anything with it, with a good understanding of what it is and how it works.

所以全球语是个有效的工具。只要你很好的理解了它是什么以及它的原理，那么你几乎可以用它做任何事情。

But Globish does not aim to be more than a tool, and that is why it is different from English. English is a cultural language. It is a very rich language. It sometimes has 20 different words to say the same thing. And it has a lot of different ways of using them in long, long sentences. Learning all the rest of English is a lifetime of work but there is a good reward. People who learn a lot of English have a rich world of culture to explore. They do a lot of learning and can do a lot with what they learn.

但是全球语的目标仅仅是作为一个工具，而这就是它与英语的不同之处。英语是一门文化语言。它是一门非常丰富的语言。有时英语中可以用20个不同的词来说同样的事物。而且英语很长很长的句子中还有很多不同的用词方法。要学会全部的英语是一项需要倾注一生的工作，但也会有丰厚的回报。学习了很多英语知识的人们都有一个丰富的文化世界可供探索。他们有很多东西学习而且可以用他们所学的知识做很多事情。

But Globish does not aim so high. It is just meant to be a necessary amount. Globish speakers will enjoy travel more, and can do business in Istanbul, Kiev, Madrid, Seoul, San Francisco and Edinburgh.

但是全球语的目标并没有那么高。它注定了只要够用就好。说全球语的人将会喜欢更多的旅行，而且可以在伊斯坦布尔，基辅，马德里，首尔，旧金山，及爱丁堡这些地方做生意。

This will be worth repeating: Globish is “enough” and less than Globish would be not enough. But more than Globish could be too much, and when you use too much English, many people will not understand you.

有必要重申的是：全球语是“足够的”，低于全球语的水平将是不够的。但是高于全球语的水平又可能太多了，而且当你说过多的英语时，很多人将不能理解你的意思。

This confuses some people, especially English teachers. They say: “How is better English, richer English, not always better?” English teachers like people to enjoy the language, to learn more and more English. It is their job.

这使一些人感到困惑，特别是英语教师们。他们说：“更好的英语，更丰富的英语，怎么就不一定好呢？”英语教师希望人们喜欢英语，学习越来越多的英语知识。这是他们的工作。

When we see native speakers speak English it seems so easy. We think it should be easy for non-native speakers too. But when we look at English tests, we see that all kinds of English are used. There is no clear level of English, just more and more of it. For example, the TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) does not tell you when you are ready. It does not say when you have “acceptable” English. Globish is a standard that you can reach. A Globish test can tell you if you have a required amount of language to communicate with other people. That is what brings “understanding” – and either we have it, or we don’t.

当英语母语人士说英语时，在我们看来这太简单了。因此我们以为对于非英语母语人士来说也应该很简单。但是当我们留意英语考试的时候，就会发现有各种各样的英语。只有越来越多的英语考试，却没有一个清晰地标准。举个例子，托业考试（国际交流英语测评）并不会体现出你是否已达到标准。通过参加托业考试你并不会知道你是否已拥有“可以接受的”英语水平。而全球语却是一个你可以达到的标准。完成全球语的测试你就可以知道你是否已达到与他人交流所需要的语言水平。正是语言促进了“理解”——要么我们达到了水平，要么就没有。

The British Council says (in Globish again):

英国文化协会声明：（再次译成全球语）

“For ELF (English as a Lingua Franca) being understood is most important, rather more important than being perfect. The goal of English – within the ELF idea – is not a native speaker but a good speaker of two languages, with a national accent and some the special skills to achieve understanding with another non-native speaker.”

“使用ELF（英语通用语）让人理解是最重要的，比做到完美更加重要。在ELF的设想中，英语的目标并不是英语母语人士，而是一个能说好两种语言，带有本国的口音并运用一些特殊技巧从而使另一个非英语母语人士能够理解他的人。”

These non-native speakers, in many cases, speak much less perfect English than native speakers. Speaking with words that go past the words they understand is the best way to lose them. It is better then, to stay within the Globish borders. It is better to do that than to act as if you believe that the best English shows the highest social status. With Globish, we are all from the same world.

在很多情况下，这些非英语母语人士说的英语没有英语母语人士说的好。如果你使用超过他们理解能力的词汇，那么他们肯定无法理解你的意思。如果你使用的是全球语的词汇，效果就会更好。这样做的话要比你假装相信一流的英语代表最高的社会地位要好得多。有了全球语，我们都来自同一个世界。