The most important thing about Globish is that it started with non-native English speakers. Some English professor could have said “I will now create Globish to make English easy for these adults who are really children.” Then Globish would not be global, but just some English professor’s plaything. But the true Globish idea started in international meetings with British, Americans, continental Europeans, and Japanese, and then Koreans. The communication was close to excellent between the British and the Americans. But it was not good between those two and the other people. Then there was a big surprise: the communication between the last three groups, continental Europeans, Japanese, and Koreans, was among the best. There seemed to be one good reason: they were saying things with each other that they would have been afraid to try with the native English speakers – for fear of losing respect. So all of these non-native speakers felt comfortable and safe in what sounded like English, but was far from it.

全球语最重要的一点是，它是从非英语母语人士开始的。某个英语教授本来可以说道：“现在我将要创造全球语以使那些英语只有儿童水平的成年人学起来更轻松。”那么全球语将只会成为某个英语教授的玩物而不会成为全球性的了。但是全球语真正的想法是从与英国人，美国人，欧洲大陆人，日本人，以及韩国人之间的国际会议中萌发的。英国人与美国人之间的交流近乎完美。但是这两个国家的人与其他国家的人交流却不是很好。之后令人称奇的是：最后三组人，欧洲大陆人，日本人，和韩国人之间的交流是最好的。这似乎有个好的理由：他们之间说的话是那些他们不敢尝试与英语母语人士说的，因为他们害怕说了之后会失去别人对他们的尊重。因此所有这些非英语母语人士都觉得用这听起来像英语的英语交谈很舒服和安全，但他们使用的却远远不是英语。

But those non-native English speakers were all talking to each other. Yes, there were many mistakes. And yes, the pronunciation was strange. The words were used in unusual ways. Many native English speakers think English like this is horrible. However, the non-native speakers were enjoying their communication.

但是这些非英语母语人士全都在相互交谈。确实，他们的语言中有很多错误。当然，他们的发音很怪。词语的使用方法也不寻常。许多英语母语人士认为这样的英语太糟糕了。然而，非英语母语人士却享受着这样的交流。

But as soon as one of the English or Americans started speaking, everything changed in one second. The non-native speakers stopped talking; most were afraid of speaking to the native English speakers. None of them wanted to say a word that was incorrect.

但是一旦其中的一个英国人或美国人开始说话，一切马上都改变了。非英语母语人士停止了交谈；大多数人害怕与英语母语人士说话。他们当中没有人愿意说一个错误的词。

It is often that way across the world. Non-native English speakers have many problems with English. Some native English speakers say non-natives speak “broken English.” In truth, non-native English speakers talk to each other effectively because they respect and share the same limitations.

这种情况在世界各地时常发生。非英语母语人士的英语有很多问题。一些英语母语人士说非英语母语人士讲的是“蹩脚英语”。事实上，非英语母语人士之间的谈话效率很高是因为他们尊重并分担共同的局限。

The Frenchman and the Korean know they have similar limitations. They do not use rare, difficult-to-understand English words. They choose words that are “acceptable” because they are the easiest words they both know. Of course, these are not always those of the native speakers, who have so many more words to choose from.

法国人和韩国人清楚他们有相似的局限。他们不会使用不常见的，难以理解的英语词汇。他们选择“可接受的”词语是因为这些是双方都知晓的最简单的词汇。当然，对于英语母语人士来说不总是这样，他们有更多的词汇可以选择。

The idea of Globish came from this observation: limitations are not always a problem. In fact, they can be useful, if you understand them. Jean-Paul Nerrière could see that “if we can make the limitations exactly the same, it will be as if there are no limitations at all”. He decided to record a limited set of words and language that he observed in most non-English speakers. He then suggested that people from various mother tongues can communicate better if they use these carefully chosen limitations. Globish is that “common ground.”

全球语的想法来自以下这一观察：局限并不一定就是麻烦。事实上，如果你理解了他们，它们也可以利用的。让-保罗·内里埃能够看出：“如果我们能让每个人的局限都完全相同，那么每个人就如同根本没有局限一样。”他决定记录下观察到的大多数非英语母语人士使用的一组数量有限的词汇和语言。之后他表示，如果不同母语的人使用这些精心挑选的词汇，那么他们之间的交流会更顺畅。全球语就是那个“共同基础”。

The World Cup is one of the most-watched competitions in the world, because its set of “limitations” makes it a great game for everyone. In this game of foot-ball, players must use their feet most of the time to control the ball, so tall people and people with big arms do not always win. Some people say it is dancing with the ball; the limitations make it beautiful.

世界杯是世界上收视率最高的比赛之一，那是因为它的一套“规则”让它成为每个人都喜爱的运动。在足球这种比赛中，运动员大多数时间内必须使用他们的脚来控制球，因此高大以及上身强壮的人并不一定会赢。有些人说这是与球共舞；它的规则使其变得优美。

Ballet, of course, has limitations too; it is what you say with your body. And people of every language enjoy both of these. The beauty happens when the limitations are the same. Globish is about having the same limitations, so there is no limit to what can be communicated between people speaking or writing or reading Globish.

当然，芭蕾舞也有规则；那就是用身体语言进行表达。尽管世界上的人说不同的语言，但他们都喜欢足球和芭蕾。当规则相同时，人们就感到了美的存在。全球语就是为了让人们拥有共同的局限，那样的话，在使用全球语交谈、写作或阅读的时候，就没有什么可以妨碍人们的交流了。

We hope the dancers will not start singing in ballets. But what happens when you can use your hands in “foot-ball?” Then – mostly in the English-speaking cultures – we see their American football and Rugby football. These do not have the limitations of playing only with their feet. Not as many people in the world can sit together and enjoy watching. It is not something they all can share, all knowing the same limitations.

我们期望芭蕾舞演员们不会开始在舞蹈中歌唱。但当你在“足球”比赛中使用手时会发生什么呢？于是，我们注意到在大多数英语国家有美式足球和橄榄球。这些运动没有规定只能用脚进行比赛。因此世界上没有那么多人能够坐在一起欣赏。这不是他们每个人都可以分享的，也不是每个人都了解同样的规则。

The limitations of Globish also make it easier to learn, easier to find a word to use. Native English speakers seem to have too many words that say the same thing and too many ways to say it.

全球语的局限也使得它更容易学习，更容易找到要使用的词语。英语母语人士似乎有太多的词汇及太多的方法来表达同样的意思。

So communication between non-native speakers can be much more effective when they are using Globish. And if non-native and native speakers use Globish between themselves, both of them will understand. Most people would think that native English speakers could know how to speak Globish in one second. But that is not true. Native English speakers who use too many words in too many ways are, in fact, missing a huge opportunity to communicate with the world.

因此当非英语母语人士都使用全球语时，他们之间的交流可以更有效率。而且如果非英语母语人士与英语母语人士使用全球语互相交流的话，双方都可以理解。多数人认为英语母语人士瞬间就能学会如何说全球语，但这并不是事实。实际上，因为使用太多的词汇及太多的表达方式，英语母语人士正错过一个与世界交流的大好良机。

The British Council tells us (here in Globish):

英国文化协会告诉我们（这里用全球语说）：

“People have wondered for years whether English is so solid in international communication that even the rise of China could not move it from its high position. The answer is that there is already a new language, which was being spoken quietly while native-speakers of English were looking the other way. These native-speakers of English were too happy when they thought their language was the best of all. The new language that is pushing out the language of Shakespeare as the world’s Lingua Franca is English itself – English in its new global form. As this book (English Next) shows, this is not English as we have known it, and have taught it in the past as a foreign language. It is a new happening, and if it represents any kind of winning, it will probably not be the cause of celebration by native English speakers.”

“这些年来人们都好奇英语在国际交流中的地位是如此牢固，以至于甚至是中国的崛起都没能够动摇它的领导地位。答案是正当英语母语人士视而不见的时候，人们已经静静地使用一种新的语言了。当想到他们的语言是最好的时候，这些英语母语人士太过高兴了。那个将莎士比亚的语言排挤出去而成为世界通用语的新语言正是英语自身——全新的英语全球性形式。正如这本书（《英语走向何方》）所说明的，这样的英语不是我们所熟知的英语，也不是过去我们当作外语进行教授的英语。这是一件新的东西，即使这代表着任何形式的胜利，它也不太可能是由英语母语人士的沾沾自喜带来的。”

The British Council continues (in our Globish):

英国文化协会继续说道（用我们的全球语） ：

“In organizations where English has become the business language, meetings sometimes go more smoothly when no native speakers are present. Globally, the same kind of thing may be happening, on a larger scale. This is not just because non-native speakers fear to talk to a native speaker. The change is that soon the problem may be that few native speakers will be accepted in the community of lingua franca users. The presence of native English speakers gets in the way of communication.”

“在那些英语已成为商业用语的组织机构中，当没有英语母语人士出席的时候，有时会议反而会进行的更加流畅。就全球范围来说，这种现象可能大规模的存在。这并不仅仅是因为非英语母语人士害怕与英语母语人士交谈。问题的转变在于很快可能只有很少的英语母语人士会被通用语使用者群体所接纳。英语母语人士的存在恰恰阻碍了交流。”

Strangely, many native English speakers still believe they can do all things better than non-native speakers just because they speak better English. How long will it take for them to understand that they are wrong? They have a problem that they are not able to understand. They do not see that many non-native speakers simply cannot understand them. This does not mean the native speaker's English is bad. It means that their communication is bad; sometimes they do not even attempt to make their communication useful to everyone. Often they don’t know how.

奇怪的是，很多英语母语人士仍然相信他们事事都可以做的比非英语母语人士好，只是因为他们的英语说得更好。到底需要多长时间他们才能明白他们是错的？他们的问题是他们不能够理解他人。他们没有注意到许多非英语母语人士完全听不懂他们说什么。这并不意味着这些英语母语人士的英语不好。而是他们的沟通能力太差；有时他们甚至都不愿去尝试使每个人都从沟通中受益。往往他们不知道该怎么样做。

We want everyone to be able to speak to and understand everyone. There is a middle ground, but the native English speakers are not the ones drawing the borders. And because you may not be able to say this to a native speaker, who might not be able to understand – we will say it here.

我们希望每个人都可以互相交谈并理解对方。人们之间有个中间地带，但是这界限不是由英语母语人士来划分的。由于你可能无法将这一点告诉一个英语母语人士，因为他或许不能理解你说的话——我们会在这里说明。

To belong to the international community, a native English speaker must:

想要成为国际社会的一员，一个英语母语人士必须做到：

• understand…. what is explained in this book,
• accept…. that it is the fact of a new world which has many new powers that will be as strong as the English-speaking countries,
• decide to change with this new reality, in order to still be a member.

• 理解….正如这本书中解释的，
• 接受…事实就是新的世界格局中许多新兴强国将会与英语国家一样强大，
• 为了继续成为其中的一员，下决心与新的现实情况一同改变。

Whenever a native English speaker acts as if you are the stupid one, please give them this book. If they choose to take no notice of their problem, they will be left out of communication. They will be left out of activities with others – worldwide – if they do not learn to “limit” the way they use their language. English speakers need to limit both spoken and written English for communication with non-native English speakers. In short, they too need to “learn” Globish. It is not an easy exercise, but it can be done. Some of this book will help them.

如果你遇到一个在行为上认为你愚蠢的英语母语人士，那么无论什么时候请将这本书给他们。如果他们选择对他们的问题不予理睬，那么他们将会被忽视。如果他们不去学习如何“限制”使用他们的说话方式，那么他们将会在世界范围内被其他人所冷落。在与非英语母语人士交流时，英语母语人士需要在口语和书面语方面都进行限制。简言之，他们也需要“学习”全球语。这不是件容易的事，但是可以做到。这本书中的一些内容将会帮助他们。

Globish has a special name

全球语有个特殊的名字

It is very important that the Globish name is not “English for the World” or even “Simple English.” If its name were any kind of English, the native English speakers would say. “OK, we won. Now all you have to do is speak better English.” Without the name Globish, they will not understand it is a special kind of English, and it is no longer “their” English. Most native English speakers who understand this should decide they like it. Hopefully they will say: “Now I understand that I am very lucky. Now my language will be changed a little for the rest of the world. Let me do my best, and they can do their best, and we will meet in the middle.”

全球语的名字不是“全世界的英语”或者甚至“简单英语”，这一点非常重要。如果它的名字是任何形式的英语，那么英语母语人士就会说：“好的，我们赢了。你们现在所要做的就是说更好的英语。”如果不叫全球语，那么他们就不会明白这是一种特殊的英语，而且这不再是“他们的”英语。大多数理解这一点的英语母语人士应该决定他们喜欢全球语。但愿他们会说：“现在我明白我是幸运的。我的语言现在将为了世界上的其他人而改变一点点。我会尽我所能，他们也会尽其所能，那么我们就会在中间会和。”

So Globish is a word that tells native English speakers – and non-native speakers – that Globish has a different meaning. Globish is the global language, the language people everywhere can speak. Globish is a name to say that there are limits which everyone can learn. There is a clear set of things they need to learn. And when they learn them, they are done.

因此，全球语这个词告诉英语母语人士和非英语母语人士，全球语具有不同的意义。全球语是全世界的语言，是世界各地的人们都可以使用的语言。全球语这个名字告诉人们，每个人的学习都可以是有限度的。他们需要学习的是一套清晰可见的东西。而且当他们学习这些东西之后，他们就完成了。

Language is equal on this Globish middle ground. No one has an edge. No one can be above anyone else because of language. This is the land where everybody can offer the best ideas with all of his or her professional and personal abilities. Globish will be a foreign language to everyone, without exception. It is not “broken English.” It is another version of English to which no native English speaker was born.

在全球语这个中间地带，语言是平等的。任何人都没有优势。没人能因为语言而高人一等。在这里，每个人都可以凭借自身所有的专业和个人能力提出最好的想法。全球语将无一例外的成为所有人的外语。它不是“蹩脚英语”，它是另一个版本的英语，而且没有一个英语母语人士生来就会。

We all come together here.

我们共同来到这里。