Rui Chenggang — Language Connects Western and Eastern Cultures

　　芮成钢：用语言搭建中西文化的桥梁

　　China Should Learn to Tell Stories

　　中国要学会讲故事

　　如今，中国在国际上处于非常尴尬的位置，正如芮成钢在他的新书《虚实之间》中所说：“今天的西方媒体所呈现的中国，与我们希望世界看到的中国，形象上有很大差距。”而这一切，除了西方国家对我们的了解有限所造成的误读之外，也在于我们自己没把关于中国的故事讲好。

　　Currently, China’s position in the international community is embarrassing. As is written in Rui Chenggang’s book Something for Nothing published recently — Today, the image of China revealed by the Western media is far different from the one we expect. Apart from the misunderstandings caused by limited knowledge of China in the Western countries, the reason of this phenomenon also lies in our not having told the stories of China in a consummate（完美的）way.

　　Rui Chenggang applied an ingenious comparison to the conversations between China and the West: China’s relationship with the occident（西方）seems like a concerto in which both erhu（二胡）and the violin taking part. The two kinds of instruments vary in configurations（外形）and structures. Both of them have the distinguishing principle of sound production and require distinct executions. While erhu sounds smooth, giving a high pitch, the violin makes a low but melodious sound. Chinese consider the sound of erhu marvelous, while the Westerners blame the instrument with two chords for its inaccuracy and prefer the concinnity（和谐）of the violin.

　　Perhaps, from ancient times to the present, the communication between the East and the West has never been genuinely harmonious; also, it’s going to be of great difficulty in the future as well. Meanwhile, the cultural exchange of China and the West is faced with a series of challenges and confusions. What is China supposed to do to reduce the misunderstanding from the occident, and to play an essential role when dealing with international affairs? What does China ought to do to tell a good story to express our kindness to others, in order to make the West know our country better?

　　Rui Chenggang made the best explanation for the issue: Take advantage of the languages, angles, sense of humor and logic which are familiar with the Westerners, tell the stories of China perfectly and build up the positive international image, rather than act blindly and divorce us from the reality. In this way, we are capable of responding to misunderstanding towards China in a clever manner.

　　Tip:中国应如何把故事讲好，把我们对他人的善意不断向外辐射，从而让西方更好地了解中国？芮成钢为这个议题做了最好的注解：用西方人熟悉的语言、角度、幽默和逻辑，讲好中国的故事，树立国际形象，而不是一厢情愿，闭门造车。

　　English — A Kind of Thoughts

　　英语是一种思想

　　国人学英语的热潮已经持续了几十年，虽然整体水平有了很大的提高，但许多英语学习者依然被各种难题所困扰。国人学习英语往往是出于应试的目的，从而导致许多中国学生只会做题，一开口就变成了“哑巴”。这样一来，连最基本的沟通都成了问题，更不用说要完成“向西方传递中国文化”的使命了。

　　The fever that people in our country studying English has lasted for several decades. Although the average standard of our English has improved greatly, piles of English leaners are still confused with various kinds of problems. The purpose of studying English tends to be mainly driven by the demand of taking tests. Consequently, a large number of students are only capable of doing exercises, and their oral English is too weak to communicate with others. In this way, basic conversations have become a serious problem, not mentioning the mission of “delivering Chinese culture to the West”.

　　According to Rui Chenggang’s experience, the most significant method of learning English is reciting. After memorizing the famous sections and chapters of many classic works word by word for some time, it’s natural that they blend in with one’s sense of language. Influenced by his father, Rui Chenggang started to read the works of Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes, Thousand and One Nights, A Tale of Two Cities and other classic works at an early age. Grown up, he commenced（开始）to read the simplified version in English, and then focused on original English version. Rui Chenggang is able to recite most of the paragraphs of the works written by Shakespeare, Bacon as well as Russell. When making the impromptu（即兴的）speech in front of the Westerners, Rui Chenggang once quoted the classic lines in Shakespeare’s play — All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players（世界是个大舞台，我们都是演员）. Such citations not only polished his speech, but also stroke a chord of the Westerners who are strongly influenced by Shakespeare from their childhood.

　　Another significance of studying English is to utilize it as a tool, instead of an independent subject. Then you’ll never be struggling with some explanations of grammar, for they are not that important. And as a journalist afterwards, the experience of interviewing numerous internationally famous people and statesmen inspired Rui Chenggang to think like “Learning English is more than studying the language itself. One ought to utilize it as a tool, in order to do whatever he wants and to reap happiness initiatively.”

　　Tip:作为媒体人，采访过众多国际名人政要的经历使芮成钢深深地感悟到：“学英语，并非学习语言本身，而是把它当做一门工具，利用它去做自己想做的事情，主动地收获快乐。”

　　Contents vs. Forms

　　内容比形式重要

　　芮成钢的采访足迹遍布全世界，他在这个过程中发现：在任何地方，没人会在乎你发音，只在乎你说了什么。在某种意义上，口音甚至成为了一种个性的符号。在耶鲁做“世界学者”期间，芮成钢的英语被认为比大多数美国人都要好，这个“好”指的不是发音，而是指语言质量和信息深度。

　　Rui Chenggang’s left his footprints all over the world during the interviews with so many VIPs. In this progress, he discovered that what people care about was not your accent, but the ideas that you come up with. In a sense, the accent has been considered as an individual symbol. During the days when Rui Chenggang acted as Yale World Fellow, his English is considered better than a majority of Americans. “Good” refers not to the accent, but to the quality and the insightful information of the language he speaks.

　　Though he has never stayed abroad for long, for the sake of job, Rui Chenggang is better at making use of original words and expressions in certain areas. On the contrary, chasing too much for standard American or British accent, not only wastes our time, but also makes our English weird for foreigners. Rui Chenggang mentioned a saying of America’s former President Reagan: “I wasn’t a great communicator, but I communicated great things.” That is in fact the premise we study any foreign language.

　　Tip:如果过度追求标准的“美音”、“英音”，不但浪费精力，在外国人听来也会显得十分怪异。芮成钢提到他很欣赏美国前总统里根的一句话：“我不是最伟大的交流者，但我交流最伟大的内容。”——这正是我们学习任何一种语言的前提。