TED英语演讲：语言如何塑造我们的思维方式
“会第二种语言，就像是有了第二个灵魂”!能够与更多人沟通、丰富了自身的技能、能够看懂各个国家的电视剧……每种语言都带有自己的思维方式，世界上有7000多种语言，每一种都有自己独特的魅力。下面是本人为大家收集关于TED英语演讲之学外语究竟对我们有什么好处，欢迎借鉴参考。 中英对照翻译
So, I'll be speaking to you using language ... because I can. This is one these magical abilities that we humans have. We can transmit really complicated thoughts to one another.
我要用语言跟各位说话…… 因为我可以。 这是人类的神奇能力之一。 我们能把非常复杂的 想法传送给另一个人。
So what I'm doing right now is, I'm making sounds with my mouth as I'm exhaling. I'm making tones and hisses and puffs, and those are creating air vibrations in the air.
我现在在做的， 是用我的嘴巴发出声音， 吐气时发声。 我会做出语调、嘶嘶声、呼气， 在空气中产生空气振动。
Those air vibrations are traveling to you, they're hitting your eardrums, and then your brain takes those vibrations from your eardrums and transforms them into thoughts. I hope.
那些空气振动会传到你那里， 触及到你的耳膜， 接着你的大脑会取得 耳膜接收到的振动， 把它们转换为思想。 我希望啦。
I hope that's happening. So because of this ability, we humans are
able to transmit our ideas across vast reaches of space and time. We're able to transmit knowledge across minds.
希望现在就在发生。 因为这种能力，我们人类 才得以把我们的想法 跨越空间和时间，传给别人。 我们能把知识传送到不同人的大脑。
I can put a bizarre new idea in your mind right now. I could say, \mechanics.\
我现在就能在各位的脑中 放入一个怪异的想法。 我可以说， 「想象一只水母在图书馆跳华尔兹， 同时想着量子力学。」
Now, if everything has gone relatively well in your life so far, you probably haven't had that thought before.But now I've just made you think it, through language.
如果你的人生中目前为止 一切算是相对顺利， 你以前可能没有过那种想法。但现在我能让你们去想它， 透过语言办到。
Now of course, there isn't just one language in the world, there are about 7,000 languages spoken around the world. And all the languages differ from one another in all kinds of ways.
当然，世界上的语言不只一种， 全世界人类说的语言就有约七千种。 每种语言在各面向上都不同。
Some languages have different sounds, they have different
vocabularies, and they also have different structures -- very importantly, different structures. That begs the question: Does the language we speak
shape the way we think?
有些语言有不同的声音， 它们有不同的字汇， 它们还有不同的结构── 非常重要，不同的结构。 于是，我们会问： 我们所说的语言 是否会形塑我们的思考?
Now, this is an ancient question.People have been speculating about this question forever. Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor, said, \a second language is to have a second soul\-- strong statement that language crafts reality.
这个问题历史悠久。长年来大家都一直在思索这个问题。 神圣罗马大帝查理曼说过： 「有第二种语言， 就象是有第二个灵魂」── 很有力的陈述， 说明了语言制造出现实。
But on the other hand, Shakespeare has Juliet say, \A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.\maybe language doesn't craft reality.
但，另一方面，莎士比亚 笔下的茱丽叶说： 「名字有什么用? 玫瑰不叫玫瑰，依然芳香如故。」 那意味着，语言不见得会制造现实。
These arguments have gone back and forth for thousands of years. But until recently, there hasn't been any data to help us decide either way.
数千年来，这些论点一直你来我往。 但，直到最近之前，都没有任何资料 来协助我们决定是哪一种。
Recently, in my lab and other labs around the world, we've started
TED英语演讲：语言如何塑造我们的思维方式
