Search
Some numbers to remember. The results speak for themselves.
To me, it is like a miracle.
This is not the end, it is just the beginning. It is just a District Council election.
Don’t forget what happened in the past 5 months, don’t forget #PolyU
#五大訴求 #缺一不可
#hongkong #hk #香港 #香港人 #explorehongkong_value #districtcouncil #區議會 #區議會選舉 #香港人加油 #投票 #electionday2019 @ Hong Kong
[美國文化觀察]
川普前幾天說, 以後的移民要在移民美國時, 就要會說英文. 經濟學人這篇文章講的挺好: 其實移民移居美國後, 早晚都會說英文的.
在我身上其實也應證了這說法. 旅居美國十幾年, 雖然平常有跟此地的台灣同胞保持互動, 但因為身處在美語環境, 也為了生存下去, 所以我漸漸地習慣說英文, 聽英文歌, 看美國電視, 看原文書. 我也很清楚地意識到, 自己的母語(中文)能力在退化中. 所以我前幾年開始接英翻中的case, 而兩年前也開始藉著寫中文個股分析與開部落格來彌補這問題. 很多時候不是我故意在秀英文, 而是我真的不知道該用甚麼中文字來表達意思了, 或是我覺得用英文能夠更傳神地表達我的想法.
"Rather than refusing to learn English, today’s immigrants actually abandon their first language much more readily than previous generations. German, the language spoken by the president’s ancestors, is a case in point. Germans arrived in America in big waves in the middle of the 19th century. Generations later, they were still speaking German at home; a small number were even monolingual in German despite being born in America. Only with America’s entry into the first world war did German-speakers drop their suddenly unpopular language.
Today the typical pattern is that the arriving generation speaks little English, or learns it imperfectly; the first children born in America are bilingual, but English-dominant, and their children hardly speak the heritage language. This is as true of Hispanics as it is of speakers of smaller languages—and all without a lecture from the White House."
以下是全文:
DONALD TRUMP’s young administration is adept at one particular manoeuvre. Whenever the president is having a terrible time in the press, for some embarrassing statement, interview or imbroglio, the White House announces a far-reaching policy designed to stoke up his nationalist base while infuriating his opponents. In February it was the proposed ban on visitors from seven mainly Muslim countries. Last month it was the announcement on Twitter that he would not let transgender soldiers serve in the military.
In each case, the new policy tends to hurt people who can be portrayed as threatening outsiders to ordinary Americans who work hard and pay their taxes. Yesterday’s announcement to back a months-old plan to overhaul America’s immigration rules falls in the same category. If implemented, it would reward applicants with sought-after job skills who already speak English, at the expense of low-skilled workers without language skills.
This may seem perfectly sensible: after all, skilled immigrants are a good thing. But as an ongoing shortage of farm workers in California shows, unskilled immigrants are just as crucial. Equally, it is a good thing if immigrants speak English. But they need not speak it before arrival: as it is impossible to participate fully in American life without speaking English, the incentive to learn it quickly is overwhelming.
The administration’s emphasis on English skills therefore harks back to an old myth that the linguistic make-up of America, which has been an English-dominant country for a long time, is changing: that the status of English is somehow threatened, especially by Spanish, but more generally by the notion that English is no longer needed in the economy.
The myth goes something like this: today’s immigrants want to come to America to isolate themselves into communities that do not speak English. American policy tacitly encourages this by not being tough enough in requiring English. In the past, immigrants happily learned English quickly; “my grandpa came here from the old country but he refused to speak his old language; he insisted on getting by in his broken English until he was fluent.” But today’s immigrants no longer do so, as multiculturalism has replaced the melting pot.
All of this is wrong. America began as a thin band of English colonies clinging to the eastern coast, vastly outnumbered by speakers of other languages. The foreign-born percentage of the population peaked not last year—the administration likes to talk of “unprecedented” numbers—but in 1890, when the share of foreign-born residents was at an all-time high of 14.8%. This proportion has risen again after declining in the mid-20th century (it stood at 12.9% in the 2010 census). America today has multilingual big cities with their voting instructions in Korean, Chinese and Russian.
Historically, this is the norm rather than the exception: the years from 1925 to 1965, when immigration was almost completely cut off, were unusual. But those born from the 1940s to the 1960s became used to the low numbers of foreign-born residents, regarding this state as normal. That in turn supported a belief that America has always naturally belonged completely to English.
For most of its history, America was precisely the “polyglot boardinghouse” Teddy Roosevelt once worried it would become. That history has turned out very well not just for America, but for English—the most successful language in the history of the world. Along with American power, English has spread around the globe. At home, wave after wave after wave of immigrants to America have not only learned English but forgotten the languages their parents brought with them.
Rather than refusing to learn English, today’s immigrants actually abandon their first language much more readily than previous generations. German, the language spoken by the president’s ancestors, is a case in point. Germans arrived in America in big waves in the middle of the 19th century. Generations later, they were still speaking German at home; a small number were even monolingual in German despite being born in America. Only with America’s entry into the first world war did German-speakers drop their suddenly unpopular language.
Today the typical pattern is that the arriving generation speaks little English, or learns it imperfectly; the first children born in America are bilingual, but English-dominant, and their children hardly speak the heritage language. This is as true of Hispanics as it is of speakers of smaller languages—and all without a lecture from the White House.
――Also a long-awaited and astonishing development: interviews during the film with the coordinating producer of Hello! Project, Tsunku♂-san, as well as with Momoiro Clover Z’s manager Kawakami Akira-san.
Owada: Interviewing other people from the idol industry, I thought, “that’s new”.
Komiyama: Actually, I’m a fan of Momoiro Clover Z. That’s why, when I saw the interview with Kawakami-san, it reminded me of how many awesome things there are about him, and that while I’m in AKB48, all these amazing people are rivals in the same industry. We all have our own fans, we all sing and dance and deliver smiles, and I love the AKB48 that I’m in right now, so I want to work hard so that we don’t lose to the other groups.
――Team 8 and NGT48 are also represented in this documentary. Team 8’s influence at present is especially difficult to overlook. As young members yourselves, what are your impressions about them?
Owada: It’s hard for me to speak of Team 8 because I don’t have much direct contact with them… I think the only time I’ve really seen them up close was at “Request Hour”.
Komiyama: Watching them acts as a stimulus. People say “there’s no point if the junior members can’t become threats to the senior ones”, and I think Team 8 personifies those words.
Owada: Because they’re so close to us, they do act as a good stimulus, and they’re an important presence. When I watched them at “Request Hour”, the fans doing the mix for Team 8 were at a whole different excitement level from when they do it for the other teams. It was astonishing.
――Then, what do you think of Nogizaka46 and Keyakizaka46, clearly designated “rival groups” that started later than AKB48 but have a similar momentum?
Komiyama: Before, members of AKB48 were working so frantically to get senbatsu spots that we didn’t look at the outside world at all, but lately when I look at Nogizaka46 and Keyakizaka46’s activities, I feel very strongly that I don’t want us to lose to them. And also lately this bud of realization has sprouted in me that says we as AKB48 members need to carry on the legacy the seniors left us.
Owada: I know what you mean, I’ve started to think as a member of AKB48 rather than of myself as an individual.
――As members who are burdened with the title “next generation”, I bet it’s important for the 15th generation to stick together. The “Ichigochanzu performance” you did together surely heightened your unity with each other, but what did you think about it?
Owada: It’s true, since then, I think our bonds have deepened very quickly. (Iino) Miyabi and (Taniguchi) Megu started a year after the other 15th gens, and I have been asked by fans “do you really consider them members of your generation?” The two of them do speak respectfully to us and there are definitely times when I felt there was a distance between us that couldn’t be breached. However, when we did the “Ichigochanzu” stage, we became able to share our opinions with each other.
Komiyama: The staff told us “you’re their seniors, so you need to teach them a lot of things”, but up until a while ago I was thinking “it’s way too hard to talk to them”. I was too self-conscious about being around them, and I just couldn’t make a connection. But during the course of the “Ichigochanzu” stage, the entire 15th generation became able to scold each other and butt heads, and it truly made me happy. I feel we’re all comrades who can tell each other anything now, and I really started to feel like the 15th generation is where I belong.
Owada: I think it was thanks to the timing of the “Ichigochanzu” stage.
Komiyama: We’re middle school and high school students spending our days aiming to be idols. We joined hands and did our best together. We made our entrance during the encore as picture-perfect idols according to the contents of the setlist. At first we seemed to overlap with each other but this stage was able to bring everyone’s individuality to the forefront. And every one of us got to take turns playing the part of center and shine in the spotlight, which was excellent.
――The other day, right after the election had ended, you posted about your ranking on Google+ and other sites, but I would like to hear your full impressions about it here.
Owada: More than anything else, I was surprised to see that AKB48 dominated in numbers!
Komiyama: My ranking was 21st, and all around me were AKB48 members like Shimazaki (Haruka)-san, (Kojima) Mako-san and Minegishi (Minami)-san. And the second it was announced that AKB48 came out on top in numbers, everyone around me started celebrating together. It really made me happy.
――For a time, while the 80 ranks were being called up, the seats were filling up largely with members from other groups. But when the names being called for Undergirls and senbatsu members turned out to be mostly AKB members, the scene when it became clear that AKB was the winning group was enough to give anyone goosebumps.
Komiyama: People in society might be thinking that “they’re failing to make the generation shift”, but the fans’ passion transfers to us, they let us know how they feel by giving us clear rankings in Undergirls and senbatsu.
Owada: On top of that, with the group entering its 11th year, there has to be passion for it considering the timing, and I’m happy that translated into a win for AKB.
――The Team 4 onslaught was also a sight to behold.
Komiyama: That’s what made me the happiest! And I was moved that all of the Team 4 members who were called in the preliminary rankings were able to hear their names called at the election. As someone who has experience with that, the members listed in prelims really want to hear their names called at the real thing (laughs).
Owada: It’s been said that “Team 4 has the fewest members in senbatsu” and “Team 4 has no super-senbatsu members”, so I’m glad that we can feel now that Team 4’s hard work and value is being recognized. I was transferred from Team B to Team A, so I don’t have experience in Team 4, but Team 4 always has a fresh image. And I ended up thinking, “the team that pulls the group along in the election is a different one now, isn’t it?”
Komiyama: Within Team 4 the story was “We don’t have any super-senbatsu members, so it doesn’t matter because each member is the same”, and we had a solidarity through that, all striving together to move up in the ranks. I’m glad we overcame that with the election results.
Owada: There aren’t any humble people in Team 4, are there? It’s like there’s an energy around everyone as they all try to promote themselves.
Komiyama: With Izuta Rina-san as the mood maker and Takahashi Juri-san as the captain, I love Team 4. I’m gonna try my best to make great strides with this team!
