新概念英语枯燥吗？从《新概念英语》看幽默英国文化

我认为《新概念英语1-2》也依然还是中学生的必学，帮助了无数学生在经典的课文当中学习系统的语法，跟随老师挖掘词汇的奥妙。但除了语法和词汇，还有一点被大部分老师和学生忽略。 
 

提一个问题：为什么大部分学生提到学新概念英语，说：很无聊？

 

不少老师讲新概念时候彻底无视新概念文章本身的趣味，只讲语法词汇课文表面翻译。 

 

那是因为大部分人忽略了新概念英语中微妙的文化性，尤其是在第一第二册。 但若我们了解一些英式文化特性，便能在一篇篇对话和短文故事中学到这种英式幽默。 

但英式幽默是中国人不能理解的幽默，即使你词句都看懂，依然非常微妙，甚至只能会心一笑。加上大部分笑话需要有英语语言的双关，考验一个人的语言感觉。
 

很多老师可能本身也觉得新概念课文很无聊，讲成一个语法课， 加上课程的泛滥，长久以来形成大众对新概念的印象就是枯燥。

如同英国人的严肃和绅士，在英式幽默中，我们很难看到过分夸张的表演，他们总是让现实中的一些普通的东西在最貌似不合理的地方出现。

这就出现了幽默。

 

给大家几个英式幽默故事体会一下。
 

She Didn't Say Anything

A mother and son were washing dishes while the father and daughter were watching TV in the room. Suddenly, there was a crash of breaking dishes, then complete silence.  The girl looked at her father and said, “It was Mom”.  “How do you know?” asked her father.  

“She didn't say anything.”

母亲和儿子在洗碗，而父亲和女儿在房间里看电视。突然，传来打碎盘子的声音，然后是一片寂静。女孩看了看父亲，说:“是妈妈。”“你怎么知道?”她父亲问。
“她什么也没说。”

 I Have Turned It Over 

A woman said to her husband, “dear, look at our sheet! It's too dirty. Would you like to wash it now?”  The man looked at the sheet and then thought for a while and then said, “I don't think it's necessary. We can turn the sheet over. Is that all right?”  His wife was very angry at this. “How lazy you are!” She shouted, “To tell you the truth, I turned it over last week.”

一个女人对丈夫说:“亲爱的，看看我们的床单!它太脏了。你想现在洗吗?”男人看了看床单，然后想了一会儿，然后说，“我认为没有必要。我们可以把床单翻过来。这样可以吗?”他的妻子对此很生气。“你多懒啊!”她喊道:“说实话，我上周就把它翻了。”

 

A British man goes on holiday in Australia...

 

After getting off the plane in Sydney, the man waits to go through Australian customs.

"Do you have anything to declare?" asks the Australian customs officer.

"No" replies the British man.

"Do you have a criminal record?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that was still a requirement."

在悉尼下飞机后，该男子在等待澳大利亚海关检查。
“你有什么要申报的吗?”澳大利亚海关官员问。
“没有，”英国人回答。
“你有犯罪记录吗?”
“对不起，我不知道这还是个要求。”


 

A man was drinking in a British pub

 

...when he noticed two very large women with strong accents. "Hey, are you two ladies from Ireland?" he asked.

"It's Wales, you idiot" one answered.

"I'm sorry" the man replied. "Are you two whales from Ireland?"

 

…他注意到两个口音很重的大个子女人。“嘿，你们两位女士是从爱尔兰来的吗?”他问。
“是威尔士，你这个白痴。”一个人回答。
“对不起，”那个人回答。“你们这两条鲸鱼是从爱尔兰来的吗?”

 

注：笑点在Wales（威尔士）和whales（鲸鱼）发音一致。

 

以上的笑话中感受，英式幽默就是一种哑然失笑的感觉。

附上两个与上面英式笑话类似的《新概念一册》的课文，事实上每一篇我觉得都非常不错。

 

Lesson 117  Tommy's breakfast 汤米的早餐 

 

When my husband was going into the dining room this morning,he dropped some coins on the floor.

There were coins everywhere.We looked for them, but we could not find them all.

While we were having breakfast, our little boy, Tommy, found two small coins on the floor.

He put them both into his mouth. We both tried to get the coins, but it was too late. Tommy had already swallowed them!

Later that morning, when I was doing the housework, my husband phoned me from the office.

‘How's Tommy?’he asked.
‘I don't know,’ I answered,
‘Tommy's been to the toilet three times this morning, but I haven't had any change yet!’

 

今天早晨我丈夫走进饭厅时，把一些硬币掉在地上了。
到处都是硬币。我们虽然找了，但没能把它们全部找到。
正当我们吃早饭时，我们的小男孩汤米在地上找到了两枚小硬币。
他把这两枚硬币全都放进了嘴里。我们俩都试图把这两枚硬币拿出来，但太迟了。汤米已经把硬币咽了下去！
那天上午的晚些时候，当我正做家务时，我丈夫从办公室打来电话。
“汤米怎么样？”他问。“我不知道，”我回答说，“今天上午汤米去了3次厕所了，但我还没看到硬币！”

 

注：这篇课文的笑点其实在change一词的双关上，change既可以表示“变化“，也可以表示”硬币“。

文化学习：

什么是英式幽默？British Humor:

 

British humour carries a strong element of satire aimed at the absurdity of everyday life. Common themes include sarcasm, insults, self-deprecation, taboo subjects, puns, innuendo, wit, and the British class system. 

英式幽默带有强烈的讽刺元素，针对日常生活的荒谬。常见的主题包括讽刺、侮辱、自嘲、禁忌话题、双关语、影射、智慧和英国国家的阶级制度。

 

These are often accompanied by a deadpan delivery which is present throughout the British sense of humour. It may be used to bury emotions in a way that seems unkind in the eyes of other cultures.

这些话往往伴随着面无表情的讲话，这在英国人的幽默感中随处可见。它可能被用来隐藏一些在其他文化看来不友好的情感。

 

Jokes are told about everything and almost no subject is off-limits. Many British comedy series have become internationally popular, serving as a representation of British culture to international audiences.

笑话无所不在，几乎没有什么话题是禁忌的。许多英国喜剧在国际上都很受欢迎，这对国际观众来说是英国文化的代表。

 

《新概念英语1-2》是一个纯正英式的经典必学，不要把朗读，学习，背诵课文当作一个痛苦事情，仔细品味一下课文字里行间流露出的微妙冷幽默， 你或许，会以一个全新的眼光看待它。 

 

这样，到了新概念第三册--当语言的复杂精妙逐渐展翅时，你会学到更多优美与幽默并行的文字！

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