I know what you're thinking. You think I've lost my way, and somebody's going to come on the stage in a minute and guide me gently back to my seat. (Applause) I get that all the time in Dubai. "Here on holiday are you, dear?" (Laughter) "Come to visit the children? How long are you staying?"

　　我知道你們在想什么，你們覺得我迷路了，馬上就會(huì)有人走上臺(tái)溫和地把我?guī)Щ匚业淖簧稀?掌聲)。我在迪拜總會(huì)遇上這種事?！皝磉@里度假的嗎，親愛的?”(笑聲)“來探望孩子的嗎?這次要待多久呢?"

　　Well actually, I hope for a while longer yet. I have been living and teaching in the Gulf for over 30 years. (Applause) And in that time, I have seen a lot of changes. Now that statistic is quite shocking. And I want to talk to you today about language loss and the globalization of English. I want to tell you about my friend who was teaching English to adults in Abu Dhabi. And one fine day, she decided to take them into the garden to teach them some nature vocabulary. But it was she who ended up learning all the Arabic words for the local plants, as well as their uses -- medicinal uses, cosmetics, cooking, herbal. How did those students get all that knowledge? Of course, from their grandparents and even their great-grandparents. It's not necessary to tell you how important it is to be able to communicate across generations.

　　恩，事實(shí)上，我希望能再待久一點(diǎn)。我在波斯灣這邊生活和教書已經(jīng)超過30年了。(掌聲)這段時(shí)間里，我看到了很多變化。現(xiàn)在這份數(shù)據(jù)是挺嚇人的，而我今天要和你們說的是有關(guān)語言的消失和英語的全球化。我想和你們談?wù)勎业呐笥?，她在阿布達(dá)比教成人英語。在一個(gè)晴朗的日子里，她決定帶她的學(xué)生到花園去教他們一些大自然的詞匯。但最后卻變成是她在學(xué)習(xí)所有當(dāng)?shù)刂参镌诎⒗Z中是怎么說的。還有這些植物是如何被用作藥材，化妝品，烹飪，香草。這些學(xué)生是怎么得到這些知識(shí)的呢?當(dāng)然是從他們的祖父母，甚至曾祖父母那里得來的。不需要我來告訴你們能夠跨代溝通是多么重要。

　　But sadly, today, languages are dying at an unprecedented rate. A language dies every 14 days. Now, at the same time, English is the undisputed global language. Could there be a connection? Well I don't know. But I do know that I've seen a lot of changes. When I first came out to the Gulf, I came to Kuwait in the days when it was still a hardship post. Actually, not that long ago. That is a little bit too early. But nevertheless, I was recruited by the British Council along with about 25 other teachers. And we were the first non-Muslims to teach in the state schools there in Kuwait. We were brought to teach English because the government wanted to modernize the country and empower the citizens through education. And of course, the U.K. benefited from some of that lovely oil wealth.

　　但遺憾的是，今天很多語言正在以前所未有的速度消失。每14天就有一種語言消失，而與此同時(shí)，英語卻無庸置疑地成為全球性的語言。這其中有關(guān)聯(lián)嗎?我不知道。但我知道的是，我見證過許多改變。初次來到海灣地區(qū)時(shí)，我去了科威特。當(dāng)時(shí)教英文仍然是個(gè)困難的工作。其實(shí)，沒有那么久啦，這有點(diǎn)太久以前了?？傊液推渌?5位老師一起被英國文化協(xié)會(huì)聘用。我們是第一批非穆斯林的老師，在科威特的國立學(xué)校任教。我們被派到那里教英語，是因?yàn)楫?dāng)?shù)卣Ｍ麌铱梢袁F(xiàn)代化并透過教育提升公民的水平。當(dāng)然，英國也能得到些好處，產(chǎn)油國可是很有錢的。