"No English, no job" for some Japanese office workers

In a bid to plug dwindling domestic consumption by tapping into overseas markets, some of Japan's big-name retailers are telling their employees to start speaking English -- or find another job.

為開拓海外市場(chǎng)，彌補(bǔ)日益減少的國(guó)內(nèi)消費(fèi)，日本一些知名零售企業(yè)要求員工開始說英語——否則就會(huì)飯碗不保。

As Japan's population shrinks, the country's retailers are increasingly looking to boost sales by expanding abroad and some firms are waking up to the necessity of being able to speak the global language of business in order to succeed overseas.

隨著日本人口的減少，該國(guó)越來越多的零售企業(yè)開始向海外拓展市場(chǎng)以促進(jìn)產(chǎn)品銷售，一些公司開始意識(shí)到要成功拓展海外市場(chǎng)，必須會(huì)說英語這一國(guó)際商務(wù)語言。

Rakuten, Japan's biggest online retailer, plans to make English the firm's official language, while Fast Retailing, operator of the Uniqlo apparel chain, wants to make English more common in its offices by 2012 and plans to test its employees for proficiency.

日本最大的網(wǎng)上零售公司樂天國(guó)際打算將英語定為公司的官方語言，而優(yōu)衣庫(kù)服裝連鎖公司隸屬的迅銷集團(tuán)則希望在2012年前在全公司普及英語，并計(jì)劃對(duì)員工的英語水平進(jìn)行測(cè)試。

"It's about stopping being a Japanese company. We will become a world company," Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani said last week at a news conference in Tokyo -- conducted almost entirely in English.

樂天國(guó)際首席執(zhí)行官三木谷浩史在上周在東京召開的一次新聞發(fā)布會(huì)上說：“我們不再只是一家日本公司，我們將成為一家世界級(jí)的公司?！毙侣劙l(fā)布會(huì)全程基本用英語進(jìn)行。

Employees at Rakuten, which hopes overseas sales will eventually account for 70 percent of all transactions made through its websites, will need to master English by 2012 to avoid facing the sack.

這意味著樂天國(guó)際的員工在2012年之前必須熟練掌握英語，否則將被解雇。樂天希望其海外銷售額最終能占到其所有網(wǎng)上交易額的70%。

"No English, no job," Mikitani told the Asahi newspaper.

三木谷告訴《朝日新聞》說：“不會(huì)說英語，就沒工作?！?/div>

Other high-profile Japanese companies, including automakers Toyota Motor and Nissan Motor, have announced moves to make the use of English more common in the workplace.

豐田汽車和日產(chǎn)汽車等日本其它一些知名公司也已宣布了在工作場(chǎng)所普及英語的措施。

Some experts say the switch to English is healthy but just one of the changes companies need to make to go global.

一些專家稱，將英語定為工作語言有益于企業(yè)的長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)發(fā)展，但這只是企業(yè)走向國(guó)際化所需做出的改變之一。

"What's interesting is that these companies really stand out as pioneers," Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University's Japan campus.

天普大學(xué)日本校區(qū)亞洲研究部主任杰夫?金士頓說：“有意思的是，這些公司率先做出改變，的確引人注目?！?/div>

"They have a relatively new outlook. They realize that Japan is going to need to strike into foreign markets given the dormant state of its economy," he said.

他說：“這些企業(yè)的發(fā)展觀相對(duì)較新。他們意識(shí)到在如今這種低迷的經(jīng)濟(jì)狀態(tài)下日本需要進(jìn)軍外國(guó)市場(chǎng)?！?/div>

Vocabulary:

plug: to fill a hole with a substance or piece of material that fits tightly into it 堵塞；封堵

dwindle: to become gradually less or smaller （逐漸）減少，變小，縮小

tap into: 打入（市場(chǎng)），開拓生意

wake up to: become aware of 意識(shí)到；認(rèn)識(shí)到

apparel: clothing, when it is being sold in shops/stores （商店出售的）衣服，服裝

proficiency: skillfulness in the command of fundamentals deriving from practice and familiarity 精通；熟練

get the sack: 被解雇；被開除

dormant: not active or growing now but able to become active or to grow in the future 休眠的；蟄伏的；暫?；顒?dòng)的