I was pleasantly surprised.
2015/06/04 08:41:18
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| Something unexpected happened in Shenzhen last Sunday. The Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Wang Guangya, spoke at length in English. He and other mainland officials held a press conference after meeting with Hong Kong legislative councillors to talk about political reforms. When a reporter asked him a question in English, I thought he would either reply in Putonghua or give a very short reply in English. But he replied at length in English. I was pleasantly surprised. The expression "pleasantly surprised" means being surprised in a good or happy way. The expression "at length" used this way means in detail, in full, or completely. He gave a long and detailed answer in English. I have heard Wang Guangya speak in English before. He speaks excellent but not flawless (perfect) English with a distinct mainland accent. If you have a distinct mainland accent, it means it is easy to recognize or tell that you have a mainland accent. Longhair Leung Kwok-hung speaks passable (satisfactory, acceptable) English with a distinct Hong Kong accent. Wang Guangya's reply in English was more than three minutes long. People who do not have fluent English often make grammatical mistakes when they speak for over three minutes. But he made only one or two very minor grammatical mistakes. Even people whose mother tongue is English sometimes make minor mistakes. In his lengthy answer, Wang Guangya criticized the pan-democrats for forming a bloc to negotiate with mainland officials. He said they should sometimes negotiate separately instead of as a bloc. Many people misspell the word "bloc", spelling it as "block". The two words are very different. A bloc is a group of countries, political parties, or people who join together for a common cause. Hong Kong's pan-democrat political parties have joined together as a bloc to oppose the political reforms. Similar words are alliance and coalition. The word "block" has several meanings and can be used in many ways. A single building with flats is called a block of flats. You can block, or stop, people from boarding MTR trains. A large piece of wood, rock, or metal with flat surfaces can also be called a block. ＊ ＊ ＊ 上周日，在深圳發生了一件出乎意料的事情。港澳辦主任王光亞，以英語侃侃而談（spoke at length）。他與其他內地官員會見過香港立法會議員後，召開記者會大談政改。當有記者以英語提問的時候，我以為他會以普通話回答，或是以英語簡單回應。但他以英語詳盡地（at length）回答。我很驚喜（pleasantly surprised）。習語pleasantly surprised就是「驚喜」的意思。習語at length在這裏解作詳盡、充份或完整地。他以英語給了一個長篇而詳盡的解答。 我以前亦聽過王光亞講英語。他說得一口上乘但並非完美無瑕（flawless）的英語，帶着明顯（distinct）的內地口音。若你帶有distinct mainland accent，即是說別人很易就能辨認出你有內地口音。長毛梁國雄說的英語還可以（passable），帶着明顯（distinct）的香港口音。王光亞的英語回應超逾三分鐘。不能說流利英語的人，若說超過三分鐘，常會犯上文法錯誤。但他只是犯了一兩個很微細的文法錯誤。即使母語為英語的人，有時也難免會犯一些小錯。 在他詳盡的回應裏，王光亞批評泛民組成陣營（bloc）與內地官員談判。他說，他們有時候應該個別協商，而非組成陣營（bloc）去談判。許多人將bloc這個字串錯成block。兩個字分別可大了。A bloc是志同道合的國家、政黨或人所組成的聯盟或陣營。香港的泛民政黨便組成聯盟（bloc）反對政改。類近的字是alliance和coalition。Block則有多重意思，也可以有許多用法。一幢樓可以說成a block of flats。你也可以在港鐵裏阻擋（block）別人上車。一大塊有平切面的木、石頭或金屬，也可被稱作a block。mickchug@gmail.com 中譯:七刻 Michael Chugani 褚簡寧 |
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