瑞士的多语言制度_异域风情

a lesson from switzerland's multi-lingualism

though small in size, switzerland has four official languages. these languages are spoken by four different european ethnic groups in separate areas in the country. the distribution of the different languages in 1990 was: german 65%, french 18%, italian 10%, romansh 1% and others 6%.
瑞士国家虽小，却有四种不同的官方语言。这四种语言的使用分布在不同的地区内，由四种属于欧洲的语言族群组成。语言的使用率在1990年是：德语65%，法语18%，意语10%，罗曼斯语1%，其他6%。

the four main ethnic groups live in 25 cantons, all of which enjoy a high degree of autonomy, especially in the areas of language and cultural policies. thus, the teaching of language is not uniform throughout the country, there are variations among the different cantons.
这四个语言族群，分居在25个州内，每州都有相当大的自主权，尤其是有关语言与文化政策的制定。因此，教学制度不是统一的，各州的制度都有差异点。

what is amazing is that the swiss people, made up of different linguistic and racial groups, have been able to live in harmony and share a common national identity. this extraordinary achievement has been praised, admired and hailed as a model for racial harmony by many countries, including singapore. these different races with diverse cultures and histories have been able to live together in a country without any clashes and have, for 700 years since independence, made their country wealthy. what is their secret?
令人诧异的是：瑞士这个由不同的族群构成的国家，却能使各族群和谐相处，并拥有共同的国家观念。这项不凡的成就，常获得外国（包括我国）的称赞和羡慕，也常被高举为种族和谐的模范。这些来自不同文化和的种族，能够安居在一个国家内，并且在独立700年以来，使国家富裕起来，而没有种族与文化的冲突，到底他们有什么秘诀？

first of all, let us examine how the different races communicate with one another. unlike in singapore, where the different races live among one another, the different races in switzerland live in separate geographical areas. in the german-speaking areas, german is the lingua franca. the ordinary people do not speak french but understand it. in the italian-speaking areas, the street signs are in italian and the people there speak italian, but they are also able to understand german or french. similarly in the
french-speaking areas, the people speak and write in french, but they understand german as well.
首先，让我们看看他们的族群间的沟通关系吧。他们的语言族群是分居在不同地区内的，不像我国的不同种族混居在一起。在德语区内，通用的是德文与德语，普通人虽不讲法语却听得懂法语。在意语区内，街道上看到的都是意大利文，人们也说意语，但也听得懂德语或法语。

in a nutshell, the different races can communicate with and understand one another. the main reason for this splendid situation is that their schools, apart from teaching their individual mother tongues, also teach a second or a third language.
在法语区内，通用的是法文与法语，但也听得懂德语。总括一句，他们在不同族群间，能够沟通、能够了解；导致这个好现象的是学校里除了母语外，都教授第二或第三，维护母语的学习。

although schools in different cantons adopt different educational systems, they have something in common. in all schools, the mother tongue is taught as the first language as well as used as the language of instruction. students are also taught two other languages. (romansh is a minority language taught only in romansh-speaking areas.)
瑞士的学校制度，虽然因州而异，但却有一共同点，都以各自的母语作为第一语文（即教学用语），然后学其他两种语文（罗曼斯是少数，只有在本区内教授）。

the swiss are keen to preserve their own mother tongues, hence the schools in the different language areas use their own mother tongues as the language of instruction. even in the romansh-speaking areas treat romansh as their mother tongue, though the language is only spoken by less than 1% of the total swiss population.
瑞士人热衷于维护本族群的母语，所以，不同语区境内的学校都是以各自的母语为教学用语，就是少过1%人口的罗曼斯区，也保持用罗曼斯语作为母语。

according to a german-speaking friend, german is taught as a mother tongue in the elementary schools in the german-speaking areas and students used to start learning
french or italian only in secondary schools. now the trend is moving towards picking up a second language in the third or fourth year in elementary schools. similarly in french-and italian-speaking areas, the mother tongue is taught first while the second or third language is picked up later on.
据讲德语的瑞士朋友说，在过去，德语区在小学教导母语，中学起才开始学法文或意文。现在的改变趋势是从小学三四年级便开始学第二语文。同样地法语区和意语区的学校，也先教导母语，后来才学第二语文或第三。

while in switzerland, i found out that the schools in zurich have begun a new experiment in education this year. from the first year of their elementary school, the students not only learn german, their mother tongue, but english as well. this new experiment is based on the premise that knowing english, an international language, would be an advantage for the people of zurich, an international city.
我在瑞士期间，发现苏黎士市的学校，

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