“We speak good English!”
“我们英语讲得很好！”（We speak good English!）
The private dining room in Changzhou No. 1 Middle School rattles with the shout, shaking the 22 American students within awake.
在常州第一中学的食堂中，学生们的声音震耳欲聋，吓倒了在场的22位美国同学。
“We will conquer English!”
“我们要征服英语！”（We will conquer English!）
The roar is coming from the throats of several hundred Chinese students attending the Li Yang Crazy English Camp. Marching to lunch in uniform, they roar out their sayings for the day. They’ve all signed up for ten days of a very, very literal boot camp for language learners, where English is tattooed into their skulls by waves of shouting back and forth, all led by uniformed men who wouldn’t look that out of place in the front lines of a war zone. We Americans shrug and go back to our meals. English is just a language; what’s the big deal?
来参加李阳疯狂英语集训营的这几百位学生穿着统一服装奔向食堂，并发出了声声呐喊。他们都签了一份十天英语疯狂集训的协议。在这里，他们会跟从制服统一的老师的指引一遍又一遍地呐喊英语，好像要把这些句子刻在脑子里一样。而我们美国人则耸耸肩回到餐桌前。英语仅仅是一门语言而已，那有什么大不了的？大概很多外国人都看不懂那些标注在地图、英语电影甚至是灭火器上的奇怪英语，不过只要在中国待过一段时间，你就能够发觉英语在中国人心中的重要地位。在这样一个以本国的语言和文化为骄傲的国家里，中国人对英语的狂热看起来有点不着边际。在中国，英语出现在T恤、广告、标语以及电视节目等各个角落中。差不多每个三十岁以下的中国人都能够熟练掌握一些英语句子。在中国人眼里，英语这门国际语言象征着权利和骄傲。首先，许多中国人认为熟练掌握英语代表着一种权力。就像李阳英语集训营中的一张标语一样，一个国家英语的实力决定着这个国家的国际竞争力。而对于个人也是一样的：一个学生对英语是否熟练掌握是能够找到一份高水平工作的重要因素之一。对中国人来说，英语不仅仅是美国人和英国人的语言，还是科学家、商人和外交官所使用的语言。英语代表着财富、荣誉和时尚。总之，英语是权力的象征。
The Chinese love of English manifests itself constantly in clothing. The slogans that adorn Chinese T-shirts are all in English, bearing statements like “we are they”, “She stoically conquered adversity, ” and “I like to do things that give me pleasure.” The exact words don’t seem to really matter that much; the English language itself is a declaration to other Chinese of their connection to the modern, exciting lifestyle associated with mastery of English. More than clothing brands capitalize off of this love of English, though: my new Chinese notebook declares that “You will feel like writing with it all the time, ” and the malls pipe in the latest tunes from the American top 100 charts.
中国人对英语的喜欢常常体现在衣服上。那些印在中国T恤上的字样总是英语，比如说“we are they”，“She stoically conquered adversity”，“I like to do things that give me pleasure”（注：这三句话都有语法错误）。英语是否精确并不重要，因为英语本身的使用就是着装者的一种炫耀，代表着他对英语的掌握和与此相关的时尚又精彩的生活。不仅仅是服装品牌，就连我买的笔记本上都写着“You will feel like writing with it all the time.”然而，中国急需有人能够给它校对英语。在中国，教英语的老师大部分都没有海外留学的经历，而中国的学生则是从这些老师这儿学到的英文。所以，很少人能够发觉那些标语上的中式错误。
Determined, enthusiastic, eccentrically independent: nothing embodies China’s international lunge more clearly than its relationship to English. China has taken English and used the language how it wants to, as a declaration of power, of independence, and of energy. The kids marching through Li Yang’s Crazy English Camp are urged to push to be their best, to succeed, to throw themselves into life as well as into the English language. As quirky as Chinese English might be, it has grown into a central aspect of modern Chinese life.
中国雄心勃勃，充满激情，又非常我行我素。这一点集中体现在中国对于英语的狂热上面。在中国人眼里，英语是权利、自由和活力的象征。那些参加李阳英语夏令营的同学都努力做到最好，去在英语以及其他各方面取得成功。就像中式英语一样，这种想法已经成为了现代中国社会的一个不可缺少的方面。
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