More Languages Are Spoken in This American Place Than Anywhere on Earth

在美國的這個地方所講的語言比地球上的任何地方都多

View of Manhattan from Queens

從皇后區(qū)可看到的曼哈頓

Growing up, you may have heard different languages spoken around your community. Maybe a bunch, maybe a couple, or maybe just one. But if you've ever been to the language capital of the world, you've been surrounded by hundreds of languages at any given moment — perhaps without even realizing it.

從小到大，你或許在生活的的社區(qū)里，應該已經聽見過不同的語言，或許是好幾種, 或許是一兩種，或許只有一種。但是，如果你曾經去過世界語言之都，在任何特定的時刻，你都會被數以百計的語言所包圍，— 或許你根本沒有意識到。

Pardon My French

原諒我的法語

According to the Endangered Language Alliance (ELA), one area in a U.S. state is home to more languages than any single place on Earth. There are 800 languages spoken throughout New York City, but the borough of Queens is Earth's language champion: a whopping 138 unique languages are spoken in that borough alone. In fact, you may be more likely to hear a super-obscure language in Queens than you are in the small, remote village the language came from.

據瀕危語言聯盟 (ELA)說，美國的一個地區(qū)比地球上任何一個地方的語言都多。在紐約市你會聽到800種語言，而皇后區(qū)則是全球的語言之最: 僅在那個區(qū)就有138種獨特的語言。事實上，在皇后區(qū)，你能聽到一個超級不為人知的語言的幾率比在這個語言的拐彎抹角的發(fā)源地還高。

"It is the capital of language density in the world," Daniel Kaufman, an adjunct professor of linguistics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, tells the New York Times. "We're sitting in an endangerment hot spot where we are surrounded by languages that are not going to be around even in 20 or 30 years.”

“這是世界上語言密度最高的地方，" 紐約城市大學研究生中心的語言學副教授丹尼爾考夫曼告訴《紐約時報》。 “我們正坐在一個語言瀕臨滅亡的熱點地區(qū)，我們周圍的語言在20或30年內就會消失遁跡了。 "

The borough is only a mere 108 square miles (280 square kilometers), so the many different cultures and languages within it are all packed in close proximity. Why so many languages? Thank New York City's role as America's welcome mat: it's been many an immigrant's first stop in the U.S.

這個區(qū)僅有108平方英里 (280 平方公里)，許多不同的文化和語言都混雜密閉在這個狹小的空間里。為什么會有這么多的語言？這是由于紐約是美國的門戶城市的原因，是許多移民到美國的第一站。

What kind of tongues will you be able to hear in Queens? Here's an abbreviated list to give you a taste: English, Greek, Filipino, Urdu, Indonesian, Russian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Croatian, Nepali, Sherpa, Gurung, Mustang, Finnish, Latvian, Chavacano, Waray-Waray, Minangkabau, Bukharian, and many, many more.

在皇后區(qū)你能聽到什么樣的語言呢？下面這個簡短的列表，讓你粗略的感受一下：英語，希臘語，菲律賓語，烏爾都文，印尼語，俄語，日語，立陶宛，克羅地亞，尼泊爾，古隆，馬斯滕，芬蘭，拉脫維亞，查瓦卡諾，瓦賴語，米南卡保語，布卡拉，等等，還有許多。

Language Lovers

語言愛好者

Just because many languages are spoken in Queens doesn't mean everyone is walking around fluent in five tongues. According to 2015 Census data, 44 percent of the population aged 5 years or older in Queens spoke only English at home, whereas 56 percent spoke a language other than English. If you're looking to boost your personal language library, research shows that something called spaced repetition can help you learn languages faster than other methods.

僅僅因為在皇后區(qū)有很多語言，并不意味著每個馬路上走著的人都能流利地說上5種語言。根據2015人口普查數據，在皇后區(qū)5歲或以上的人口在家里，44% 的人只說英語，而56% 的人說的是英語以外的語言。如果你想提高個人語言種類，研究表明，“間隔重復”可以比其他方法都能幫助你更快的學習語言。

After some time, who knows, you may be able to call yourself a polyglot, or even a hyperpolyglot — that's the word for extraordinary language-learners who possess the ability to master and retain upwards of ten languages. A pit stop in Queens might give you all the inspiration you need to make it happen.

在一段時間后，誰知道呢，你沒準兒就可以稱自己為通曉多語言的人了，甚至是語言超人-這個詞描述的是擁有能力掌握和保持十種語言的非凡的語言學習者。在皇后區(qū)稍停片刻，你或許就能找到那種成就你的所有靈感。