伦敦市长利文斯通（Ken Livingstone）春节前夕接受BBC英语教学网记者杨莉（Yang Li）采访，除新年贺词和访华观感之外，利文斯通还谈及学外语体会：
 伦敦市长贺年访问录音

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访问节录

杨莉：我还记得去年，你的新年贺词是“让伦敦成为你第二个家”。那么，为什么你认为伦敦市学生和游客的最理想落脚点。

市长：那是因为很多城市都欢迎外来客人到访，但是都希望他们迁就接待城市的生活方式，把自己的文化传统搁在一旁。事实上，我们愿意你把本身的文化传统带过来，因为这样大家的生活都可以过得好一点。我的意思是，我是说（这不是说笑话）我认为在中国餐馆在我的地区开店之前，我在英国找不到好好的一顿饭。二战之后我长大的时期，英国的食物简直吓死人。中国餐馆来了、印度餐馆来了、土耳其……。我认为来自中国的人将会发现这里有强大的中国社区，他们将会感到宾至如归，他们还可能在这里找到他们未来的一半。他们也可以在这里找到他们在中国找不到的食物。你可以来到伦敦，品尝全世界的一切 – 食物以及其他一切。

杨莉：教育方面怎么样，学习英语又怎么样？

市长：我一直游说英国政府说我们应该给我们学校的孩子学习普通话，因为在未来20年，中国将会成为世界最大经济体。那么，拥有英语和普通话能力的人，在全世界和商业领域将会无往而不利。在北京和上海，很多人都能说英语，我从不感到迷失或者与世隔绝，总有人可以帮我的忙。

杨莉：妙绝了。你知道吧，去年伦敦街头有20万人庆祝春节。那么，整体来说，你认为英国人欢迎吗？

市长：英国人认为这非常好，因为他们有一个非常好的周末节目。但是当我到了中国，中国所有人都听过伦敦的春节庆祝活动，因为不止是周末，我们在所有博物馆和画廊都庆祝中国文化，长达三个月。因此，我们在伦敦成长的年轻人在真正走出国门，与其他文化有接触之前，对世界其他地方都已经有认识了。

杨莉：猪年快到了，你给我们中国受众和学习英语的学生的新年贺词是什么？

市长：我的新年贺词是：在伦敦的时候，多享受这个城市，并且常常感到可以多来，感到受欢迎。这个就是我经常跟我们政府争论的政策问题，就是我们不应该对来这里的外来人士设置障碍，伦敦是欧洲最成功的城市，因为我们已经把这些障碍减到最少。任何中国人因为任何缘故在入境时出问题或者感到不受欢迎，那是对我们成功的一大打击。


Li: I remember last year, your message to the Chinese was “make London your second home”. So why do you think London is the best place for students and visitors to come?

Ken: Well it’s because many other cities in the world will welcome foreigners coming, but will expect them to adapt to the way of life of the host city and to leave their cultural heritage behind. We actually say we’d rather you brought your cultural heritage with you, because this makes everybody’s life better. I mean, I actually say – and it’s not wholly a joke – I mean I didn’t get a good meal in Britain until Chinese restaurants started opening in my area. English food after the war in the world I grew up in was awful! When Chinese restaurants came, then Indian restaurants came, then Turkish... What I think people will find wonderful here when they come from China, is there’s a strong Chinese community they will feel at home with, and they might find their husband or wife in, but they will also go out and find foods they would never have been able to find in China. You can come to London and sample the whole world – in food and in everything else.

Li: How about in terms of education, and in terms of learning the English language?

Ken: Well, I’m trying to persuade the British government that we should teach all our children in schools Mandarin, because within 20 years China will be the largest economy in the world. And, between English and Mandarin – I mean, people will be able to go anywhere in the world and do business. Between Beijing and Shanghai – it was the fact that so many people had conversational English that I never felt lost or cut off at all – there was always someone who could help me.

Li: That’s excellent. You know, last year there was a huge Chinese New Year celebration with 200,000 people on the street. So, how do you think that was perceived by British people as a whole?

Ken: Well, British people thought it was wonderful, because it was a great weekend out. But when I arrived in China, everyone in China seemed to have heard about it, because it wasn’t just the weekend – we celebrated Chinese culture in all our museums and galleries for about 3 months of the year. And so, year by year we actually – it’s wonderful – young people growing up in the city to understand the rest of the world before they go and actually encounter it.

Li: The year of the pig is coming in a couple of days’ time. What is your New Year message to the Chinese audience, or students who are learning English?

Ken: My New Year message would be to enjoy our city while they’re here and always feel they can come back to it and be welcome. And that will be the policy I always argue for with our government – that we shouldn’t erect barriers to foreigners coming here – London’s the most successful city in Europe because we have minimised those barriers. And everything that makes life difficult for a Chinese person coming through immigration, or feeling unwelcome, is a real blow against our success.