飯後茶餘

新年马上就要到了。作为一个出生在中国，并在那里生活了差不多一生的三分之一的人，写还只能勉强用中文。尽管现在的工具很多，有的还非常灵光，我还是觉得中文用起来比较爽。这样说，是因为虽然英文我学了这么长时间了，还是没有学好，离用英文写点实用的文字的要求还差得远呢。惭愧呀！

我的中文水平，自己知道：丫丫糊。但是，我看到目前中文的发展的一个明显的问题是格式化。官场上的和与官场有关的说话和文章就像旧戏里的戏文一样，用的是几乎千遍一律的词汇和“逻辑”。另外，现在时髦用“新”词，这些用来代替多少年来大家已熟悉和理解的词的“新”词语，其实毫无新意。在提倡创新的时代，用这种新词是一种讽刺。

要像上面评论中文那样评论英文，我还真不行。

所以，我虽然喜欢语言（中文和英文）但却是外行。新年开始在即，总得说点什么吧。别人我管不了，我还是会遵循，叙事要重真实，而不用什么新的词句来装饰。形容词和成语能不用，就不用，能三言两语说清楚的，就不长篇大论这样的原则。

期望在新的一年里能多学点、理解点这两种语言。

The New Year is approaching. As someone born in China and having lived there for about one-third of my life, my written Chinese is still barely passable. Despite the many tools available today—some quite intelligent—I still find it more satisfying to use Chinese. I say this because, although I’ve been studying English so many years, I still haven’t mastered it well enough to write practical, functional texts. I’m truly ashamed of this.

I know my own level: it’s mediocre at best. But I’ve noticed a clear problem in the current development of the Chinese language—excessive standardization. Official and official-related speech and writing resemble lines from traditional operas, using nearly identical vocabulary and rigid “logic.” Moreover, there’s a trend of using so-called “new” words to replace terms that people have long understood. These trendy expressions are often not new at all. In an era that promotes innovation, this kind of linguistic practice is ironic.

I wouldn’t be able to critique English in the same way.

So while I love languages—both Chinese and English—I’m still an amateur. With the New Year upon us, I feel I should say something. I can’t control others, but I will stick to my own principle: prioritize truth in storytelling, and avoid decorating it with fashionable phrases. Avoid adjectives and idioms when possible; if something can be said clearly in a few words, there’s no need for long-winded explanations.

I hope in the coming year, I will be able to learn and understand a little more of both languages.

以上是AI 翻译的，觉得有点生硬，不是很好，但是却也说得过去。看来，今后从事职业翻译的人会很难。