出于某种原因,由某种意料之外的语言念出的熟悉语句总能给我留下难以磨灭的记忆,甚少记忆能与之匹比。比如说,十几岁时,我从父亲的书架上翻出了一张披头士唱片,然后把唱针放在了用德语演唱的《我想握住你的手》这首歌上。又比方说,当我在洛杉矶当实习教师时,我目睹了一群小学生用西班牙语机械地背诵着《效忠誓言》。 For some reason, familiar words read in some unexpected language always leave me with indelible memory, with little memory to match. For example, as a teenager, I drew a Beatles record from my dad’s shelf and placed the needle on the song “I want to hold your hand” in German. In other words, when I was a student teacher in Los Angeles, I witnessed a group of primary school students mechanically reciting “Pledge of Allegiance” in Spanish.