[2004-10-21] 不要濫用Study
黎敏健
應徵者在面試時,都會積極地列舉他們的「威水」學歷。以下是一些常聽到的句子,看看有哪些毛病:
1、I'm studying a bachelor's degree/higher diploma of Business management.
2、I'm studying in the Business Department in the University of ABC.
3、I'm studying a course about Putonghua.
其實這三例的意思頗為完整,在普通日常對話的層面是可接受的。但在面試或一些嚴謹的應對場合中,大家便要小心文法及用字。
在以上三例中「study」並非理想選字,這個動詞是「溫習、學習及研究」的意思,有深入地探討的含意,因此,常用於學習一些科目及事物的句子,例如:
(a) Her son studied Electrical Engineering in Hong Kong.
(b) Professor Li is studying teenagers' attitudes to life.
因此「studying a degree/a diploma/a course」及「studying in a certain department」都不正確,試想想:為何要研習一紙文憑或學位證書,而在例二中,「department」令人聯想到某系的運作之類。不妨改用「major」來表達「主修」:
(c) Her son majored in Electrical Engineering.
學習普通話不可說成「studying a course about Putonghua」,用「learn」較「study」適合,因為「learn」指學習一些技能,不是「深入探討」的意思,以下是正確的句子:
I'm learning Putonghua/English.
又或者:I took an advanced(level) Putonghua course last semester.
|