[時事英文] Trump's letter to Kim Jong-un
Why a D or an F?
最近在網路看到多家媒體報導「川普給金正恩的信錯誤連篇改得滿江紅」，川普的英文寫作能力詞彙受限、文法錯誤更是令人眼花撩亂，多位網友和老師給他的信件打了D甚至F的低分。
老師個人雖然對川普的英文書寫能力沒有太大的信心 (合理推論，他最多只有時間略讀幕僚撰擬的書信)，但個人覺得就該篇公開書信而言並不至於有所謂文法錯誤連篇的問題。用另一個角度理解，該篇公開書信是川普使用了強對比去表達諷刺和強硬的態度，這種書信本來就無法完全使用文法來檢驗，而是為了讓收信者了解美國政府的「態度」，故基於目的性的考量有以下寫作方式，老師嘗試著分析如下，與各位一起分享心得：
★★★★★★★★★★★★
完整信件和影片: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/24/politics/donald-trump-letter-kim-jong-un/index.html
英文稿: http://time.com/5291264/full-text-letter-donald-trump-kim-jong-un-summit/
中文稿: https://udn.com/news/story/6809/3163380
★★★★★★★★★★★★
Dear Mr. Chairman:
We greatly appreciate your time, patience, and effort with respect to our recent negotiations and discussions relative to a summit long sought by both parties, which was scheduled to take place on June 12 in Singapore.
第一句寫的特別冗長、正式，雖然文字字面上的意思是在感謝金正恩的付出，但是明顯的跟下一句指出「是北韓提議要舉辦高峰會現在又有如此的變動」是明顯的對比，諷刺金正恩。
We were informed that the meeting was requested by North Korea, but that to us is totally irrelevant. I was very much looking forward to being there with you.
有位老師說「totally irrelevant」這句話根本不該出現，因為毫無相關 (totally irrelevant) 的事件何必提出。其實「but that to us is totally irrelevant/但那對我們而言無關宏旨」這句用途是在於銜接和突顯「據我們所知是北韓方面提出會面的要求」，「我曾非常期待與你一同赴會。」，完全符合川普一邊諷刺一邊遞橄欖枝的虛偽語氣。
Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting. Therefore, please let this letter serve to represent that the Singapore summit, for the good of both parties, but to the detriment of the world, will not take place.
這句警告金正恩權力在我手上，告知他「你壞壞我就把你的糖果拿走，然後高峰會取消是你害的」。
You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used.
這一句就直接威脅了，說你們半吊子、還沒有完整的核武能力，怎麼敢跟美國比，再吵把你轟炸成碎片。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
I felt a wonderful dialogue was building up between you and me, and ultimately, it is only the dialogue that matters. Some day, I look very much forward to meeting you.
客套話又來了，一句威脅一句暗示怎麼做就沒事，而下一句「Some day I look very much forward to meeting you」 代表峰會未來還有可能會舉辦。
In the meantime, I want to thank you for the release of the hostages who are now home with their families. That was a beautiful gesture and was very much appreciated.
這邊針對信件的批評是合理的 ，綁架再釋放的行為無論如何都不應該讚美。很遺憾的，這段客套話完全符合川普的風格和語氣。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write. The world, and North Korea in particular, has lost a great opportunity for lasting peace and great prosperity and wealth. This missed opportunity is a truly sad moment in history.
最後兩句話又符合正式信件模板，但是第一句的語法 If you change your mind having to do with…確實是罕見。「Have to do with」片語的意義是「和…有關係」常出現在口語，但我搜尋了整個英文語料庫 (COCA) 確無法搜尋到 change someone’s mind 和 have to do with一起使用。此寫法讓我推斷川普的確有可能編寫信件的一部分 (因為政府發言人等級的幕僚或編輯應該不會用如此罕見的搭配詞)。吹毛求疵的話，「lasting peace and great prosperity and wealth」也可以寫成「lasting peace, great prosperity(,) and wealth」。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
總結是信件雖有瑕疵，但這些網友和一些老師批改也沒有指名用什麼評量指標就一面倒的負評，認為應該得到D或者是F，然此可能忽略了現實的外交世界上語言結構方式和信件（或其他文書）有其特殊目的性考量而可能有不同的呈現方式。當然，很多評論者可能只看字面就開始評論啦 (我相信有些網友也只是鬧著玩的)，但老師就是忍不住會認真！！！
★★★★★★★★★★★★
P.S. 整篇信件絕對不是川普親自寫的因為錯誤太少了 😛
★★★★★★★★★★★★
時事英文新聞 (Breaking News): https://goo.gl/9M1sGM
★★★★★★★★★★★★
Analyses:
NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/world/asia/read-trumps-letter-to-kim-jong-un.html
BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44233641
Sources:
https://corpus.byu.edu/COCA/
https://udn.com/news/story/6809/3163380
https://udn.com/news/story/6813/3165387
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44233641
http://time.com/5291264/full-text-letter-donald-trump-kim-jong-un-summit/
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/president-trumps-letter-to-kim-jongun-brutally-mocked/news-story/1b688d82c626c9fcd33ae51a79cd1c64
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6383731/donald-trumps-letter-to-kim-jong-un-is-given-an-f-for-grammar-by-unimpressed-teacher/
tremendous effort中文 在 [中文版,请往下看. Scroll down for English] Sejak pandemik ... 的推薦與評價
Tremendous effort are required from many people. Volunteers would drive all the way to KL in their own pick up trucks almost every alternate ... ... <看更多>