作 者：龔如仲（美國）
海外頭條總編審 王 在 軍 （中國）
海外頭條副編審 Wendy溫迪（英國）
海 外 頭 條總 編 火 鳳 凰 （海外）
圖片選自百度
我的播音生涯
文/龔如仲（美國）
我援建坦贊鐵路的生涯，因為一場大病被中斷了。回國后，經過了半年時間的治療，我的病才算是完全治愈。之后，盡管鐵道部領導多次勸我再赴非洲、重操舊業(yè)，然而對非洲病菌的恐懼使我婉拒了領導的好意。那么接下來我能做的，便是盡快調離鐵道部，另外尋求一份工作。
說來真巧，就在一次回上海老家探望父親的火車上，我碰到了一位在非洲的同行。這位小伙子在大學（北京廣播學院）里專攻的是斯瓦希利語，畢業(yè)后在坦桑尼亞為援建坦贊鐵路干了六年的斯瓦西里語翻譯的工作。與他交談之后，我方才得知，他早已離開了鐵道部，當時正在中央廣播事業(yè)局屬下的國際廣播電臺當斯瓦希利語播音員。他一聽說我也有跳槽之心，就立刻建議我到國際廣播電臺英語部一試，“因為那兒正在招英語播音員”。 為此，我們彼此還留下了電話號碼。
返回北京后，我立刻打電話找到這位熱心的老同行，并由他牽線，到國際廣播電臺轄下的英語部播音組面試。幾天之后，我如約來到了廣播大樓。
中央廣播事業(yè)局所在的這座廣播大樓是當時北京的“十大建筑”之一。大樓氣勢恢弘，莊嚴肅穆，大門前站著兩位持槍站崗的高大威武的軍人。一位軍人問明我的來意后，就安排我到傳達室等候。片刻之后，我看到了一位五十開外、面容和善的女士來到了我的面前。她告訴我，她就是約我面試的人，叫魏琳。寒暄之后，她帶我進入英語部的一間辦公室。
雙方坐定后，她隨即拿出一本叫做“今日中國”的英文雜志，讓我朗讀其中的一篇文章給她聽。同時，她還打開了桌子上的錄音機為我的朗誦錄音。錄音完畢，她便用英語和我會話。魏女士英語發(fā)音純正，語調非常柔和，嗓音也很甜美，讓我不由得從內心深處生出一股敬意。我心里感嘆道：“國家廣播電臺果然名不虛傳，一個看起來普普通通的半老太太，英文水平竟也如此之高”。面試完畢，魏女士告訴我，她要把我的錄音給她的同事們聽聽之后才能給我答復，然后就客客氣氣地把我送出了廣播大樓。
三天之后，魏女士打電話通知我，說我已經被錄取了，并讓我盡快到鐵道部辦理調離手續(xù)，然后到電臺報到上班。聽到這個消息，我真是喜出望外，同時心中也頗有點得意：“不管怎么說，咱不愧是大學里的英語高才生，工作中的好翻譯，現(xiàn)在連國家電臺的大門也對咱敞開了”！
經過一番艱苦的努力（當時個人沒有自由調工作的權利，得不到原單位上司的首肯是絕對調不成工作的），鐵道部人事部門終于同意我走人。一個月后，我就正式成為了國際臺英語部的一名成員。然而，進入播音這一行之后，我才真正意識到，自己對播音這一行想得太簡單了。我原以為播音就如同在學校里上朗讀課，“看著文章照本宣科而已”，憑我的英語功底和當了這么多年翻譯的經驗，搞播音又有何難？然而，頭一天上班時，英語部就來了我一個“下馬威”。
他們給了我一篇新聞稿，限我在五分鐘之內看一遍，之后就對著錄音機朗讀并錄音，最后由魏琳女士牽頭（我這才得知，這位看上去不起眼的半老太太是英語部及播音組的頭兒，我的頂頭上司），會同部里的三位英語造詣極深的老權威及幾位大牌播音員對我的錄音“處女作”進行評論。
我原以為他們會對我的錄音贊賞有加，不承想等待我的卻是一場鋪天蓋地的惡評。有的說我是“只讀其文，未識其義”的；有的說我的“發(fā)音太偏英國倫敦腔”的；還有說我的“聲音不夠厚重，缺乏穿透力”的；更有說我“只會用嗓子發(fā)聲，不懂得胸腔共鳴”的…… 總而言之，沒有一個人覺得我可以馬上擔當播音員。最后的結論是：“此人尚需磨煉，好好學學播音，過一陣再決定可否成為合格的播音員”。
這一陣連珠炮似的批評猶如一盆盆冷水從頭到腳把我澆了個通透,我的心情一下子沮喪到了極點。這時候，魏琳女士見我心中難受，便過來安慰我。她叫我千萬不要氣餒，因為播音對我來說是門新學問，需要時間來熟悉和磨練。
就在那天回家的路上，我在心里想了很多：“一個曾為鐵道部副部長都當了好幾年翻譯的堂堂英語高才生，一個在坦贊鐵路上也算小有名氣的干練人才，想不到現(xiàn)如今被人家品頭論足，說得如此不堪。想想自己放著鐵道部的大翻譯不干，何苦跑到電臺來當個小學徒”？ 然而等到夜闌人靜，我自己又慢慢清醒過來。我暗暗對自己說：“我已經調離了鐵道部，想回頭已經不可能了。既然自己選擇了播音這一行，就得按人家的規(guī)則辦事，就得下決心從學徒干起，為盡快成為一個合格的英語播音員而竭盡全力”。
經過一段時間的學習和鍛煉，我只才真正認識到“播音真是一門大學問”。首先，播音員必須理解所讀的稿件，才能讀出其中的含義；同時，播音員必須練好科學發(fā)聲，才能以丹田之氣發(fā)出厚重而富有穿透力的聲音，只有這種聲音才能通過無線電波把所讀內容清晰地送到世界各地聽眾的耳際。就發(fā)音而言，中國英語播音員不能太“英國化”，也不能太“美國化”，因為我們面對的是世界不同國家和地區(qū)的聽眾。所以電臺當時要求我們要用“不英不美”的“中立音”播音。
更有意思的是，播音組如同一個劇團，每天“上演”著各類不同的“劇目”。比如播送新聞時，語調必須莊重、中立、平和；播送政府文稿或外交聲明時，語氣又必須嚴肅、有力、干脆；倘若播出一些采訪專稿，文學作品或廣播劇時，那就是另外一番情景了：播音員應該是時而親切，時而詼諧，時而嚴肅，時而輕松…..
就這樣，半年以后，經過魏琳女士和幾位專家權威的指點，我通過拜師學藝及練聲讀稿的勤學苦練，最后終于“修成正果”。就在某一天，播音組長魏琳女士正式向播音組全體同仁宣布：我可以先從新聞和一些分量不重的稿件入手，正式開始我的播音工作！
后來與同事的慢慢接觸中，我方才知道，我僅僅練習了六個月就可以正式上馬干播音工作實屬不易。英語部有四五個畢業(yè)于北京廣播學院播音系的大學生，在部里都熬了七八年了，一直未能修成“正果”，拿不到當播音員的“合格證”，只好在部里干一些打雜的活兒。我心里明白，我之所以能較快地進入“角色”，這和我的啟蒙老師魏琳女士對我的幫助是分不開的。因為魏女士不但在播音技巧上耐心地指教我，而且還常常拿我“以前有過英語工作的經歷，會對理解稿件的含義大有益處”來鼓勵我。這一切都給了莫大的勇氣和力量。
作為一名普通播音員，我是“上崗”了，然而我知道，要想成為英語播音界的佼佼者，我要走的路還很長很長。瞧瞧當時的英語播音組：除魏琳這位老行家外，幾個挑大梁的男女播音大腕，不是歸國華僑，便是中國派往海外學成歸來的“精英”，還有一兩位是已經在播音界苦熬苦拼了十幾年的“老油子”。象我這號菜鳥離他們的距離實在太遠了。
而且，當時的英語部還有一個奇特現(xiàn)象，那就是：即便你的播音功力已達上乘，也得到了魏琳組長及幾個大牌播音員的首肯，那你還得通過另外兩道關卡。其一，要得到三位英語老權威的認可；其二，最終還得取得一位來自加拿大的外國專家的同意。所以，在之后足有三年的時間里，我也只能是一名二流播音員。直到有一天，運氣突然降臨到了我的頭上。
我記得那天我是上早班。完成了播音任務后，我回到辦公室，正吃著外買的早點。突然，那位金發(fā)碧眼的加拿大女專家來到了我們的辦公室。她一進門就嚷嚷：“我剛剛聽完早班播出的內容了，其中有一篇關于反對蘇聯(lián)修正主義的短評是誰播的”？乍聽此言，我心中咯噔一跳，心里想道：“天哪，那篇人民日報評論員文章是我播的呀，可別出了什么差錯啊”！我趕緊說道：“是我念的稿子”。這位女專家一聽，大為高興，接著夸獎道：“這篇稿子念得非常好，不僅語言表達準確，而且相當有力度、有氣勢”。專家的一席話讓我終于松了一口氣。
消息很快傳到了魏琳組長及三位女權威那里。她們立即把那盤錄音帶調了出來，仔細地聽了一遍。到了第二天，魏組長就當眾正式通知我：“從今天起，你可以播一些重要文章了”。聽完魏老太太的話，我腦子里一片空白：“怎么啦？難道我一夜之間就從一個二流播音員躋身到了‘一流大腕’的行列”？當然羅，我心中著實感謝那位來自加拿大的女“伯樂”，同時也慶幸自己終于登上了可以更好施展自己才能的的新的播音舞臺。但我心里很明白：“我根本算不上什么太好的播音員，只不過我的運氣比別人好了一點而已”。
***本文選自拙作【歲月如重—兼談華國鋒】第四章“無冕之王”
Chapter 12 My English Announcer Career
Posted by Ralph Gong
My career as an English interpreter was stopped by a serious illness that kept on tormenting me when I was in Africa working for the Tanzania-Zambia Railway construction. As a result, I had to leave Africa for China for medical treatments
After spending almost six months on treatment, the illness was finally got rid of. Hearing that I was back to normal physically, the related leaders of the Railway Ministry suggested me go back to Africa to continue my job as an interpreter there. But I rejected their request because I was really scared of the terrible bacillary dysentery in Africa which gave me so much trouble. It seemed to me that I had no other choice but to say good-bye to the RailwayMinistry and try to find a new job.
One day, on my way back to Shanghai to visit my father, I met by surprise my previous colleague in the train coach. He was a Kiswahili interpreter working in Tanzania (for your information, Kiswahili is the local native language in Tanzania, and in terms of their official language, it is still English). We greeted each other and sat down for a talk. I did not know until that moment that he did leave the Railway Ministry a few months earlier and became a Kiswahili announcer working for Radio Beijing (at that time, it was called “Radio Peking. And it was also named as China International Broadcasting Station). After he learnt that I had an intention to leave the Railway Ministry and try to find a new job, he said to me sincerely that Radio Beijing was now in the process of recruiting English announcers, and I should go there for a try if I was interested in working for mass media. I thanked him for his kind suggestion and exchanged the telephone numbers with him.
After staying with my father in Shanghai for a week or so, I went back to Beijing. I called that colleague after return. He warm-heartedly helped me make an interview appointment with the English Department of Radio Beijing.
A few days later, I got to the Chinese Central Broadcasting Building where Radio Beijing was located. At that time, the Broadcasting Building was one of the “10 Top Buildings” in Beijing, and it looked magnificent and solemn indeed. I approached the Building and was stopped by a tall and mighty guard. I explained my purpose of visiting and was allowed to enter the Reception Room for registration.
I stepped into the Reception Room and a staff member there asked me whom I wanted to visit. I told him I came for an interview and he immediately called the English Department. He asked me to have a seat and wait for a while. Just a few minutes later, an over fifty-year-old lady came into the room. She looked very kind. She stepped forward and then shook hands with me, introducing herself to me: “My name is Wei Lin. I am the person who is going to make the interview with you.”
Ms Wei invited me to follow her to the office belonging to the English Department. Both sitting down there, she took out an English magazine named “China Today”. She opened the magazine to one page, pointed at one article and asked me to read it. At the same time, she turned on a tape recorder on the desk. Afterward, she began to chat with me in English. I was so surprised at hearing her speaking so perfectly genuine English! Both her pronunciation and intonation sounded just like the native speakers. Plus, her voice was so gentle and musical. Respect for this lady rose up in me. I murmured to myself: “Radio Beijing does deserve the reputation of a National Radio Station, having people like Ms. Wei Lin speaking English so nicely!”
The interview was finished. Ms. Wei Lin told me that she would take the tape to the office for the authorities to listen to. No decision would be made until the concerned people at English Department listened to the tape.
Three days later, Ms Wei phoned me and said that I passed the test and Radio Beijing decided to hire me. She urged me to go to the English Department to start my new work as soon as possible.
Upon hearing the good news, I was not only overjoyed but also felt proud of myself:“ I used to be one of the top students in the university. I became an outstanding interpreter in Africa. And now I can even step into the door of the famous Radio Beijing”!
As you might know, at that time, the Chinese people did not have the freedom of job transfer. If someone intended to have a job transferred, he or she must get his or her employer’s permission. I made great efforts for it and finally got the permission of the Railway Ministry to transfer me to Radio Beijing. Finally, I became a permanent employee at the English Department there.
I did not realize the fact that it was extremely difficult for me to be a qualified English announcer until I was totally involved in the broadcasting industry. At the first place, I thought it would be very easy for me to become a good announcer because “English broadcasting would be the same as English reading”. I thought that my English was good enough. Plus I had rich experiences in the interpretation field. I thought I could easily become a first-class announcer after some training. But what happened afterwards told me clearly that I was wrong. I can never forget the first day of my working at the English Department. It was a severe head-on blow on me!
On that day, Madam Wei (After joining the English Department, I came to realize that Madam Wei was the Head of that department. She was actually my direct boss), together with three other senior ladies who had profound English attainments, stepped into our office. Following them were four well-known announcers at English Department. Sitting down, Madam Wei gave me a piece of English news script and allowed me five minutes for preparation. Five minutes later, she asked me to read this script from A to Z. She also told me that the whole reading would be recorded. After I finished my reading, Ms Wei turned to all the three ladies who were all above fifty years old and whose English level was all very highand the four first-class announcers, asking them to listen to the recorded tape carefully and to make comments on it.
I thought naively that those professionals would speak highly on my English reading. But on the contrary, they gave me quite negative comments. Some said that my reading was no more than “sound reading”. The real meaning of the whole scrip was not fully shown. They said that “meaning expression” was more important than “sound reading”. Some commented that my intonation was a little bit too British. I was requested to use “Radio Beijing’s English”, neither too British, nor too American. One of the most well-known announcers even stated that my voice was not rich enough. In other words, my voice did not have sufficient and strong penetrating power. He straightforwardly pointed out that the richness of my voice would not be able to let the sound reach the ears of those foreign listeners who loved Radio Beijing. He finally suggested that I must learn how to do the chest-resonance in order to make my voice rich and musical.
In a word, no one at that meeting turned on a green light to me as an English announcer. The final conclusion was that I must make enough practice and learn actively from other announcers in order to become a proficient English announcer as soon as possible. It was obvious that there might be a very long way to go before I would be able to step into the Radio’s broadcasting studio as a qualified English announcer.
The comments, which were made by these English Department’s VIPs, were just like a vat of icy water being poured at me from head to toe. I was so frustrated and upset that I felt my heart froze up. Realizing that I was very dejected, Ms Wei stepped forward to me and said: “You must understand that English broadcasting is a new career to you. It is not easy to be a good announcer. You need time to be familiar with your new job. You will have to practice more and try to learn from the experienced announcers. After enough practicing and learning, you will become a qualified announcer soon.”
On my way back home that day, I thought a lot: I used to be a dignified and outstanding English interpreter when I worked in Africa for the Tanzania-Zambia Railway construction. I even served Mr. Bu Ke, Head of the Chinese Working Team, as well as a Vice-Minister of the Chinese Railway Ministry. But now I am only a beginner plus an “apprentice” at Radio Beijing. I was even deemed by those authoritative VIPs as an unqualified announcer. Why was I so stupid to give up my decent position of a senior interpreter just to come to this English Department as a greenhorn? The more I thought of it, the more disappointed I felt. I could not even enjoy my dinner any more that evening.
But when the bedding time came and it became quiet both indoors and outdoors, the tranquility cooled me down. I said to myself: “Since I have already been transferred from the Railway Ministry to Radio Beijing, it is entirely impossible for me to change the current situation. In other words, I could never go back to the past. Now I am requested to do a good job at the English Department. It seemed to me that I have no other choice but try my best to be trained as a qualified announcer within the shortest possible time”.
After a quite long time of learning and practicing, I gradually realized the fact that broadcasting was of broad and profound know-how. Firstly, an announcer must have a complete understanding towards the scripts he or she was going to read. A piece of broadcasting work could never be perfect unless the real meaning of the script was to be fully expressed. Secondly, an announcer must learn how to use the voice in a scientific way. The only way to make the voice better was to practice. Thirdly, as far as our English pronunciation and intonation were concerned, a Radio Beijing’s announcer must neither use pure British English, nor the American accent. The listeners we faced were around the globe, not only from north American and Britain, but also from the rest of the world. So we were asked to use a kind of “neutral English” (or “Radio Beijing’s English) for broadcasting.
With the time passing by, I found out that we usually did our broadcasting work through collective efforts in groups, and a working group was usually composed of four announcers, the script-writer, the tape-recording controller and the monitor before the recorded tape be delivered to the broadcasting studio for the listeners. At that time, no direct broadcasting was allowed. Every piece of script-reading must be recorded first. Sometimes, the broadcasting group seemed just like a drama troupe, performing different kinds of programs every day. For example, when we read news every morning, the announcer must use a solemn, neutral and peaceful voice. When we broadcast government statements or foreign affairs announcements, our announcers’ speaking manner must be serious, powerful and full of righteousness. If some cultural and interviewed articles or drama performances were broadcasted or played, it became an entirely different story: the concerned announcers must read the scripts with quite much sentiments, sometimes cordially, sometimes humorously, and sometimes relaxedly.
I kept on practicing, learning, imitating and voice-training for about six months’ time. Finally I succeeded in becoming a qualified announcer. On that particular morning, Madam Wei, the Head of our English Department, made a formal notice to the whole department that I could start to read and broadcast news. Besides, I was allowed to read some special articles which were of “l(fā)ess weight”.
I did not realize the fact that I was really a lucky guy until one day when one of my colleagues talked about the subject of how to become a qualified announcer. My colleague told me that quite a few people including herself who were selected by Radio Beijing for being trained as announcers, did not have such luck as what I had. They also practiced, learned and were trained for years. But still they did not obtain the formal announcers’ certificates. As a result, they had to do some “odds and ends” work at our English Department. She asked me sincerely: “You have not realized how lucky you are?”
In addition to my luckiness, I understood that it was Madam Wei who enabled me to succeed in playing the “announcer’s role”. As a matter of fact, Madam Wei was my mentor for my broadcasting career. She not only taught me how to master the broadcasting skills, but also encouraged me not to belittle my own potentialities of becoming an announcer. She said to me that my past working experience would definitely help me a lot for understanding the scripts well. I would not become a good announcer until I could read the scripts with full feelings.
With Madam Wei ’s help and my own efforts, my dream of being an announcer was realized. But I was well aware of a simple fact that much more efforts would have been needed if I wanted to become a little better as an announcer from that stage. At that time, I was only allowed to be involved in updated news reading and one special program which was called “China in Construction”. I was only a new hand, and a second-class announcer. There would be a long way for me to go before I could become a first-class announcer. Look around at the English Department,one could easily see that besides Madam Wei Lin, an outstanding veteran announcer, there were seven other outstanding announcers. Two top announcers were the overseas Chinese who came from Jamaica and Australia respectively, with English as their mother tongue. Another two were broadcasting elites who had been sent by the English Department to Canada and USA for broadcasting training. Upon completion of three years’ training abroad, they came back to do their original work. Three well-known announcers graduated from Beijing Broadcasting Institute (now renamed as “Beijing Communication University”), majoring on English Broadcasting. Accumulating profound experiences in English broadcasting, they were very skilled and confident in the profession. Among all those outstanding announcers, I was only a rookie, neither having experiences, nor the rich skills.
There was a quite interesting thing at the English Department, which was an unwritten “regulation”: If an announcer was nominated to “be promoted” from a second-class announcer to a first-class one, he/she had to be not only approved by the head of Department, Madam Wei Lin, but also consented by all the seven first-class announcers. The final decision then would still have to be made by the three authoritative seniors with high English level, followed by a Canadian expert who was hired by Radio Beijing. As a second-class announcer, I worked at the English Department of Radio Beijing for three years.
Then good luck knocked at my door again. One day, I was on the morning shift. I just finished my news and a short commentary reading at the broadcasting studio and returned to our office to enjoy breakfast bought from a local restaurant close to the Broadcasting Building when the Canadian expert, a middle-aged pretty blonde lady, came into our office and said loudly to us: “I have just finished listening to the morning news and commentary broadcasting. Please tell me who read that commentary on condemning the Soviet revisionism (For your information, in the 1970s, China had two enemies in ideology: One was “American imperialism”, and the other was “Soviet revisionism”)? Upon hearing what the Canadian expert said, I was taken aback, saying to myself: “Oh, God! It was I who read that political commentary. Was there anything wrong?” But I repliedimmediately : “That commentary was read by me”. Far beyond my expectation, the expert turned very happy and praised me: “You did a great job on this commentary reading! You not only displayed the commentary in its language accuracy, but also fully expressed its strength and power in terms of a political statement.”
The comments made by the Canadian expert relaxed me instantly. As a matter of fact, this piece of news spread fast among the people working for the English Department. Madam Wei Lin, the Head of the Department, and the three authoritative senior ladies decided to retrieve the taped recording and listened to that commentary by themselves. In the following morning, Madam Wei called all office members for a meeting. And at the meeting, she announced that from that day on, I would be allowed to read all articles or scripts that were usually done by those first-class announcers.
Hearing what Madam Wei said, I felt as if I were in a dream. I said to myself: “How can that be? I became a first-class announcer over night?” Deep in my heart, I thanked that Canadian expert a thousand times. She “gave” me the chance of becoming a “first-class” announcer!
But I knew myself: I was not a first-class announcer at all. I was just a lucky guy!
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About the Author
Ruzhong Gong (Ralph Gong), born in Shanghai, China, now living in the USA.
Graduated From the English Department of University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China
Before retirement, President of an USA overseas company under China National Light Industrial Products Imp. & Exp. Corp.; President of a joint-venture company in USA, jointly owned by Australia’s Lief Group Company and China National Chemical Products Imp. & Exp. Corp.; President of an American Brach Corp. under China National Foreign Trade Bases Corp.; Chief Representative in Beijing Office under Trade Am, an American Carpets Wholesale Company.
Author of 7 books, including “My Life—Family, Career & VIPs”(both Chinese & English), “How to Do Business in Mainland of China”, “My Leisure Time”, “My Leisure Time—Poems & Articles” , “Poems and Essays from Leisure Chamber” and “Flowers By My Side”.
Member of the Chinese Poetry Society (CPS), Free Lance Writer for Austrian Sinopress, and Senior Consultant for TaiwanTsaiwei Publishing House.
龔如仲：生于上海，中國對外經濟貿易大學英語系畢業(yè)，畢業(yè)后奔赴非洲任鐵道部援建坦贊鐵路工作組總部英語翻譯，中國國際廣播電臺英語部英語播音員、記者，外貿部中國輕工業(yè)品進出口總公司出口二處業(yè)務員、副處長，外貿部輕工業(yè)品進出口總公司駐美國公司總裁（處長）。
有關作品：
自2012年至2016年，臺灣采薇出版社出版自傳【歲月如重】（該書已被香港中文大學圖書館、美國紐約市立圖書館和澳大利亞國家圖書館作為自傳體作品正式收藏），【東西南北中國人---細談如何在大陸做生意】，【悠然時光】和【悠然時光---如仲詩語】。
2018年4月，中國國際廣播出版社出版【悠然齋詩文選】
2018年9月，中國國際廣播出版社出版【花兒在身邊開放】
2019年4月，臺灣采薇出版社出版英文書【My Life—Family, Career & VIPs】
作者現(xiàn)為中華詩詞學會會員、中國經典文學網(wǎng)特約作家、臺灣采薇出版社資深顧問、奧地利英文網(wǎng)Sinopress特聘專欄作家、北美北斗星文學社副社長、副總編輯。
