Kurdish officials resist being forced to do business with the central government in Arabic, and sometimes insist on English, even if their command of Arabic is excellent. They recognize that they can't force the central government to deal with them in Kurdish, but they see English, the language of the former colonial power, Britain — and of the current occupying power, the United States ― as a symbol of resistance to the cultural and political hegemony of the Arabic-speaking majority
【词汇】
power n.强国 hegemony n.霸权
【搭配】
insist on 坚持deal with与某人打交道 do business with与某人打交道 excellent command of对…有很好的掌握 colonial power 殖民国 occupying power 占领国 as a symbol of作为…的象征 cultural/political hegemony 文化/政治霸权
The situation in former French colonies is more subtle. French is the ethnically-neutral lingua franca there, and the linguistic gateway to opportunity and migration.But many individuals in the Francophone world are starting to see English as a better opportunity — and the rulers of some Francophone countries have begun to feel the same way — to the immense chagrin of the French government, which works hard by various means to keep the former colonies in La Francophonie.In that context, promoting (for example) English- language schools can become a form of resistance to neocolonialism.
【词汇】
subtle adj.微妙的
*lingua franca n.通用语,混合语 gateway n. i甩道，途径 migration n.移民immense adj.广大的，巨大的
* chagrin n.失望，懊恼 context n.环境，上下文，（事件、人物等的）来龙去脉，背景 neocolonialism n.新殖民主义
【搭配】
subtle situation微妙的情况 work hard奋力，努力工作 by various means通过各种方式
in that context在那种背景下，在那种环境中
And at the same time that big languages like English, French, and Arabic have been spreading among present or past imperial subject populations, local linguistic nationalism has been increasing in strength, and winning some victories.
【词汇】
subject adj.统治下的，控制下的(a subject country, state, people etc are strictly governed by another country)
【搭配】
increase in strength 积攒力量
win a victory赢得胜利
【词汇】
nationalism n.民族主义
split卩.（使）分裂
【搭配】
cultural nationalism 文化民族主义 win a victory赢得胜利
Less dire versions of the same process have been happening elsewhere in Europe. Anyone who's been in Barcelona recently knows that the dominance of Catalan there has been officially acknowledged, and Spain's ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages has also led to co-official status for Basque and Galician in their regions.
【词汇】
dire adj.极度严重或糟糕的 dominance n.统治地位，主导地位 ^ratification n.签署
status n.地位
【搭配】
officially acknowledge 正式承认 official status官方地位
As a result of the same European Charter, two centuries of French official suppression of minority languages came to an end, at least officially, in 2001. ©(Actually, France rejected the charter as contrary to its constitution, but the Ministry of Education decided anyhow that education in Occ辻an, Corsican, Breton, Basque, and so on could at least in principle be allowed.)
【词汇】
charter n. 宪章
suppression n.镇压，压制
reject vt.拒绝，反对
【搭配】
as a result of由于，因为
minority language少数民族语言 come to an end走到了尽头，到了末路
Paradoxically, the force that freed "regional and minority" languages throughout Europe was exactly the economic and political unification created by that poster child of globalization, the European Union.
【分析】
句子主干为 the force was exactly the economic and political unification, that 引导同位语从 句，过去分词短语created by ...作定语修饰unification 0本段是作者观点，进一步指出全球化、 统一反而使小语言获得自由。
【词汇】
unification n.统一
【搭配】
political unification 政治统一
poster child 海报上的典型形象，某方面的代表(someone or something that represents a particular quality, idea etc 一 often used humorously)
If you're going to combine many countries with different national languages — and do it bypolitical compromise rather than by military conquest — then you can't impose any single national language on the result.And once you admit a dozen or so national languages to official status in the resulting union, why not throw in a hundred more — even if the local nation-states have been busily trying to promote national unity by suppressing them fbr the past few centuries?
【词汇】
* throwing.加入，增加
【搭配】
political compromise 政治妥协 military conquest 军事征服 impose sth on把某事物强加于…之上 official status 官方地位 national unity 民族统一