作       者：龚如仲（美国）

海外头条总编审   王 在 军   （中国）

海外头条副编审 Wendy温迪（英国）

海 外 头 条总 编   火 凤  凰  （海外）

图片选自百度

我的播音生涯

文/龚如仲（美国）

       我援建坦赞铁路的生涯，因为一场大病被中断了。回国后，经过了半年时间的治疗，我的病才算是完全治愈。之后，尽管铁道部领导多次劝我再赴非洲、重操旧业，然而对非洲病菌的恐惧使我婉拒了领导的好意。那么接下来我能做的，便是尽快调离铁道部，另外寻求一份工作。

     说来真巧，就在一次回上海老家探望父亲的火车上，我碰到了一位在非洲的同行。这位小伙子在大学（北京广播学院）里专攻的是斯瓦希利语，毕业后在坦桑尼亚为援建坦赞铁路干了六年的斯瓦西里语翻译的工作。与他交谈之后，我方才得知，他早已离开了铁道部，当时正在中央广播事业局属下的国际广播电台当斯瓦希利语播音员。他一听说我也有跳槽之心，就立刻建议我到国际广播电台英语部一试，“因为那儿正在招英语播音员”。 为此，我们彼此还留下了电话号码。

     返回北京后，我立刻打电话找到这位热心的老同行，并由他牵线，到国际广播电台辖下的英语部播音组面试。几天之后，我如约来到了广播大楼。

中央广播事业局所在的这座广播大楼是当时北京的“十大建筑”之一。大楼气势恢弘，庄严肃穆，大门前站着两位持枪站岗的高大威武的军人。一位军人问明我的来意后，就安排我到传达室等候。片刻之后，我看到了一位五十开外、面容和善的女士来到了我的面前。她告诉我，她就是约我面试的人，叫魏琳。寒暄之后，她带我进入英语部的一间办公室。

双方坐定后，她随即拿出一本叫做“今日中国”的英文杂志，让我朗读其中的一篇文章给她听。同时，她还打开了桌子上的录音机为我的朗诵录音。录音完毕，她便用英语和我会话。魏女士英语发音纯正，语调非常柔和，嗓音也很甜美，让我不由得从内心深处生出一股敬意。我心里感叹道：“国家广播电台果然名不虚传，一个看起来普普通通的半老太太，英文水平竟也如此之高”。面试完毕，魏女士告诉我，她要把我的录音给她的同事们听听之后才能给我答复，然后就客客气气地把我送出了广播大楼。

三天之后，魏女士打电话通知我，说我已经被录取了，并让我尽快到铁道部办理调离手续，然后到电台报到上班。听到这个消息，我真是喜出望外，同时心中也颇有点得意：“不管怎么说，咱不愧是大学里的英语高才生，工作中的好翻译，现在连国家电台的大门也对咱敞开了”！

经过一番艰苦的努力（当时个人没有自由调工作的权利，得不到原单位上司的首肯是绝对调不成工作的），铁道部人事部门终于同意我走人。一个月后，我就正式成为了国际台英语部的一名成员。然而，进入播音这一行之后，我才真正意识到，自己对播音这一行想得太简单了。我原以为播音就如同在学校里上朗读课，“看着文章照本宣科而已”，凭我的英语功底和当了这么多年翻译的经验，搞播音又有何难？然而，头一天上班时，英语部就来了我一个“下马威”。

他们给了我一篇新闻稿，限我在五分钟之内看一遍，之后就对着录音机朗读并录音，最后由魏琳女士牵头（我这才得知，这位看上去不起眼的半老太太是英语部及播音组的头儿，我的顶头上司），会同部里的三位英语造诣极深的老权威及几位大牌播音员对我的录音“处女作”进行评论。

      我原以为他们会对我的录音赞赏有加，不承想等待我的却是一场铺天盖地的恶评。有的说我是“只读其文，未识其义”的；有的说我的“发音太偏英国伦敦腔”的；还有说我的“声音不够厚重，缺乏穿透力”的；更有说我“只会用嗓子发声，不懂得胸腔共鸣”的…… 总而言之，没有一个人觉得我可以马上担当播音员。最后的结论是：“此人尚需磨炼，好好学学播音，过一阵再决定可否成为合格的播音员”。  

     这一阵连珠炮似的批评犹如一盆盆冷水从头到脚把我浇了个通透,我的心情一下子沮丧到了极点。这时候，魏琳女士见我心中难受，便过来安慰我。她叫我千万不要气馁，因为播音对我来说是门新学问，需要时间来熟悉和磨练。 

就在那天回家的路上，我在心里想了很多：“一个曾为铁道部副部长都当了好几年翻译的堂堂英语高才生，一个在坦赞铁路上也算小有名气的干练人才，想不到现如今被人家品头论足，说得如此不堪。想想自己放着铁道部的大翻译不干，何苦跑到电台来当个小学徒”？ 然而等到夜阑人静，我自己又慢慢清醒过来。我暗暗对自己说：“我已经调离了铁道部，想回头已经不可能了。既然自己选择了播音这一行，就得按人家的规则办事，就得下决心从学徒干起，为尽快成为一个合格的英语播音员而竭尽全力”。

经过一段时间的学习和锻炼，我只才真正认识到“播音真是一门大学问”。首先，播音员必须理解所读的稿件，才能读出其中的含义；同时，播音员必须练好科学发声，才能以丹田之气发出厚重而富有穿透力的声音，只有这种声音才能通过无线电波把所读内容清晰地送到世界各地听众的耳际。就发音而言，中国英语播音员不能太“英国化”，也不能太“美国化”，因为我们面对的是世界不同国家和地区的听众。所以电台当时要求我们要用“不英不美”的“中立音”播音。

更有意思的是，播音组如同一个剧团，每天“上演”着各类不同的“剧目”。比如播送新闻时，语调必须庄重、中立、平和；播送政府文稿或外交声明时，语气又必须严肃、有力、干脆；倘若播出一些采访专稿，文学作品或广播剧时，那就是另外一番情景了：播音员应该是时而亲切，时而诙谐，时而严肃，时而轻松…..

就这样，半年以后，经过魏琳女士和几位专家权威的指点，我通过拜师学艺及练声读稿的勤学苦练，最后终于“修成正果”。就在某一天，播音组长魏琳女士正式向播音组全体同仁宣布：我可以先从新闻和一些分量不重的稿件入手，正式开始我的播音工作！

后来与同事的慢慢接触中，我方才知道，我仅仅练习了六个月就可以正式上马干播音工作实属不易。英语部有四五个毕业于北京广播学院播音系的大学生，在部里都熬了七八年了，一直未能修成“正果”，拿不到当播音员的“合格证”，只好在部里干一些打杂的活儿。我心里明白，我之所以能较快地进入“角色”，这和我的启蒙老师魏琳女士对我的帮助是分不开的。因为魏女士不但在播音技巧上耐心地指教我，而且还常常拿我“以前有过英语工作的经历，会对理解稿件的含义大有益处”来鼓励我。这一切都给了莫大的勇气和力量。

作为一名普通播音员，我是“上岗”了，然而我知道，要想成为英语播音界的佼佼者，我要走的路还很长很长。瞧瞧当时的英语播音组：除魏琳这位老行家外，几个挑大梁的男女播音大腕，不是归国华侨，便是中国派往海外学成归来的“精英”，还有一两位是已经在播音界苦熬苦拼了十几年的“老油子”。象我这号菜鸟离他们的距离实在太远了。

而且，当时的英语部还有一个奇特现象，那就是：即便你的播音功力已达上乘，也得到了魏琳组长及几个大牌播音员的首肯，那你还得通过另外两道关卡。其一，要得到三位英语老权威的认可；其二，最终还得取得一位来自加拿大的外国专家的同意。所以，在之后足有三年的时间里，我也只能是一名二流播音员。直到有一天，运气突然降临到了我的头上。

我记得那天我是上早班。完成了播音任务后，我回到办公室，正吃着外买的早点。突然，那位金发碧眼的加拿大女专家来到了我们的办公室。她一进门就嚷嚷：“我刚刚听完早班播出的内容了，其中有一篇关于反对苏联修正主义的短评是谁播的”？乍听此言，我心中咯噔一跳，心里想道：“天哪，那篇人民日报评论员文章是我播的呀，可别出了什么差错啊”！我赶紧说道：“是我念的稿子”。这位女专家一听，大为高兴，接着夸奖道：“这篇稿子念得非常好，不仅语言表达准确，而且相当有力度、有气势”。专家的一席话让我终于松了一口气。

消息很快传到了魏琳组长及三位女权威那里。她们立即把那盘录音带调了出来，仔细地听了一遍。到了第二天，魏组长就当众正式通知我：“从今天起，你可以播一些重要文章了”。听完魏老太太的话，我脑子里一片空白：“怎么啦？难道我一夜之间就从一个二流播音员跻身到了‘一流大腕’的行列”？当然罗，我心中着实感谢那位来自加拿大的女“伯乐”，同时也庆幸自己终于登上了可以更好施展自己才能的的新的播音舞台。但我心里很明白：“我根本算不上什么太好的播音员，只不过我的运气比别人好了一点而已”。

***本文选自拙作【岁月如重—兼谈华国锋】第四章“无冕之王”

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 “less 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!

*****************

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.

 龚如仲：生于上海，中国对外经济贸易大学英语系毕业，毕业后奔赴非洲任铁道部援建坦赞铁路工作组总部英语翻译，中国国际广播电台英语部英语播音员、记者，外贸部中国轻工业品进出口总公司出口二处业务员、副处长，外贸部轻工业品进出口总公司驻美国公司总裁（处长）。

有关作品：

自2012年至2016年，台湾采薇出版社出版自传【岁月如重】（该书已被香港中文大学图书馆、美国纽约市立图书馆和澳大利亚国家图书馆作为自传体作品正式收藏），【东西南北中国人---细谈如何在大陆做生意】，【悠然时光】和【悠然时光---如仲诗语】。

 2018年4月，中国国际广播出版社出版【悠然斋诗文选】

 2018年9月，中国国际广播出版社出版【花儿在身边开放】

 2019年4月，台湾采薇出版社出版英文书【My Life—Family, Career & VIPs】

作者现为中华诗词学会会员、中国经典文学网特约作家、台湾采薇出版社资深顾问、奥地利英文网Sinopress特聘专栏作家、北美北斗星文学社副社长、副总编辑。