刑事と弁護士が話す英語の違いは？

　人気テレビドラマ『Law and Order』を観ながらETCマンツーマン英会話のロレット先生(西大井/熊谷)のレッスンを受けています。Law and Orderはロレット先生お薦めのテレビ番組。ドラマの前半は刑事が容疑者を追跡し逮捕するまで、後半は弁護士や判事がその事件の被告にどのような判決を求めるのか裁判の様子を描いた、2段仕立てのストーリーになっています。刑事と容疑者、弁護士と裁判官、そして刑事同士、弁護士同士と様々な人々が交わす、様々なタイプの英語に触れることができます。

　さて、具体的に彼らの英語はどのように、そして何故違うのでしょうか。

All the English is different.
Lawyers and police English is different.
Not only lawyer’s English and Policeman’s English is different, but the same people speak differently depending on the situation.
For example policemen talking to the criminal use more slang and probably shorter sentences than when they are talking to the police lieutenant, the lady, that police lieutenant

When Fontana is talking to his boss, or whatever in the police station talking, their language is all different.
And lawyers talking, the lawyers are well educated people.
And the lawyer’s job is kind of like a politician.
The lawyer’s job is to convince people by speaking.
So talking to the lawyer and judge, talking to the jury, they are going to be speaking very clearly and probably slowly, trying to be persuasive, convincing.
They want to avoid misunderstanding.
They choose the words very carefully, try to choose the words have one meaning for example.
The sentence structure, they are very careful.
They don’t use any grammar mistakes.
They can’t be ambiguous, because the jury may take wrong meaning as.
And they have a lot of time. It is a court. They have plenty of time.
If they want to take it, they can speak as slowly as they want, as much as they want.
It is different from a policeman trying to conduct investigations.
They don’t have so much time to find a bad guy, right.

The police are, well educated policeman, but they are oftenly talking to people who are not so well educated, people who use a lot of slang.
Members of which might be called lower class of society, and a lot of people, they speak with use slang expressions or some cases, some kind of area related but not standard language sometimes.

So they can be more comfortable and more understandable talking in the way that people are talking with understand.
Also if you use more slang in talking, if maybe makes you sound tough.
It is much like Japan.
If you listen to policeman in Japan or TV drama, or even in real life.
A lot of them sound just like Yakuza.
And policeman and gangsters sound just same, I think.
They are using the same slang, and very often trying sounds tough.
See what some Japanese police drama, particularly if they are talking to the bad guy, they sound just the same, using the same language, trying to sound tough to intimidate and impress the criminal is talking with.
So it is very hard to see any difference between them, right?
They may be very well-educated people who don’t talk like that normally, but they are talking in criminal-field situations, so that they talk differently.
That is just same in the US, same way.

persuasive 説得力のある
convince 〈人に〉〔…を〕確信させる，納得させる.
ambiguous あいまいな; 不明瞭な.
lawyer 弁護士
judge 裁判官，判事.
jury 陪審(員団)

 ■テーマにしたダイアログ

・『LAW & ORDER』　シーズン15第3話「正当防衛」THE BROTHERHOOD

■出演
・ETCマンツーマン英会話のロレット先生(西大井/熊谷)

■聞き手
・青樹洋文

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