【逐句解析】

第一句：中国幅员辽阔，人口众多，很多地方人们都说自己的方言。

“幅员辽阔”，“人口众多”均为主谓结构, 若直译为两个主系表小句...is vast and...is large会显得繁赘, 故可借助动词have把两小句整合译为 China has a vast territory and a large population.“幅员辽阔” have/with a vast territory；“人口众多” have a large population; be heavily populated；“方言” dialect；local language/tongue;

第二句：方言在发音上差别最大，词汇和语法差别较小。

名词“方言”并非泛指,而是特指“汉语的各种方言”，故应译为 Chinese dialects."“差别大”可以用differ most in pronunciation, and to a lesser extent in vocabulary and grammar；也可以将这句作为第一句的定语从句 …which are of greater difference in pronunciation than in vocabulary and grammar.

第三句：有些方言，特别是北方和南方的方言，差异很大，以至于说不同方言的人常常很难听懂彼此的讲话。

这句的关键结构是如此以至于句型 so/such...that...“差异大”在这里可以换用另一种表达方式，译为...vary so much that...或...are so diverse that...." 说不同方言的人很难听懂彼此的讲话”有两种译法:一是用“表示做某事有困难”的句式sb have trouble/difficulty(in)doing 或It's hard/difficult for sb to do译出; 二是用短语 mutually intelligible,添加否定词not 来表达,其常用句式有“语言1+is(not)mutually intelligible with+语言2”，或者are(not) mutually intelligible(with each other)”。所以整个句子可以采用以下结构：… and …vary so much that they are often not mutually intelligible with each other.

第四句：方言被认为是当地文化的一个组成部分，但近年来能说方言的人数不断减少。

“被认为是”be considered(to be/as);be thought of as; be seen as;  “(数量)减少” decrease; decline; drop; fall；“能说方言的人数”中“数”为中心词,可译为 the number of...短语,“能说方言的人”译为people who can speak dialects.结合时间词“近年来”可将谓语“不断减少”处理为现在完成进行时态，即the number of …has been decreasing, 或者 fewer and fewer people have been speaking in dialects.

第五句：为了鼓励人们更多说本地方言，一些地方政府已经采取措施，如在学校开设方言课，在广播和电视上播放方言节目,以期保存本地的文化遗产。

“采取措施”take measures/steps/actions; “开设(课程)” introduce; offer/open courses; make...available;句首“为了鼓励..”和句末“以期保存.”均表示目的，可使用 in order to do/ so as to do/ in the hope of/ with a view to doing等多样化表达 (后三组短语多用于句中,而非句首)。“人们更多说本地方言”可理解为说方言的频率更高，译为...more often；也可理解为说方言的人数更多,译为 more people...

【主题分类】汉译英：文化

【参考译文】

China has vast territory and a large population. People from different places speak their own dialects, which are of greater difference in pronunciation than in vocabulary and grammar. The dialects, especially that of the north and that of the south, are so diverse that people can hardly understand each other when they are speaking. Dialects are considered an integral part of local cultures, but the number of people who can speak dialects has been decreasing in recent years. To encourage people to use dialects, some local governments have taken such measures as offering dialect courses in schools and broadcasting dialect programs on radio and television in the hope of preserving local cultural heritage.