全球汉语学习越来越狂热

 Well, talking about the influence of Chinese culture, there has been a noticeable trend. That is the enthusiasm for learning Mandarin¹ increasing dramatically around the world, be it by Western countries or China's neighbours. Let’s check out the wide array of initiatives to learn the Chinese language and engage with Chinese culture around the world.

Washington Dulles Airport. Parents are greeting their sixteen year old sons and daughters who have shown enthusiasm and aptitude² for learning Chinese in different schools within the nation’s capital.

Student said, "There’s so much. I learned a lot about Chinese culture. I was immersed in it every day, had classes every day with it. I learned a ton about the language, lots of slang phrases. But I also learned a lot about myself and how I operate in a new environment."

Students have been learning Kung Fu, Tai Chi, traditional calligraphy³ and other cultural pursuits.

Language immersion⁴ classes were complemented⁵ with real-world challenges.

Student Dayna Haymen said, "I got so accustomed to it, I feel like I was bound to be there. I just connected to everything there. After a while I was just getting used to it, so I got connected to the metro⁶ rail system. We went to a couple of businesses and I realized that there are American businesses in China that I could work for also."

Experts say there are currently more than 120,000 students of Chinese in the US and that the uptake of new learners is increasingly rapidly.

Welcome to the Jembatan Budaya School. It literally⁷ means "a cultural bridge" and it is a pioneer of trilingual schools in Indonesia. It teaches the curriculum in English, Indonesian and Mandarin.

This is their physical exercise class. These kindergarten kids are Indonesians, but they all agreed being able to speak mandarin is as important as being able to speak English.

Putu Bahaduri, director of Jembatan Budaya School, said, "With the Chinese economy growing very fast, there will be a need for mandarin language."

Putu is a fifth generation Chinese Indonesian.. but growing up during the late president Soeharto, who ruled Indonesia for more than 3 decades, Chinese and Chinese culture were oppressed in the name of unity⁸, making scenes like this in a school, illegal.

Only after the reform era that, the Chinese Indonesian have the freedom to express their culture

And now, schools like Jembatan Budaya receive abundant support both from the Indonesian government and the Chinese government

And the hope is that schools like Jembatan Budaya will not be an exception but will be the standard.

Indian schools are also taking Mandarin to their schools.

China has become India’s largest trading partner and the nation has decided⁹ to learn the new language of doing business.

Dr. Debashis Chaudhuri, associate fellow of Institute of Chinese Studies, said, “It will be a great help if students from the very beginning start learning Chinese. Because we have misunderstandings, and prejudices toward other countries and other people. To remove those prejudices, language learning is very important as language can be a big barrier.”

A number of Indian universities already have Mandarin courses, but learning it at schools is something new. One of the biggest challenges that India faces is the training of teachers.

Experts say this is because most teachers take up jobs as translators in business and tourism sectors¹⁰ as these are way more financially lucrative¹¹.

Luckily, India and China have signed a memorandum¹² of understanding that proposes exchange of academic staff, teachers and students.

China’s economic surge over the past decade is the driving force behind the introduction of Mandarin in schools in India. With the economic world order changing, the knowledge of Mandarin could soon be regarded as one of the key prerequisites¹³ for Indians to establish themselves on the world scene.

1 Mandarin   

n.中国官话，国语，满清官吏；adj.华丽辞藻的

参考例句：

• Just over one billion people speak Mandarin as their native tongue.大约有十亿以上的人口以华语为母语。
• Mandarin will be the new official language of the European Union.普通话会变成欧盟新的官方语言。

2 aptitude   

n.(学习方面的)才能，资质，天资

参考例句：

• That student has an aptitude for mathematics.那个学生有数学方面的天赋。
• As a child,he showed an aptitude for the piano.在孩提时代，他显露出对于钢琴的天赋。

3 calligraphy   

n.书法

参考例句：

• At the calligraphy competition,people asked him to write a few characters.书法比赛会上，人们请他留字。
• His calligraphy is vigorous and forceful.他的书法苍劲有力。

4 immersion   

n.沉浸；专心

参考例句：

• The dirt on the bottom of the bath didn't encourage total immersion.浴缸底有污垢，不宜全身浸泡于其中。
• The wood had become swollen from prolonged immersion.因长时间浸泡，木头发胀了。

5 complemented   

有补助物的，有余格的

参考例句：

• The excellent menu is complemented by a good wine list. 佳肴佐以美酒，可称完美无缺。
• In vitro analysis must be complemented by studies of the virus replication cycle in plants. 体外的分析必须辅之以植物体内病毒复制周期的研究。

6 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

12 memorandum   

n.备忘录，便笺

参考例句：

• The memorandum was dated 23 August,2008.备忘录上注明的日期是2008年8月23日。
• The Secretary notes down the date of the meeting in her memorandum book.秘书把会议日期都写在记事本上。

13 prerequisites   

先决条件，前提( prerequisite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Good muscles are one of the prerequisites of physical fitness. 肌肉发达是身体健康的一个必备条件。
• One of the outstanding prerequisites of any city is a local transportation system. 本地运输系统是任何城市的突出前提条件之一。