一个学校,五种语言

One School, Five Languages 一个学校,五种语言

In New York City public schools, 176 different languages are spoken among the more than 1 million students.

For 160,000 children, English is not their first language. New York’s Department of Education makes learning¹ better for these students by providing dual²-language programs.

Students are taught in two languages, English and another one, like Russian or Chinese. Math, social studies, science and all other regular courses are taught in both languages. And they learn about the culture of the other country.

Milady Baez is Deputy³ Chancellor⁴ of English Language Learners and Student Support. She says these dual-language programs will help children succeed in the future.

"The jobs of the future require that our students know more than one language. They are going to be traveling abroad, they are going to be communicating with people from all over the world. This will open doors for them.”

David A. Booty Middle School in Brooklyn offers dual language education in four languages: Russian, Mandarin⁵, Spanish and Hebrew.

Shuya Zhang teaches a dual language class. She says the program helps children get ready to work with people in other countries.

"Look at now-a-days, America started economic relationships with China. Lots of factories have been built, companies moved to China. They need people with the skills with both language skills so the kids when they are grown up, they already have this skill.”

Middle-schoolers might not have jobs on their minds yet. For Kequing Jaing, she likes keeping up her first language, Mandarin.

“It makes me, like,  feel that I am home because I can speak in Chinese, learn in Chinese, while learning in English. So it makes me feel better and makes me understand more about the task I’m learning.”

Anastasia Hudikova came to the United States when she was 2 years old.  She says the Russian-English program keeps her connected to her heritage⁶ and her parents happy.

“They’re really happy about the program that it exists. They are really happy that I can preserve my culture and my language, that I can speak it fluently in school.”

The New York schools also offer dual-language programs in seven other languages: Arabic, French, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Korean, Polish and Spanish. There are plans to add even more languages in the future.

While these dual-language programs are popular, some groups in the U.S. say teaching⁷ English comes first. U.S. English wants to make English the official language of the United States.

“We have no problem with folks speaking multiple⁸ languages … if people want to speak a different language at home,” says Todd DuBois with U.S. English. “What we do think is schools should prioritize English.”

He says studies show that children who learn English early will be more successful later. And, he says, focusing on English in the classroom will help the students learn the language faster.

Words in This Story

dual-language – n. being taught in two different languages

courses – n. school class or program

heritage – n. the traditions, achievements, beliefs, etc., that are part of the history of a nation or a group of people

folks – n. people

multiple – adj. many

prioritize – v. to make something the most important in a group

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 dual   

adj.双的；二重的，二元的

参考例句：

• The people's Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for any Chinese national.中华人民共和国不承认中国公民具有双重国籍。
• He has dual role as composer and conductor.他兼作曲家及指挥的双重身分。

3 deputy   

n.代理人，代表，副职；adj.代理的，副的

参考例句：

• John will act as a deputy for me during my absence.我离开期间，约翰将代理我的职务。
• She is the deputy headmistress of the school.她是那所学校的代理校长。

4 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

5 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。

6 heritage   

n.传统，遗产，继承物

参考例句：

• The ancient buildings are part of the national heritage.这些古建筑是民族遗产的一部分。
• We Chinese have a great cultural heritage.我们中国人有伟大的文化遗产。

7 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

8 multiple   

adj.多个(或多项、多种)的；n.（数）倍数

参考例句：

• The number 8 is a multiple of 4.八是四的倍数。
• The most common multiple births are twins,two babies born at the same time.最常见的多胎是双胞胎，两个婴儿同时出生。