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STARTALK Language Program Teaches Intensive1 Russian 美国学生通过STARTALK学习俄语
STARTALK is a language immersion2 program for students and teachers.
Learning3 a language by immersion means a student is placed in an environment where only the target language is spoken.
The STARTALK program is designed to help more Americans learn languages like Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Persian, and Russian. Those languages are considered “critical need foreign languages” by the U.S. government.
President George W. Bush launched4 the program as part of a program known as the National Security5 Language Initiative6 in 2006.
This summer, VOA visited a Russian language class within STARTALK. Students and teachers attended classes at a school in Virginia. The teachers attended classes for two weeks, and the students for four.
In the classes, the American teachers and students only speak Russian. They also choose Russian names.
One student, 19-year-old Joseph Doran, chose the name Joseph Timofeyevich. He has spent some time living in Russia. When he was there, he says he ate borscht, the well-known Russian soup made from beets7, seven times a week.
"I love Russian culture, language. I love reading Russian classical literature," Doran said. "It is a very interesting language. Russian people are very nice. I love the opportunities that open to me because I know Russian.”
Charles Byrd is a professor of Russian at the University of Georgia. He was taking classes for two weeks in Virginia. He said he grew up thinking Russia must have been an interesting place. He had heard it called an “Evil Empire” when he was young.
Byrd’s parents were American diplomats8. They always wanted to visit Russia, but they were not allowed to go.
The teachers who attend STARTALK each summer meet other teachers and improve their language skills. For the students, they can get better in a short period of time. If the students keep improving, they can point to the time they spent learning Russian one summer as an important first step towards future careers.
Betsy Sandstrom is a program director at STARTALK. She said there are a lot of good reasons for students to want to learn Russian.
"One person wants to become a Russian language teacher, another wants to be a politician," she said. "Knowledge of any foreign language is needed. And Russia is the largest country in the world."
Words in This Story
initiative – n. a plan or program that is intended to solve a problem
immersion – n. a method of learning a foreign language by being taught entirely9 in that language
classical – adj. of a kind that has been respected for a long time
empire – n. a group of countries or regions that are controlled by one ruler or one government
1 intensive | |
adj.加强的,密集的;精工细作的,集约的 | |
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2 immersion | |
n.沉浸;专心 | |
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3 learning | |
n.学问,学识,学习;动词learn的现在分词 | |
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4 launched | |
v.发射( launch的过去式和过去分词 );[计算机]开始(应用程序);发动;开展(活动、计划等) | |
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5 security | |
n.安全,安全感;防护措施;保证(金),抵押(品);债券,证券 | |
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6 initiative | |
n.主动性,首创精神,主动权(的行动),倡议 | |
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7 beets | |
甜菜( beet的名词复数 ); 甜菜根; (因愤怒、难堪或觉得热而)脸红 | |
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8 diplomats | |
n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 );有手腕的人,善于交际的人 | |
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9 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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