许多人一下子就能指出,语言技能在竞争日趋激烈的职场中的价值所在。确实如此,但我不太情愿把学习汉语所带来的收入上的好处,与我自己的目标和打算绑在一起。这项投资的意义,最好是在更大的关系——联系我们两个国家的政治、文化,当然还有经济——背景下来理解。
Many people are quick to point out the value of language skills in an increasingly competitive workforce. While certainly true, I am reluctant to perceive of the primary benefit of learning Mandarin as a financial one tied to my own ends and means. The significance of the investment is best appreciated within the context of the larger ties –political, cultural and yes, economic– that bind our two countries.
今天,约3.5亿中国学生在学英语,相比之下只有20万美国学生在学汉语。2009年,奥巴马总统试图通过推出“十万强”计划,在五年内送10万美国学生到中国学习,从而解决这个巨大差距。2017年,奥巴马总统和习近平主席共同宣布“百万强”计划,建议到2020年使美国学习汉语的学生人数增加到100万(约占美国学生总数的2%)。双方对语言交流的承诺力度很大,但却经常缺少具体的办法进行有关的理性对话。
Today, about 350 million Chinese students are studying English, compared to 200,000 American students studying Chinese. In 2009, President Obama sought to address this massive discrepancy by launching the “100,000 Strong Initiative” to send 100,000 American students to study abroad in China within five years. Then, in 2017, President Obama and President Xi jointly announced “1 Million Strong”, a proposal to increase the number of Americans studying Chinese to 1 million students (about 2 percent of the total number of U.S. students) by the year 2020. This bilateral commitment to language exchange is powerful, but the surrounding dialogue on rationale often lacks a nuanced approach.
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