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Confucius Institute
VOLUME 14 | NO.3 MAY, 2011
55
GLOBALMAXIMS
环球箴言
A
s more parents seek to give their children an
edge in an era when China is a rising eco-
nomic power, school districts have expanded
Chinese language programs and students from a wide
range of backgrounds joined them.
There are at least 50 Chinese-language immersion
programs at U.S. schools for children in grades 12 and
below, compared to about a dozen six years ago, said
Tara Fortune, immersion project coordinator at the
Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisi-
tion at the University of Minnesota.
Broadway Elementary is one of two Los Angeles
Unified School District campuses with Mandarin
immersion programs. At Broadway Elementary, the
Mandarin program launched this year serves 44
kindergarten students including several who speak
Spanish.
The number of K-12 public school students in the
United States learning Chinese rose to nearly 60,000
in 2008, from about 20,000 in 2005, according to a
report from the American Council on the Teaching of
Foreign Languages.
For Julian, a Broadway Elementary student, the
economic opportunities he may one day enjoy are not
foremost in his mind. When asked what his favorite
part of class is, Julian had a simple answer. "Learning
more Chinese".
(Reuters, April 21, 2011)
美国家长开始热衷
让孩子从小学中文
每个通向成功的大门都有两个把手，一
个是渴望，一个是信念。
Every door to success has two
handles: one is desire, the other is
belief.
生活是主动语态，而不是被动语态。多
想想能做的事，而不是等待事情发生。
Life is in the active voice rather
than the passive. Think what
you can do, don’t wait to see
what can happen.
55
随着中国经济实力的提升
，
越来越多的家长希望能
让孩子赢在这个时代的起跑线上
，
各学区纷纷扩大汉语
教学项目
，
参与的学生来自多种不同的背景
。
明尼苏达大学语言系高级研究中心的浸入式语言教
学项目协调员福琼称
，
如今美国学校针对
12
年级及以
下学生推出了至少
50
个中文浸入式教学项目
，
而六年
前不过十几个
。
百老汇小学是洛杉矶两家推出浸入式中文教学的联
合学区之一
。
今年百老汇小学推出的汉语项目
，
共有
44
个幼儿园小朋友参与
，
其中还包括一些说西班牙语的孩子
。
美国外语教学委员会的报告显示
，
美国基础教育公
立学校学习汉语的学生从
2005
年的
2
万人增长为
2008
年的
6
万人
。
对百老汇小学学生朱利安来说
，
今后可能会赢得的
经济机会并不是他头脑中最重要的事情
。
当被问及最喜
欢哪部分课程时
，
朱利安给出了一个简单的回答
：“
学习
更多汉语
。”
( 据路透社 2011 年 4 月 21 日报道 )
一年一度的
“
汉语桥
”
美国东部地区大学生中文比赛预赛
在纽约大学揭开序幕
，
有一些外国学生演唱台湾歌手周杰伦的
歌曲
“
稻香
”。
目前中文在美国已经跃居第二外语
，
随着中文热在美国不
断升温
，
今年
“
汉语桥
”
选手参赛范围也从去年的
“
大纽约地区
”
扩大为
“
美东地区
”。
参加比赛的外国学生除演唱周杰伦歌曲外
，
还演出话剧
“
茶
馆
”
的片断
，
许多参赛者一嘴标准的北京腔
，
连在场的老华侨
都自叹不如
。
（据马来西亚《中国报》2011 年 4 月 3 日报道）
Chinese“Heats Up”
inAmericanUniversities:
Americans Sing Jay Chou
美国大学中文热
老外演唱周杰伦
T
he preliminary competition for the annual “Chinese
Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign
College Students in eastern America took place at New
York University; some American students sang Taiwanese
singer Jay Chou’s song Dao Xiang.
Currently, Chinese language has become the second most
studied foreign language in America. Along with the heating
up of Chinese language study, the competing areas of this year’s
“Chinese Bridge” have been expanded from last year’s “Greater
New York” to “eastern America” for this year’s competition.
Besides Jay Chou’s songs, some contestants also performed
excerpts from the Chinese drama The Teahouse. Many players
spoke with such a standard Beijing accent that some old over-
seas Chinese there even sighed they are not as good.
(China Press, April 3, 2011)
MoreU.S. ChildrenAdding
Chinese toTheir ABCs