英國首相卡梅倫：英國學生該多學中文

英國首相卡梅倫：英國學生該多學中文

David Cameron, who has notoriously poor schoolboy French, is urging today's youngsters to abandon the language of Molière and Voltaire to concentrate on the tongue of the future – Mandarin.
卡梅倫的法語水平相當一般已經是眾所周知了，但他卻呼吁英國年輕人放棄法語學習，集中精力學習“未來的語言” 漢語。

In a parting shot, as he left China after a three-day visit, the prime minister said that pupils should look beyond the traditional French and German lessons and instead focus on China.
在結束了為期三天的訪華行程后，卡梅倫表示，英國的年輕人應該打破只關注法、德語學習的傳統(tǒng)局限，今后應集中精力學習中文。

To reinforce his message the prime minister quoted Nelson Mandela, who said learning someone else's language is the best way to their heart. Cameron said: 'I want Britain linked up to the world's fast-growing economies. And that includes our young people learning the languages to seal tomorrow's business deals.
為了增強說服力，卡梅倫還引用了南非前總統(tǒng)曼德拉的名言：“要了解一個國度的精神，最好的方法就是學習他們的語言”?？穫惐硎荆骸拔蚁Ｍ芫o跟世界經濟發(fā)展的腳步，其中之一就是讓我們的年輕一代為了未來經濟貿易發(fā)展學習語言?！?/P>

'By the time the children born today leave school, China is set to be the world's largest economy. So it's time to look beyond the traditional focus on French and German and get many more children learning Mandarin.
“等到這一代學生畢業(yè)的時候，中國很可能已經是世界最大的經濟體了。所以現(xiàn)在是時候將注意力從傳統(tǒng)的德、法語學習轉向漢語學習了?！?/P>

Cameron, who visited a school for six- and seven-year-olds learning English in Chengdu, said that a partnership between the British Council and Hanban – the Chinese National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language – will double the number of Chinese language assistants in the UK by 2016 and provide increased funding to lower the cost to schools of offering Mandarin as a language option.
中國一行中，卡梅倫訪問了成都的龍江路小學。他表示，英國文化委員會和中國漢辦（中國國家漢語國際推廣領導小組辦公室）將會繼續(xù)合作伙伴關系，計劃到2016年將英國的漢語助教人數(shù)提高一倍，并為開設漢語教學的英國學校提供資金支持以降低其辦學成本。
The announcement was welcomed by the British Council and the British Academy, both of which have been pushing for policies to reverse the decline in students taking modern languages at school and university level.
英國文化委員會和英國社會科學院非常贊同卡梅倫的上述聲明，這兩個組織也都在努力扭轉英國大學和中學學生對現(xiàn)代語言學習逐漸喪失興趣的局面。

Martin Davidson, the British Council's chief executive who has been visiting China with Cameron, said: 'The promotion of Chinese language in the UK and the English language in China are both vital to economic and cultural relations between the two countries. This initiative will increase collaboration and is particularly significant given that recent British Council research shows that Mandarin is one of 10 languages not widely spoken in the UK and yet crucial to our future growth and prosperity.'
同卡梅倫一起訪華的英國文化委員會執(zhí)行總裁馬丁?戴維森表示：“同時推進中國的英語教學和英國的漢語教學，對于加強兩國的經濟文化聯(lián)系是至關重要的?？穫愂紫啻舜蔚某h不僅會加強兩國合作，對于英國本身也有重要意義。英國文化委員會的調查顯示，在英國，漢語是普及率最低的10種語言之一，但漢語對于英國未來的繁榮發(fā)展無疑是十分重要的。”

The estimated 500,000 ethnic Chinese living in Britain make it the largest overseas Chinese population of any European country.
目前，約有50萬華裔人士居住在英國，這一數(shù)字要高于歐洲其他國家。

Professor Dame Helen Wallace, the British Academy's foreign secretary, said her organisation had been arguing for an improvement in foreign language skills, and had identified Mandarin as one of the extended range of languages to be promoted in schools.
英國社會科學院外事發(fā)言人海倫?華萊士教授說：“一直以來，我們都十分贊成提高公民的外語水平，我們已把漢語列為各大學校應設立學科進行教學的語種之一?！?/P>

But a lack of qualified teachers could be a barrier to improving its popularity, Wallace said.
華萊士還補充說：“不過現(xiàn)在缺乏專業(yè)的漢語教師，這將會給普及漢語學習帶來一定困難。”

And she warned: 'No such strategy works unless you stick at it. There's no use doing this for two or three years and then forgetting about it – you have to make a long-term investment in this kind of change capacity.'Laura Chan, one of the co-founders of the Marco Polo Academy, a bilingual Mandarin-English primary school opening in Barnet next September as part of the free schools programme, said the prime minister's announcement was good news for the status of Mandarin.
華萊士還提醒道：“任何計劃只有堅持才能奏效。推廣漢語學習也一樣，只做個兩三年然后置之不理是沒有用的。改變目前的語言學習狀況需要長期的努力?！?明年9月將有一所名為“馬可波羅學院” 的中英雙語小學在巴尼特成立，這所學校也是英國“免費學?！庇媱澋捻椖恐弧Ｗ鳛樵撔?chuàng)始人之一的勞拉?陳認為，卡梅倫首相此次的呼吁對于提高漢語在英國的地位來說是一個好消息。

From September 2014, studying foreign languages will be compulsory in primary schools under the new national curriculum.
根據最新修訂的英國國家課程大綱，從2014年9月起，外語學習將成為英國小學的必修科目。