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Much!!!! My Chinese
In recent years, as China's influence has spread around the world, there has been a "Chinese fever" around the world.
近年来，随着中国的影响力遍及全球，世界各地都掀起了一股“汉语热”。
For British students, learning Chinese is not only a hobby, but also an important skill to enhance their future competitiveness.
Chinese has overtaken German as the third most popular foreign language at a-level for the first time, The Daily Telegraph reported.
对于英国学生来说，学习中文不仅是兴趣，更成为了提升未来竞争力的一项重要技能。
据英国《每日电讯报》网站报道，在素有“英国高考”之称的A-level考试中，今年选考汉语的考生人数首次超过德语，汉语成为英国第三大热门外语。
A-level release day 2018: Chinese surpasses German for the first time
2018年A-level考试放榜日：汉语首次超过德语
This year, 3,334 students took the a-level in Chinese and 3,058 in German. The number of applicants for the Chinese language exam increased 8.6 percent from last year, while German dropped 16.5 percent.
报道称，今年有3334名学生报考了汉语A-level考试，德语有3058人。选考汉语的报名人数比去年增长了8.6%，而德语则减少了16.5%。
Derek Richardson, a senior Pearson official, said Chinese had "reversed the trend" of declining popularity of modern languages.
"Major modern languages like French, German and Spanish have seen a sharp decline in applicants," he said.
"But we are also seeing an increase in some other languages."
"That means Chinese... It is now more popular than German. Maybe young people are starting to think about which languages will be more useful to them in the future."
培生集团高级官员德里克·理查森说，汉语“逆转”了现代语言受欢迎度下降的“趋势”。
他说：“入学考试中像法语、德语和西班牙语这样的主要现代语言，报考的人数大幅减少。”
Chinese is now more popular than German at a-level. Number of a-level foreign language candidates (source: daily telegraph)
A-level考试中，汉语现在比德语更受欢迎。报考A-level外语考试的学生人数（图源：《每日电讯报》）
French remained the most popular foreign language subject, followed by Spanish, the report said. But compared with last year, the number of applicants for the two languages fell by 8 percent and 4 percent, respectively.
The number of Russian applicants increased 3.4 percent from 1,122 last year to 1,160 this year. Arabic, however, fell 5.4 percent, from 782 to 740.
Suzanne o 'farrell, curriculum and assessment expert at the association of head teachers, said: "we are finding that German is almost unheard of. There has been a very serious decline."
Barnaby lenon, President of the independent schools council (ISC), said pupils used to be taught that "if you learn German it will really help your career" but that was no longer the case.
"In the 1960s, 1970s and even 1980s, Germany was the economic powerhouse of Europe," he told the telegraph.
"Students are strongly encouraged to learn German because of the importance of the German economy. Now, while the German economy is still strong, that view is fading, and China has emerged in the last 25 years as the world's fastest growing economy."
英国私立学校理事会（ISC）主席巴纳比·莱农说，过去学生们被教导说“如果学习德语，真的会对你的事业很有帮助”，但是现在情况不再是这样了。
“在20世纪60、70年代甚至80年代，德国是欧洲经济强国，”他在接受《每日电讯报》采访时说。
Confucius institute students recite Chinese poems at London book fair (photo by ying ni)
英国的孔子学院学生伦敦书展现场朗诵中文诗词（中新社发 应妮摄）
Mr Lenon, a former headteacher at harrow, said the rise was partly driven by private schools, many of which have invested more in Chinese in recent years.
"It is not that A large number of state schools are now teaching Chinese a-levels," he said. They don't." Many applicants are native speakers of Chinese, and private schools have attracted a "large number" of Chinese students in recent years, he said.
Some of China's aspiring middle class families are sending their children to study in the UK, leading to a steady increase in the number of students from China. The number of Chinese students in independent schools has almost doubled in five years, according to the independent schools council.
曾担任哈罗公学校长的莱农说，报考汉语人数增长一定程度上是私立学校推动的，许多私立学校近年来都对汉语学习加大了投入。
他说：“并不是说有大量公立学校现在开始教授汉语A-level课程。它们没有。” 他说，许多报名者的母语为汉语，私立学校近年来吸引了“大量”中国学生。
Mark Herbert, director of schools and skills at the British council, welcomed the increase.
英国文化协会学校和技能总监马克·赫伯特对报考汉语人数增加表示欢迎。
"The increasing popularity of Chinese in the context of the overall decline proves that our young people can learn the language with enthusiasm," he said.
"Our research shows that Chinese will be one of the most important languages for Britain's future prosperity and global standing, but we must not ignore Spanish, French and German, which will remain important after brexit."
“在整体呈下降趋势的背景下，汉语却越来越受欢迎，这证明我们的年轻人是可以充满热情地学习语言的，”他说。
“我们的研究显示，汉语将是对英国未来繁荣和巩固全球地位最重要的语言之一，但我们绝不能忽视西班牙语、法语和德语，它们在英国‘脱欧’之后仍将非常重要。”
Secretary of state for education Nick gibb said: "learning a foreign language is more important than ever for young people.
"An open and international country needs a new generation of young people who are familiar with the language and culture of their overseas trading partners."
The American Chinese craze is driving the demand for Chinese teachers
Brian white and David long, dressed in suits, stood near the 11th national Chinese language conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, on May 19, greeting everyone who passed by. Every time someone stopped to look at the promotional material, they would immediately hand over their business CARDS and a piece of eyewear emprinted with the logo of educational partners international LLC, a small but useful gift.
英国教育部国务大臣尼克·吉布说：“现在对年轻人来说，学习外语比以往时候都更加重要。”
“一个开放的国际化国家需要新一代的年轻人熟悉海外贸易伙伴的语言和文化。”
They hope to make a good impression on the more than 1,300 Chinese language teachers and education experts from all over the United States who will help recruit Chinese language teachers for primary and secondary schools in the United States.
"As more and more schools offer Chinese language courses, there is a growing demand for Chinese language teachers in the United States," white said.
This is the first year the company has helped U.S. schools recruit outstanding teachers from around the world, white said. "When school districts in the United States need something, we start doing it, and that's one of our priorities right now. "We are also working on ways to recruit Chinese language teachers directly from China to help them get visas."
他们希望能给参会的1300多名来自美国各地的汉语教师、教育专家等留下良好印象，他们的工作就是帮助美国中小学招聘汉语教师。
怀特说：“随着越来越多的学校开设中文课程，美国对汉语教师的需求量也在不断增大。”
The number of students learning Chinese is growing rapidly, but qualified Chinese teachers are in short supply. In a lobby behind white, a number of U.S. companies and schools are also hiring Chinese language teachers and presenting themselves.
学习汉语的学生人数增长迅速，而合格汉语教师却供不应求。怀特背后的一个大厅内有多家美国公司和学校也在现场招聘汉语教师及自我展示。
The Texas school of international leadership was led by founder and superintendent Eddie conger. With more than 16,000 students in all grades from kindergarten through high school, the school teaches English, Spanish and Chinese, making it one of the largest chinese-language programs in the United States.
Linda liu, vice President of the college board in the Chinese congress, said she had brought to retrieve the how many jobs require English proficient in Chinese, and the results of the survey is shocking, 395000, the work is not just limited to the teaching profession, also including marketing, medical, financial, and many other fields.
得克萨斯州国际领袖学校由创始人、学监艾迪·康格亲自带队。目前该校学生超过1.6万名，包括从幼儿园到高中的各个年级，所有学生都参加英语、西班牙语和汉语三语教学，是全美规模最大的汉语学习项目之一。
美国大学理事会副主席琳达·刘女士在全美中文大会上发言时说，她曾在领英上检索美国有多少个工作岗位要求熟练使用汉语，调查结果是令人震惊的39.5万个，这些工作不仅仅局限于教师行业，还包括市场营销、医疗、财务等诸多领域。
More than 100 million overseas Chinese learners
海外汉语学习者超过1亿人
Britain's four-year-old prince George started school in September 2017. In addition to English, maths and ballet, the prince is also expected to study Chinese.
In October 2017, US President Donald trump visited China with a clip of his granddaughter arabella reciting Chinese poems and singing Chinese songs. It's not the first time the 4-year-old "ambassador of china-u.s. friendship" has shown off her Chinese. Arabella's fluent Chinese expression is, to some extent, a microcosm of the global "Chinese craze" in recent years.
2017年9月，4岁的英国乔治小王子开始步入学堂。据悉，除了英语、数学、芭蕾等课程外，小王子还要学习一门课程，那就是汉语。
2017年10月，访华的美国总统特朗普带来了一段自己的外孙女阿拉贝拉背诵中文诗、唱中文歌的视频。说起来，这位刚刚4岁的“中美友谊小使者”已经不是第一次“秀”中文了。而阿拉贝拉流利的汉语表达，某种程度上也是近年来全球“中文热”的一个缩影。
According to a survey released last June, more than 227,000 American primary and secondary school students are learning mandarin. The number of students learning Chinese is growing rapidly, but qualified Chinese teachers are in short supply.
A similar "Chinese craze" has also emerged in Russia. In 2017, Russia's yaroslavl state normal university released a survey report titled "Chinese character culture: trends in the spread of Chinese language in Russia." According to the report, the number of Russian citizens learning Chinese has more than tripled in the past 10 years. In 1997, there were about 5,000 students; in 2007, there were 17,000. By 2017, there were 56,000 students learning Chinese. It is reported that the Russian government plans to incorporate Chinese teaching into the national education system in 2018.
去年６月公布的全美中小学外语学习人数调查报告，学习汉语普通话的美国中小学生超过22.7万人。学习汉语的学生人数增长迅速，而合格汉语教师却供不应求。
类似的“中文热”也出现在俄罗斯。2017年，俄罗斯雅罗斯拉夫尔国立师范大学发布了一份调查报告，名为《汉字文化：汉语在俄罗斯的传播趋势》。报告显示，近10年来学习汉语的俄罗斯公民增加了两倍多。1997年人数约为5000人，2007年已达1.7万，而到2017年，学习汉语的人数已达到5.6万。有消息称，俄罗斯政府计划在2018年把中文教学纳入国民教育体系。
The Chinese language has played a prominent role in international economic, trade and cultural exchanges, and its cultural and practical value has been on the rise. Countries around the world are generally optimistic about China's development prospects. It is against such a background that the international community has an increasing demand for learning Chinese, which has created an unprecedented "China craze" and "Chinese craze".
汉语在国际经济贸易、文化交流过程中作用凸显，文化价值和实用价值不断提升，世界各国普遍看好中国发展前景。正是在这样的背景下，国际社会对学习汉语的需求越来越大，形成了前所未有的“中国热”“中文热”。
Around China, the "Chinese craze" is even more pronounced. According to li chongyang, President of the Confucius institute in Seoul, South Korea is the country with the largest scale of Chinese teaching and the most developed market in the world. According to incomplete statistics, out of a population of 50 million, more than 10.6 million people in South Korea are learning Chinese and Chinese characters, ranking first in the world. Every year, 170,000 students take various Chinese language tests such as HSK and YCT.
在中国周边，“中文热”的现象更加明显。据韩国首尔孔子学院理事长李充阳介绍，韩国是目前全世界汉语教学规模最大、市场最发达的国家。据不完全统计，韩国5000万人口中，有1060多万人在学习汉语及汉字，数量居全球首位；每年参加汉语水平考试（HSK）、中小学生汉语考试（YCT）等各类汉语考试的考生达17万人次。
In the past, Chinese teaching in various countries was mainly concentrated in universities, colleges and other institutions of higher education. In recent years, Chinese language teaching in all countries is developing towards the younger age and basic education stage. Support from all sectors of society and participation of families are getting higher and higher. Chinese language teaching is changing from the interest of a few people to the involvement of schools and families.
过去，各国汉语教学主要集中在大学、学院等高等教育机构。近年来，各国汉语教学普遍向低龄化、基础教育阶段发展，社会各界支持度、家庭参与度越来越高，汉语教学正在由过去少数人的兴趣变成学校、家庭广泛参与的事情，年轻一代学习汉语的人越来越多。
There are now eight times as many primary and secondary schools offering Chinese language courses as higher education institutions around the world. In the United States, Britain, France, Thailand, South Korea and many other countries, Chinese teaching is rapidly extending from universities to primary and secondary schools, and from kindergarten to high school has become the most important "growth pole" of Chinese teaching.
Statistics show that in addition to China (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), more than 100 million people around the world are learning and using Chinese, including over 60 million overseas Chinese and over 40 million people in mainstream societies.
目前全球开设汉语课程的中小学校是高等教育机构的8倍。在美、英、法、泰、韩等众多国家，汉语教学从大学迅速向中小学延伸，从幼儿园到高中阶段成为汉语教学最重要的“增长极”。
有统计显示，除中国（含港澳台）之外，全球学习使用汉语的人数已超过1亿，其中包括6000多万海外华人华侨，以及4000多万各国主流社会的学习和使用者。
What is the charm of "Chinese fever" in the world?
世界掀起“汉语热”中文究竟有何魅力？
"Chinese fever" is quietly rising all over the world. Chinese is the language British parents most want their children to learn and "most useful" for the future, according to a survey by the British council. Britain's two prime ministers, David Cameron and Theresa may, have made the decision. Mei du has personally advocated learning Chinese. The BBC has also launched free online Chinese language courses.
世界范围内悄然掀起了“汉语热”。英国文化教育协会日前进行了一项问卷调查，结果显示，中文成为英国家长最想让孩子学习的、“未来最有用”的语言。英国两任首相卡梅伦和特蕾莎?梅都曾亲自提倡中文学习。英国广播公司还推出了免费线上中文课程。
In many people's mind, Chinese is one of the most representative Chinese symbols. The "Chinese fever" of recent years shows people's interest in China. As China's economy grows and more countries see opportunities in this dynamic eastern power and its future influence on the world stage, the will to understand China is stronger than ever.
在很多人心目中，汉语是最具代表性的中国符号之一。近年来的“汉语热”显示出各国民众对中国的兴趣。随着中国经济的发展，越来越多的国家从这个生机勃勃的东方大国中看到了机遇，及其未来在世界舞台上的影响力，因此了解中国的意愿比以往任何时候都更加强烈。
Compared with other languages in the world, Chinese is a complex, extensive and profound language system. Learning Chinese is a big challenge for foreigners.
与世界上的其他语言相比，汉语是一个复杂的、博大精深的语言体系。对于外国人来说，学汉语是一个不小的挑战。
For example, a simple "harmony" word has five different pronunciations and meanings. It can be used as a conjunction, calm, harmonious and so on. But that's the beauty of Chinese.
比如，一个简单的“和”字，就有五种不同的读音和含义，既可以用作一个连词，也可以表示平静、协调等等。但这正是中文的魅力所在。
As one of the oldest languages in the world, Chinese is more than just a tool. The word "harmony" also conveys the thousands of years of Chinese Confucianism that "harmony is the most precious" and "harmony without uniformity". Behind the Chinese language lies a profound civilization.
作为世界上最古老的语言之一，汉语不光是一种工具，一个“和”字还传达出中华几千年“和为贵”、“和而不同”的儒学理念。汉语的背后蕴含着深厚的文明底蕴。
