VOA慢速英語(yǔ):A Program Aims to Increase the Number of Americans Studying in China

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report in Special English.

這里是美國(guó)之音慢速英語(yǔ)教育報(bào)道。

Last year 200,000 Chinese students were in the United States. That was a 23 percent increase over the year before. The Institute of International Education in New York reported last month that 26,000 US students were in China in 2011. They included 15,000 studying for academic credit and 11,000 taking part in other kinds of educational activities.

去年有20萬(wàn)中國(guó)學(xué)生在美國(guó)學(xué)習(xí)，比前一年增加了23%。紐約國(guó)際教育協(xié)會(huì)上月報(bào)道稱，2011年有2.6萬(wàn)名美國(guó)學(xué)生在中國(guó)學(xué)習(xí)，其中包括1.5萬(wàn)名修學(xué)分的學(xué)生，和1.1萬(wàn)名參加其它各類教育活動(dòng)的學(xué)生。

A program called the "100,000 Strong Initiative" aims to increase the number of Americans studying in China. The State Department launched it in 2010. The goal is to send 100,000 students from the United States to China over a four-year period.

一個(gè)名為“十萬(wàn)人留學(xué)中國(guó)計(jì)劃”(又譯為十萬(wàn)強(qiáng)倡議)的項(xiàng)目旨在提高到中國(guó)留學(xué)的美國(guó)人數(shù)量。美國(guó)國(guó)務(wù)院于2010年推出該項(xiàng)目，目標(biāo)是在四年內(nèi)向中國(guó)派遣10萬(wàn)名美國(guó)學(xué)生。

Christie Civetta is studying in Beijing as part of the initiative. She is taking Mandarin classes at Beijing's Language and Culture University.

克里斯蒂·西維塔(Christie Civetta)作為該計(jì)劃的一部分在北京學(xué)習(xí)。她在北京語(yǔ)言文化大學(xué)就讀中文課程。

"I think it really opens your eyes to what actually is here, like what truly is going on in China, what truly is happening. I think that's incredibly important to know if you want to be educated to chat about it at all."

西維塔表示，“我認(rèn)為它能讓你看到這里真實(shí)的一面，像中國(guó)正在發(fā)生什么。我認(rèn)為知道這些非常重要，如果你想要接受教育討論這些的話。”

Last year a non-profit organization called the "100,000 Strong Foundation" was launched. One of the groups that the foundation supports is Project Pengyou. It connects students who have lived or studied in China.

去年，一家名為“十萬(wàn)人留學(xué)中國(guó)基金會(huì)”的非營(yíng)利性組織被發(fā)起。“朋友項(xiàng)目”是該基金會(huì)支持的組織之一。該項(xiàng)目為在中國(guó)生活或?qū)W習(xí)過(guò)的學(xué)生搭起了溝通橋梁。

Project Pengyou is based in Beijing and led by Holly Chang. She says personal ties formed during study abroad can have an effect on relations between the United States and China.

“朋友項(xiàng)目”總部設(shè)在北京，由張虹琳(Holly Chang)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)。她說(shuō)，在留學(xué)過(guò)程中結(jié)成的私人關(guān)系能夠?qū)χ袊?guó)關(guān)系產(chǎn)生影響。

"We live in this bipolar world where there is increasingly, there's power struggle, but there's still a huge level of misunderstanding I think on a cultural level, and it's not until you actually create those people-to-people relations and strengthen personal bonds between people that they actually strengthen their capacity to work together."

張虹琳說(shuō)，“我們生活在這個(gè)日益兩極化的世界里，這里不乏權(quán)力爭(zhēng)斗，但在文化層面上還有很深的誤解，直到我們真正創(chuàng)建人與人之間的聯(lián)系，加強(qiáng)人們之間的個(gè)人友誼。這能強(qiáng)化合作能力。”

The Chinese government has offered 20,000 scholarships to Americans under what is known as the US-China Consultation on People-to-people Exchange.

根據(jù)中美人文交流磋商，中國(guó)政府已經(jīng)向美國(guó)學(xué)生提供了2萬(wàn)份獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金。

The 100,000 Strong Foundation has no official relationship with the Chinese government. The foundation says it works closely with Chinese government officials to encourage more Americans to seek these Chinese scholarships. The aim is to give more Americans a chance to get a taste of Chinese culture.

“十萬(wàn)人留學(xué)中國(guó)基金會(huì)”和中國(guó)政府沒(méi)有建立正式關(guān)系。該基金會(huì)表示，他們和中國(guó)政府官員密切合作，以鼓勵(lì)更多美國(guó)人申請(qǐng)這些中國(guó)獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金。其目的是給更多美國(guó)人機(jī)會(huì)接觸中國(guó)文化。

As part of her study abroad program, Christie Civetta is also taking cooking classes at a restaurant in Beijing. She not only learns how to make traditional Chinese dishes, she also gets a chance to practice her Chinese language skills with the employees.

作為她留學(xué)計(jì)劃的一部分，西維塔還在北京一家餐廳學(xué)習(xí)烹飪課程。她不但學(xué)會(huì)了如何做中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)菜，還得到了和同事練習(xí)中文的機(jī)會(huì)。

"That though may not be the direction I want to go for my final career life if you will, I am very excited to get that alternative perspective on the whole world of culinary arts through a Chinese lens."

西維塔表示，“盡管這不是我想要的最終職業(yè)生涯的方向， 我還是非常高興從中國(guó)角度對(duì)世界烹飪藝術(shù)獲得了另一種觀感。”