Could Chinese replace English as the worldinternational language.docVIP

Could Chinese replace English as the worlds international language? Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg recently surprised Chinese students when he spoke to them in Chinese.(1) 最近，脸书创始人马克·扎克伯格向中国学生讲起了汉语，这令他们很吃惊。 In a talk at Tsinghua University in Beijing, Zuckerberg spoke Chinese for about 30 minutes.(2) 最近在北京清华大学的讲话中，扎克伯格讲了近30分钟的汉语。 Although his Mandarin was far from perfect, students and faculty cheered his effort.(3) 尽管他的汉语远非完美，但学生们和教员们都为他的努力鼓掌。 Clayton Dube is the head of the U.S.-China Institute at the University of Southern California.(4) 克莱顿·杜贝是南加州大学美中学院负责人， He praises Zuckerbergs effort and thinks more American CEOs should learn foreign languages.(5) 他赞扬了扎克伯克的努力，认为更多的美国CEO们都应该学习外语。 To speak Chinese means you begin to think as Chinese people do.(6) “讲汉语意味着你开始像中国人那样去思考， You begin to understand how Chinese speakers have the world organized, how they perceive things.(7) 开始理解讲汉语者如何组织世界，如何感知世界， And that is a vital step if youre going to be culturally competent.(8) 如果你想具有文化上的竞争力，这就是关键的一步。” Zuckerbergs talk raises a larger question:?is Chinese the language of the future?(9) 扎克伯克的演讲引出了一个更大的问题：汉语将是未来的语言吗？ Could it replace English as the worlds international language? Mandarin Chinese already has the most native speakers of any language.(10) 汉语将取代英语成为全世界的国际语言吗？以普通话为母语的人数已经超过了世界上任何一种语言， And, China may soon pass the United States as the worlds largest economy.(11) 而且中国可能很快超过美国成为全世界最大经济体。 The study of the Chinese language is increasing in the United States and around the world.(12) 学汉语在美国和世界各地都在升温， In 2009, about 60,000 American college students were studying Chinese. That is three times as many as in 1990(13) 2009年，约有6万名美国大学生在学习汉语，是1990年的三倍。 A small but growing number of American parents are even sending their children to bilingual Chinese immersion schools.(14) 有数量不多但却在不断增长的美国父母们甚至将孩子送到双语中文侵入式学校， Leianne Clements has no cultural connection to China, but her children are learning Chinese at the Yu Ying Public Charter School in Washington D.