|
It is not often that a diplomatic gesture made on one continent is felt in primary school classrooms on another. But David Cameron’s exhortation from China this week that UK pupils should ditch French and German in favour of Mandarin has re-enlivened the debate on Britain’s difficult relationship with language-learning. 在一个洲做出的外交姿态能够影响另一个洲的中小学教室，这种情况不常发生。但戴维•卡梅伦(David Cameron)近日出访中国期间呼吁英国学生放弃学习法语和德语、改为学习汉语，此言让一场有关英国在语言学习上所面临困境的辩论再次升温。 While some critics suggested the prime minister’s comments were designed merely to please his hosts, they underlined the increasing consensus that the UK’s education policies should align with its trade ambitions. Only last month, the British Council warned of an “alarming shortage” of Britons able to speak languages identified as key to the UK’s future prosperity and global standing. Of the 10 languages prioritised in the report, Mandarin was fourth – just below French, and just above German. 虽然一些批评人士认为，英国首相的言论只是为了讨好东道主中国，但这些言论凸显出，英国的教育政策应与其贸易目标保持一致已日益成为一项共识。就在上个月，英国文化协会(British Council)曾警告称，英国对一些外国语人才的缺乏已到达危险的程度，而这些外国语被视为对英国未来保持繁荣以及全球地位至关重要。报告中列出的10种重点语言中，汉语被排在第4位，仅次于法语，紧随汉语之后的则是德语。 | 
