加拿大"中文热"蕴含商机

Fluency in Chinese may mean more opportunities in Canada as more parents, students and educators recognize China's emergence, and their interest in studying the Chinese language increased.
在加拿大，越来越多的学生、家长和教师注意到了中国的崛起，他们学中文的兴趣也与日俱增，一口流利的中文也预示着更多的机遇。

The mushrooming of interest is not only among Chinese Canadians, but people with different ethnic backgrounds, said language experts.
语言专家表示，中文热的升温不仅表现在华裔加拿大人身上，许多不同种族的人对于学中文更是热情高涨。

In Hamilton, almost 200 students with different ethnic and professional backgrounds were the first students of the Confucius Institute at McMaster University starting June, 2009.
汉密尔顿麦克马斯特大学于2009年6月创办了孔子学院，首批入学的学生人数达200名之多。这些学生来自不同种族，专业背景也各不相同。

Margherita Cina, who brought the first gold medal for Team Canada in last year's World Wushu Championship, is one of them. After almost one-year study, she and her classmates have learned several hundred Chinese characters through learning Pinyin -- the Chinese phonetic alphabet.
在去年的世界武术锦标赛上，为加拿大队赢得首枚金牌的玛格丽塔．西纳也是该学院的一员。经过差不多一年的学习，她和其他同学通过拼音（汉语中的音标字 母），已掌握了几百个汉字。

"I have been exposed to Chinese culture for a long time. I like Chinese culture and this is the main reason I am learning Chinese, " Cina told Xinhua in her halting yet understandable Mandarin.
西纳在接受新华社采访时，用不太流利但可以让人听懂的普通话说到：“我接触中国文化的日子已由来已久。我喜爱中国文化，正因为这样我才要学习中文。”

"The number of registered students is much more than we expected,"Dr. Min Cheng, the Director of the Institute told Xinhua. The institute is dedicated to promoting Chinese culture and language.
孔子学院院长成敏博士表示：“注册学生人数远远超过我们的预期。”该学院致力于推广中国文化及语言。

Interest in retaining the Chinese language is growing among Chinese-Canadians. In some messages posted online, parents share their personal experiences and lessons, and even upload Chinese language materials such as old Chinese poetries or children's rhymes and songs for others to download.
越来越多的加拿大华裔渴望进修中文。在网上的一些帖子中，家长们分享自己的个人经历以及课程，甚至还会上传中国古诗、童谣儿歌等中文学习资料，以便他人下载。

"More and more Chinese parents come to me asking how to help their kids keep their home language while at the same time (not falling behind) in their English studies," said Terry Kelly, who is an early literacy specialist.
幼儿早期读写专家特丽．凯莉表示：“越来越多的中国家长向我咨询，怎样帮助孩子在接受英文教育同时，保持中文水平不退步。”

Kelly has led workshops on how to retain home languages over the last eight years. She says she has known some parents who feared that introducing a second language to their children would hurt the children's ability to speak fluent English. But now things are changing, Kelly says, adding parents have realized importance of children retaining their mother tongue.
在过去的八年里，凯莉开设了保持母语水平的工作坊。她表示家长们一度担心学习第二语言会削弱孩子讲流利英文的能力。而现在情况完全不同了，家长们已经意识 到母语对孩子的重要性。

Her words are echoed by Paul Yeung, a communications specialist at Royal Bank of Canada. As a Chinese descendant himself, although he can't speak Mandarin, he sent his two-year old daughter to learn Chinese.
加拿大皇家银行沟通交流专家杨保罗十分赞同凯莉的这番话。作为一名华裔，尽管不会说中文，但他将自己两岁大的女儿送去学中文。

"China's economy is booming now and the economic growth is faster than any country in the world. To master the Chinese language, it means opening more job opportunities. I want my daughter to be able to read and write Chinese."
“当今的中国经济腾飞，经济增长速度也领先于其它国家。掌握中文就意味着拥有更多的求职机会。我希望自己的女儿能掌握中文读写。”

Nonetheless, not only Chinese descendants but also Canadians from other ethnic backgrounds realized the enormous benefits that will flow from learning Chinese, as China's importance in the world grows due to its rising political and economic power.
不过，随着政治及经济实力的不断提升，中国在世界上占有举足轻重的地位。除了华裔人群外，来自不同种族的加拿大人也意识到，学习中文将收益良多。