VOA慢速英语:South Africa Introduces Mandarin into Its School Curriculum

South Africa has 11 official languages. If you want to say hello, it's "sawubona" in Zulu, and "hallo" in Afrikaans. Now, South Africa's school children may start using "ni hao" to say hello.
南非有11种官方语言。如果你想打个招呼，用祖鲁语是"sawubona"，用南非荷兰语是"hallo"。现在，南非的学龄儿童开始用“你好”来打招呼。

The country's education minister says, the nation is adding the Mandarin language teaching in some schools. Mandarin is the official spoken language of China. That country is a major trading power for South Africa.
该国教育部长称，一些学校开始增加普通话教学。普通话是中国的官方口语，该国是南非的主要贸易国。

A recent agreement between the two nations centers on five areas of cooperation. They include development in basic education, school books and lessons, mathematics and science, teacher training and career education and research.
两国之间最近的一份协议聚焦于五个合作领域，其中包括基础教育发展、学校课本和教程、数学和科学、师资培训以及职业教育和研究。

South Africa officials have not said how much they teaching Mandarin will cost. Troy Martens is an officials with South Africa's Ministry of Basic Education. She says the new partnership is extremely valuable.
南非官员尚未提到普通话教学将要花费多少钱。Troy Martens是南非基础教育部的一名官员。她说，这一新的伙伴关系极其珍贵。

"So it is very exciting and both countries have indicated that for them education is a high priority, and that is why education is high on the agenda of collaboration between the two countries," said Martens.
Martens说：“这是非常令人兴奋的，两国均表示要高度重视其教育，这也是为何教育是两国合作议程的重点。”

The part of the plan that has garnered the most attention is the inclusion of the Mandarin language in schools.
该计划获得最多关注的一部分是各学校引入普通话。

A public opinion study last year found that South Africans have mixed feelings about China. The survey showed 46 percent of South Africans do not like the spread of Chinese ideas and customs in their country, the results also showed that 60 percent dislike Chinese music, movies and television.
去年的一份民意调查发现，南非人对中国百感交集。该调查显示，46%的南非人不喜欢中国的观念和习俗在该国传播。也有调查结果显示，60%的南非人不喜欢中国的音乐、电影和电视。

But Ms Martens said Chinese trade is more important than those feelings. She said it is extremely helpful to learners in South Africa to study Mandarin as well as Chinese culture. And she said not every school will offer Mandarin.
但Martens女士说，中国的贸易比他们的感受更为重要。她说，对南非的学生来说，学习普通话和中国文化非常有帮助。她还表示，不是每所学校都教普通话。

"Now this will not be compulsory, it will not be for every school, and it will not be for every child. But for schools that feel they have the capacity to offer Mandarin as a subject, we think it is a great opportunity for South African learners to be exposed to this international type of language," said Martens.
Martens说，“现在，这不会是强制性的，不是每所学校都要如此，不是每个孩子都要如此。但对那些觉得自己有能力提供普通话这门学科的学校来说，我们认为这是南非学生接触到这门国际性语言的很好机会。”

South Africa's population studies do not say how many native Chinese speakers are among its nearly 51 million people.
南非的人口调查并未提及在其近5100万人口中有多少土生土长的中国人。

Lisette Noonan heads the 80-year-old Pretoria Chinese School in South Africa's capital. The school serves about 500 students from kindergarten to grade 12. Every student studies Mandarin.
Lisette Noonan领导着南非首都有着80年历史的比勒陀利亚中文学校。该学校为大约500名从幼儿园到12年级的学生提供教学服务。每个学生都学习普通话。

Ms Noonan says the school welcomes the new cooperation between South Africa and China. She said it is in the best interests of children to study Mandarin. She said that especially true with China becoming what she called "a huge economic power in the world".
Noonan女士称，该校对南非和中国之间的合作表示欢迎。她说，这对学习汉语的孩子最为有利，特别是随着中国成为她所谓的“世界重要经济力量”。

South African schools suffer from the country's history of apartheid.
南非学校受害于该国种族隔离历史。