VOA常速英语:US Students Learn Russian Through STARTALK(翻译)

Here Americans only speak Russian. And they only respond to Russian names.
这里，美国人只用俄语交流。彼此都以俄语名字相称呼。

Such language immersion helps American students make progress in studying the Russian language in just a few weeks.And for American Russian teachers, this is a chance to meet their colleagues and improve language skills.
诸如此类的语言浸入环境帮助美国学生在数周内，俄语取得了巨大进步。对那些俄裔的美国教师来说，这也是一个与同事交流，提升语言能力的好机会。

This is one of many foreign language courses within STARTALK,a program launched during George W. Bush’s presidency as part of the U.S. national security strategy.Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Persian, and Russian were named "critical-need" foreign languages.
这是星谈计划众多的外语课程之一。该计划于小布什执政时期展开，是美国国防安全策略的一部分。阿拉伯语、汉语、印地语、波斯语和俄语均为“亟需”外语。

"Young man, how much are these cookies?"
“小伙子，这些曲奇多少钱?”

"50 roubles."
“50卢布。”

"Thank you, I will buy it. I just bought a cookie with Russian money."
“谢谢，我要了。我刚用俄罗斯货币买了饼干耶。”

Charles Byrd, professor of Russian at the University of Georgia and a STARTALK program participant,says that American students are interested in Russian but many find it very hard to learn and master.For Byrd himself, Russian was once ’forbidden fruit’.
Charles Byr是乔治亚大学的俄语教授，同时也是STARTALK项目的参与者。他说，尽管许多美国学生对学习俄语兴致高昂，但是许多人发现学习并掌握俄语并不容易。对Byrd来说亦是如此，曾经俄语对他来说也是不可企及的一门语言。

"My parents were American diplomats, and they always wanted to go to Russia, but they were not allowed to.Because they could not travel to Russia, I always wanted to go there.I remember during my childhood I often heard about the Evil Empire. I had always the impression that Russia is a mysterious riddle."
“我的父母都是美国外交官，一直梦想着能去俄罗斯，但他们不允许这样。正因如此，我一直向往着能去那里。记得小时候经常听人们将其称为‘邪恶帝国’，因此在我的印象中，俄罗斯一直是一个神秘的国度。”

Nineteen-year-old Joseph Doran has been to Russia.He says he ate borscht seven times a week and took walks along the Volga, a symbolic river in Russian culture.At STARTALK, Doran is an assistant teacher. Students call him the Russian way – Joseph Timofeyevich.
19岁的Joseph Doran去过俄罗斯。他说自己每天都要喝罗宋汤，并且喜欢沿着伏尔加河散步，伏尔加河是俄罗斯文化的典型象征。Doran目前是星谈计划的助教。学生们都以他的俄语名字Joseph Timofeyevich称呼他。

"I love Russian culture, language. I love reading Russian classical literature. It is a very interesting language.Russian people are very nice. I love the opportunities that open to me because I know Russian.”
“我热爱俄罗斯的文化和语言，痴迷于俄罗斯的古典文学，俄语妙趣横生。俄罗斯人也很友善。并且学习俄语为我带来了许多机会，这点我十分欣慰。”

Betsy Sandstrom, a program director of “Discover Russia” at STARTALK,says that for many students learning a foreign language is an important first step into their future careers.
Betsy Sandstrom是STARTALK项目里‘探索俄罗斯’节目的负责人。他认为，学习一门外语对许多学生来说，是踏入未来职场至关重要的第一步。

"They have different interests - one person wants to become a Russian language teacher, another wants to be a politician...Knowledge of any foreign language is needed. And Russia is the largest country in the world."
“他们志向各异，有人希望成为俄语教师，有人希望成为一名政治家……任何外语知识都是不可或缺的，而且俄罗斯是世界上最大的国家。”

According to Forbes magazine, Russian is among the top 10 most popular languages for American college students.
据《福布斯》杂志报道，对美国大学生来说，俄语已成为十大最流行的语言之一。