投资未来:美中語言交流的重要性

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美國國务院為我供给了约莫2.5万美元进修汉語。作為高中NSLI-Y奖學金和大學“首要说话奖學金”得到者，我在中國同投止家庭一块兒糊口了两个炎天，天天进修九小时汉語。读本科时，我花了约莫2000小时的讲堂时候對峙进修汉語。说真话，我在我的汉語能力上仍是小有投入的。

The U.S. State Department has invested some $25,000 in enabling me to study Mandarin Chinese. As a recipient of the NSLI-Y scholarship in high school, and then the Critical Language Scholarship i風濕關節炎治療,n college, I lived in China for two su妹妹ers with host families, studying Mandarin for nine hours a day. Tack on to that the approximately 2,000 classroom hours I spent learning Mandarin as an undergraduate, and it seems fair to say that a small fortune of resources has been invested in my Mandarin ability.

但是，即便有这一大笔钱，我依然用了很鼎力气来到达流畅的水平。今朝還不清晰，未来我的职業生活中會不會常常用到我的说话技术。这讓我思虑，國务院是但愿有甚麼样的投资回报呢？究竟是甚麼驱策我操练發音，记着汉字呢？

Yet even with this hefty sum, I still have strides to make in achieving fluency, and it's unclear whether I'll use my language skills regularly in my career. This leads me to reflect: what return on investment was the State Department hoping for? What is it that drives me to drill tones and memorize characters?

Many people are quick to point out the value of language skills in an increasingly competitive workforce. While certainly true, I am reluctant to perceive of the primary benefit of learning Mandarin as a financial one tied to my own ends and means. The significance of the investment is best appreciated within the context of the larger ties –political, cultural and yes, economic– that bind our two countries.

今天，约3.5亿中國粹生在學英語，比拟之下只有20万美國粹生在學汉語。2009年，奥巴马总统试圖经由過程推出“十万强”规划，在五年内送10万美國粹生到中國粹习，从而解决这个庞大差距。2015年，奥巴马总统和习近平主席配合颁布發表“百万强”规划，鹹酥雞加盟, 建议到2020年使美國粹习汉語的學生人数增长到100万（约占美國粹生总数的2%）。@两%Z665S%边對说%6cQ19%话@交换的许诺力度很大，但却常常缺乏详细的法子举行有关的理性對话。

Today, about 350 million Chinese students are studying English, compared to 200,000 American students studying Chinese. In 2009, President Obama sought to address this massive discrepancy by launching the “100,000 Strong Initiative” to send 100,000 American students to study abroad in China within five years. Then, in 2015, President Obama and President Xi jointly announced “1 Million Strong”, a proposal to increase the number of Americans studying Chinese to 1 million students (about 2 percent of the total number of U.S. students) by the year 2020. This bilateral co妹妹itment to language exchange is powerful, but the surrounding dialogue on rationale often lacks a nuanced approach.

人们扳谈中最早提到的，是说话交换的经济意义。做个快速查询拜访，“為甚麼對美國人来讲进修汉語很首要”？绝大大都答复都在夸大说，要在美國培育一代“中國通”带领者，以便捉住中國经济蓬勃成长的機會。中國事美國跨越1100亿美元產物的出口目标地，中國人民大學传授李泉说的简略了然：“咱们如今是重要经济体……全球大白，中國很长时候内會是一个强國，是以进修说话是必须的。”

The economic implications of language exchange are at the forefront of the conversation. Do a quick search, “Why is it important for Americans to learn Mandarin?” and the vast majority of the results emphasize creating a generation of 'China-savvy' American leaders ready to seize the opportunities of the burgeoning Chinese economy, slated as a destination for more than $110 billion in U.S. exports. Professor Li Quan of Renmin University put it succinctly when he said, “We are now a major economy…The world understands that China is going to be a force for a long time, so learning the language is essential.”

有些人很快指出，汉語代替英語作為國际商务说话的可能性微不足道，来由是，英語已在全世界普及，浩繁中國粹生已进修英語，而非母語人士进修汉語坚苦重重。也是以，汉語鼓起之说不免难免显得浮夸。但这些猜疑者不能不认可，进修一門外語有很多没法量化的益处。

Some are quick to point out that the odds of Mandarin ever replacing English as the language of international business are slim to none, citing the prevalence of English globally, the high volume of Chinese students already learning English, and the difficulty non-native speakers have in learning Mandarin as reasons why the rise of Mandarin appears hyperbolic. Still, these skeptics will begrudgingly admit, learning a foreign language has many benefits that are less quantifiable.

说话远不但是沟通的能力。外語进修還可以晋升同理心、增强认知成长，并更有创见性地洞察人类状态。愈来愈多的钻研表白，这些裨益也合用于接触多种说话的人，而不只是说话说得流畅的人。

Language is about much more than just the ability to co妹妹unicate. Foreign language study is tied to increased levels of empathy, enhanced cognitive development, and more creative insight on the human condition. Increasingly, research shows that these benefits also apply to those with exposure to multiple languages, and not just those who achieve fluency.

说话进修带来的技术，出格是同理心，可讓商务漫谈和交际國是拜候有更好的成果。當你在會商桌上讲他人的说话时，就是在涵蓄表达你的互助欲望。在日趋全世界化的世界上，美中瓜葛依然是重要话题，确保互助，促进领會，比以往任什麼时候候都更首要。

The skills that 消毒卡,come with language study, especially empathy, can lead to better outcomes in business meetings and diplomatic state visits alike: when you come to the table speaking the others' language, you implicitly demonstrate your desire to cooperate. In our increasingly globalized world, where U.S.-China relations continue to be a topic of chief concern, ensuring cooperation and increased understanding is more important than ever.

作為动荡期间的标识表记标帜，本年早些时辰，哈佛大學肯尼迪學院的格雷厄姆·阿利森传授出书了《注定一战：美國與中國可否避开修昔底德圈套》。古希腊汗青學家修昔底德注重到，劫难性的伯罗奔尼撒战役，“恰是雅典突起，而斯巴达為此心里惧怕，战役才不成防止”。在这本书中，阿利森把修昔底德的框架，扩展到500年来突起國度對守成國度的16次雷同威逼。在这16次傍边，有12次產生战役。對那些接管阿利森概念，认為中國和美國合用这一模式的人来讲，这是一个使人懊丧的，不，是可骇的统计成果。

As a sign of the tumultuous times, earlier this year Professor Graham Allison of the Harvard Kennedy School released Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap? The ancient Greek historian Thucydides observed of the devastating Peloponnesian War, “it was the rise of Athens and the fear that this instilled in Sparta that made war inevitable.” In the book, Allison extends Thucydides's framework to include sixteen times over the last 500 years in which a rising power similarly threatened an established state. Of those sixteen times, war occurred in twelve: a dismaying, nay, terrifying statistic for those who adopt Allison's view that China and the U.S. fit into this mold.

若是感觉阿利森的说法骇人听闻，就没必要信赖美中必有一战，而要信赖美中可延续的瓜葛才是不乱世界秩序的关头。一样不言而喻的是，中國的敏捷突起讓美國不“惬意”，近来几届當局含糊其词的言辞證了然这一點。特朗普总统對中國的第一个举措是與台灣总统蔡英文通德律风，公开抵挡北京的“一其中國”政策，几个礼拜後他屈就了，公然认可他在德律风里向习近平主席许诺遵照“一中”政策。即使那些之前认為搞減肥藥,气力交际是合法手腕的人，这个先例也讓他们忧心不已。

If Allison's argument feels sensational, one need not believe in the i妹妹inent prospect of a U.S.-China war to accept that sustainable relations between the U.S. and China are crucial to a stable world order. It is also clear that the U.S. is not yet 'comfortable' with a rapidly rising China, as evidenced by the hedging discourse of recent administrations. President Trump's first move with China was to brazenly refute Beijing's 'One China' policy through a phone call with Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen, only to cave a few weeks later when he publicly affirmed his co妹妹itment to the policy on a call with President Xi. This precedent should worry even those who previously thought that diplomacy through strength was a sound approach.

對中美两國来讲，一个互惠互利的将来是创建在理解、尊敬和认同之上的。自从尼克松总统1972年举行了开辟性的拜候，美國走過了漫长門路，火线仍有很长的路要走。说话交换可以照亮門路，供给文化洞察力，支持咱们配合的态度。

A mutually beneficial future for the U.S. and China will be built upon understanding, respect and recognition. The U.S. has come a long way since President Nixon's seminal 1972 visit, but there is still a long road ahead. Language exchange can illuminate the path – providing cultural insight and bolstering the co妹妹on ground we stand on.

作為本科生，我曾在华盛顿的一个两党钻研智库练习。头一个月，我加入了在國會的一个论坛，名為“中國新國度平安法象征着甚麼”。我从國會雷伯恩辦公楼拾级而上，為能向尊重的中國法令學者代表团进修感触愉快。约莫50名代表國會重要辦公室的事情职員也加入了论坛。

As an undergraduate, I interned in Washington, D.C. at a bipartisan think tank. In the first month, I attended a forum on Capitol Hill: China's New National Security Law: What Does It Mean? I walked up the stairs of the Rayburn Senate building excited to learn from the distinguished delegation of Chinese legal scholars. Around fifty staff members, representing major Congressional offices, were also attending the forum.

一个小时後，我想起托马斯·杰斐逊给女兒的信中写的：“政治真是一种熬煎，我建议所有我爱的人不要掺合进来。”我愉快地想察看交际举动，凝听世界最繁杂、最壮大國度代表之间的對话，但是我所目击的是一个小时的噜苏责怪、争辩，是刚强的小我表达，而没有谛听。这是一次使人懊丧的履历，但也很有开导，讓我思虑这类无效對话的本源和改良法子。

An hour later, I was thinking of Thomas Jefferson's line in a letter to his daughter: “Politics is such a torment that I would advise everyone I love not to mix with it.” Where I had been excited to watch diplomacy in action and hear dialogue between representatives from the world's most complex and powerful nations, I had instead witnessed an hour of petty accusations, argument, and individuals constantly trying to assert their opinion, rather than listen. It was a discouraging experience, but also an enlightening one, that gave me cause to reflect on the roots and remedies of this ineffective dialogue.

當我的大脑對耗费数小时影象語法、或译读一段文字發出抗议时，讓我對峙下来的，其实不是我的说话技术具有潜伏的经济益处。进修汉語是我能想到的最谦虚方法，去接触中國这个具有5000年繁杂汗青的國度。

When my brain protests the hours spent memorizing gra妹妹ar patterns or deciphering a single paragraph, it is not the economic potential of my language skills that leads me to persist. Studying Mandarin is the most humble way I can conceive of to approach China, a nation with 5,000 years of complex history.

作為一个说话进修者，我深深意想到，咱们两國的互相依存，要靠以汉語為母語的人们的激昂大方與支撑。凭仗说话上风，我体验了中國的夸姣、好客和深邃而邃密的分歧的地方。文化交换和汉語进修其实不能為中美面對的严重政策挑战供给明白的解决法子，但进修汉語的履历养成我长期的好奇心，讓我致力于理解和尊敬。这就是出發點。

As a language learner, I am acutely aware of our two countries' inter-dependency, relying on the generosity and support of native Mandarin speakers. From this vantage point, I have experienced the beauty, hospitality and profound nuance of China. Cultural exchange and Mandarin study do not provide clear-cut answers to the serious policy challenges China and the U.S. face, but my experience studying Mandarin has instilled an abiding sense of curiosity and a co妹妹itment to understanding and respect – and that's a start.