Across China: ASEAN language learning heats up as China embraces trade boom

行走中国：中国-东盟贸易繁荣  掀起学习东盟各国语言热潮

NANNING, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- While many Chinese parents love to send their children to costly after-school English classes, Ruan Chunhua is considering a Vietnamese course for his son.

南宁，11月15日 （新华电）在许多中国父母送他们的孩子去昂贵的课后英语班的同时，阮春华却正在考虑为他的儿子报一个越南语课程。

Ruan, a business woman in Pingxiang, a border city in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said the language had been a part of life for her family, given their almost daily interactions with Vietnamese business people and travelers.

阮春华，来自中国南部省份——广西壮族自治区的边境城市凭祥市的一名女商人。她表示，他们几乎每天都要与越南商人和旅行者进行交流，越南语已经成为她家庭生活的一部分。

After self-learning the language, Ruan is teaching her son basic Vietnamese, and said booming trade between China and Vietnam is making things easier.

自学了这门语言后，阮春华还在教儿子基础的越南语。她认为中国和越南之间蓬勃发展的贸易让他们的生活变得更容易了。

"More and more Chinese are learning Vietnamese, so you can find all kinds of Vietnamese classes offered by training institutions in Pingxiang. Some schools also offer Vietnamese classes," she said.

 “由于越来越多的中国人学习越南语，所以在凭祥你可以找到提供的各种越南语课程的培训机构。甚至一些公司也开设了越南语课程。”她说。

Over 100 miles away at the Guangxi University for Nationalities in Nanning, capital of Guangxi, Li Yangyang was savoring his first encounters with the language of Malaysia, another southern neighbor of China.

在距凭祥市100多英里外的广西首府南宁市广西民族大学里，李阳阳正在体验着他与马来西亚语的第一次接触。马来西亚，是中国以南的另一个邻国。

Wearing a virtual reality helmet, the freshman was projected onto a simulated rostrum of a Malaysian university, where he introduced himself in Malaysian.

戴着虚拟现实头盔，这位大一新生被投射到马来西亚一所大学的模拟讲台上。在那里李阳阳以马来西亚语做了自我介绍。

"After graduation, I hope to seize the opportunities of the Belt and Road Initiative and start careers in ASEAN countries," he said. The Belt and Road is a Chinese proposal to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa.

李阳阳说，“毕业后，我希望能抓住“一带一路”倡议带来的机会，在东盟国家开启我的职业生涯。” “一带一路”是一项中国提出的倡议，旨在建立连接亚欧非洲的基础贸易设施网络。

ASEAN languages like Thai and Lao used to be a minority choice in China's foreign language colleges, but their popularity is in ascendance thanks to the country's booming trade and investment links with its Southeast Asian neighbors.

过去，在中国的外国语亚搏网页版登录中，很少学生会选择学习如泰语、老挝语这类东盟国家语言。但由于中国与东南亚邻国之间贸易、投资蓬勃发展，越来越多的学生开始选择学习这些语言。

Trade volume between China and ASEAN countries hit a record high of 514.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, more than six times that of 2003. China has been ASEAN's largest trade partner for nine consecutive years, while ASEAN has been China's third largest trade partner for seven years in a row.

2017年，中国与东盟国家之间的贸易额达到了历史最高纪录——5148亿美元，是2003年的6倍多。中国连续九年成为东盟最大的贸易伙伴，而东盟连续七年成为中国第三大贸易伙伴。

Jumping on the trade bandwagon, the number of China's ASEAN languages learners is on the rise, and renowned universities like Peking University and Beijing Foreign Studies University have opened majors for all ASEAN languages, according to Yang Xiuping, secretary-general of the ASEAN-China Center.

中国-东盟中心秘书长杨秀平表示，随着贸易热潮的兴起，中国学习东盟语言的人数正在上升。如北京大学、北京外国语大学这类著名大学开设了所有东盟国家语言专业。

Universities in Guangxi, which has a booming cross-border trade with its neighbor Vietnam, are at the forefront.

广西，因与邻国越南的跨境贸易蓬勃发展，这里的大学在开设东盟语言专业的趋势中走在前沿。

Guangxi University of Foreign Languages, which has opened majors for six ASEAN languages, said the booming demand for bilingual expertise is behind the high employment rate of its ASEAN language graduates.

亚搏app登录入口开设了六种东盟国家语言专业。其表示，市场对双语专业人才的旺盛需求是该校东盟语言毕业生高就业率的原因。

"The Belt and Road Initiative has brought immense business opportunities, but the biggest challenge in today's exchanges and cooperations (with ASEAN countries) are language barriers," said Zhu Guiling, of Guangxi University of Foreign Languages.

亚搏app登录入口董事长朱桂玲女士说：“‘一带一路’”倡议带来了巨大的商机，但我们与东盟国家交流合作存在最大的挑战，即语言障碍。”

Su Fang, vice dean of the foreign language department of Guangxi University for Nationalities, also attributed the rising popularity of ASEAN language majors to the Belt and Road Initiative, which is sending more Chinese companies to open branches and offices in Southeast Asia.

广西民族大学外语亚搏网页版登录副院长苏芳也认为，“一带一路”倡议让东盟语言专业日益普及，也促使更多的中国公司在东南亚开设分公司和办事处。

Both universities say they are expanding their spectrum of ASEAN language courses, but are still struggling to cater to surging demand.

两所大学都表示，他们正在扩大东盟语言课程的范围，努力应对不断增长的需求。

Tang Fenglin, vice general manager with a Guangxi-based company building logistic parks for China-Vietnam border trade, noted a strong and growing thirst of Chinese companies for workers conversant with languages of ASEAN nations, as well as their law, politics, economies and culture.

唐凤麟，是广西一家为中越边境贸易建造物流园区的公司的副总经理，他指出中国公司对熟悉东盟国家语言、法律、政治、经济和文化的工人的需求十分旺盛而且这种需求仍在增长。

"Our company often sends people to colleges for graduate recruitment, but we are still running short of Vietnamese-language workers," Tang said. "To survive, we had to set up our own training courses."

他说：“我们公司经常派人到大学去招聘毕业生，但公司里能说越南语的工人还是短缺。为了企业更好地生存，我们只能开设我们自己的越南语培训课程。”