2016年CRI Chinese Students in the US and the Challenges They Face

 

The class is entitled Ethics¹ and Public Policy in a Globalized World.

It starts with a video projection² of a song from the 1972 musical movie Cabaret. 

Yubing Shi looks amused... but also a little puzzled. 

The song finishes. The professor explains that the movie is set in Germany in the early nineteen thirties and that it's about the dangers of financial excess. 

Yubing says the professors at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University are good at engaging foreign students.

"I think in Georgetown I'm feeling more inclusive in most of my classes. And we have different students from across the world. And I think the professor is used to, they know how to include everyone in the class discussion even though sometimes the topic is hard. But you can still bring your own background or understanding on certain topics."

The ability to adapt to American college culture is the key area of discussion among many of the Chinese students here. 

It's now more tempting³ than ever for Chinese students to avoid much of the work of adapting to a new culture and language, according to Peggy Blumenthal at the Institute of International Education.

"I think the challenge has been very large numbers of students who then tend to huddle⁴ together a little bit more than if there were just a few on campus. And so the challenge really has been to make sure that they integrate with the rest of the campus rather than just stay among themselves."

Yubing began her US undergraduate degree in 2009, but since then she's witnessed a dramatic rise in the numbers of Chinese students at that level. 

Now there are 304,000 Chinese students, representing 31% of all international students in the US.

Now as an experienced graduate student, she's worried that some of the larger public universities may not be providing enough support. 

"I think my biggest concern is that within some public institutions which recruit a lot of Chinese students. But they are not well prepared and they don't know , they don't set up a friendly environment for them to get engaged. And since they are just turned to be 18, there are lot of things for them to learn, it's the responsibility of the university to lead them, to sort of guide them to get involved."

Universities in the United States are responding to the surge, by providing additional language assistance and finding creative ways to encourage integration⁵ in class and in residential⁶ settings. 

And Peggy Blumenthal says the overall process of adaptation is ongoing⁷.

"Many colleges and universities are developing linkages⁸ and partnerships⁹ with Chinese colleges and universities, for exchanges both ways, to send students, to send faculty¹⁰ to China, joint¹¹ research. So this isn't just a matter of getting a lot of Chinese students and kind of tossing them in with everybody else. It's really trying to deeply understand how the two-way relationship will work." 

The influx¹² of Chinese students certainly does provide considerable financial benefit to the US education system. 

Chinese students mostly pay the full tuition. That helps universities to provide scholarships to more American students who need help to pay for their education.

1 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

2 projection   

n.发射，计划，突出部分

参考例句：

• Projection takes place with a minimum of awareness or conscious control.投射在最少的知觉或意识控制下发生。
• The projection of increases in number of house-holds is correct.对户数增加的推算是正确的。

3 tempting   

a.诱人的, 吸引人的

参考例句：

• It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
• It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。

4 huddle   

vi.挤作一团；蜷缩；vt.聚集；n.挤在一起的人

参考例句：

• They like living in a huddle.他们喜欢杂居在一起。
• The cold wind made the boy huddle inside his coat.寒风使这个男孩卷缩在他的外衣里。

5 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

6 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

7 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

8 linkages   

n.连接( linkage的名词复数 )；结合；联系；联动装置

参考例句：

• Only the thermosetting resins provide a strong cohesive forces; this is due to molecular cross linkages. 只有热固性树脂具有巨大的凝聚力，这是由于分子交错链所造成的。 来自辞典例句
• The linkages between the stable units must be as near as possible of equal stability. 稳定链节之间的键必须有尽可能接近的稳定性。 来自辞典例句

9 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

10 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

11 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

12 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。