VOA慢速英语20060119a

EDUCATION REPORT - Bush Proposes to Expand Foreign Language TeachingBy Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Thursday, January 19, 2006

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Education Report.

President Bush has proposed to increase the study of foreign languages in American schools.


President Bush on Jan. 5 at the U.S. University Presidents Summit¹ on International Education

The new plan is called the National Security Language Initiative². It will involve the departments of State, Education and Defense³, and the director of National Intelligence.

The plan calls for teaching foreign languages to more children, as early as the age of four. It also aims to increase foreign language instruction in college and graduate school. The hope is to bring more foreign language speakers into government service.

And it calls for expanding an effort begun three years ago to increase the number of military officers who speak foreign languages.

Most of the new teaching would be in languages not widely taught now in American schools. These include Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Hindi and Russian.

Administration officials will ask for one hundred fourteen million dollars in two thousand seven to start the program. They say too many American children learn only English. They say only forty-four percent of American high school students take any foreign language. And seventy percent of those are learning Spanish.

Officials say money would be used to help foreign-language students pay for their education in exchange for future service. The plan also calls for sending more American students to other countries for part of their college studies. And it calls for bringing more foreign language teaching assistants to the United States.

Officials say the United States does not have enough foreign language teachers. Research shows that children have an easier time than adults learning languages. Yet less than one-third of American elementary schools teach languages other than English. And experts say most of these schools just teach the basics, not how to speak a foreign language well.

President Bush says America needs intelligence officers who can understand languages likes Arabic, Farsi or Urdu. But he says that is not the only reason for the program. He says it will also show that Americans care enough about other cultures to learn to speak their language.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Nancy Steinbach. Internet users can read and listen to our reports at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 summit   

n.最高点，峰顶；最高级会议；极点

参考例句：

• They climbed up the mountain and reached the summit.他们爬山，最终达到了山顶。
• The summit of the mountain is lost in the cloud and mist.山顶隐没在云雾之中。

2 initiative   

n.主动性，首创精神，主动权（的行动），倡议

参考例句：

• He went to see the headmaster on his own initiative.他主动去看望校长。
• His employer had described him as lacking in initiative and drive.雇主说他缺乏进取心和干劲。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。