外語(yǔ)專業(yè)選課指南：葡萄牙語(yǔ)和西班牙語(yǔ)開(kāi)始吃香

外語(yǔ)專業(yè)的同學(xué)在選擇語(yǔ)種專業(yè)的時(shí)候一般都有自己的考慮，學(xué)法語(yǔ)的同學(xué)可能喜歡法式浪漫，學(xué)德語(yǔ)的同學(xué)或是驚嘆于德國(guó)式嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)，學(xué)英語(yǔ)的同學(xué)大概是想世界各地暢行無(wú)憂吧。不過(guò)，據(jù)外媒報(bào)道，近兩年，中國(guó)大學(xué)生選擇學(xué)習(xí)葡萄牙語(yǔ)和西班牙語(yǔ)的人數(shù)猛增，并稱這和中國(guó)在拉美國(guó)家的影響力擴(kuò)大有很大關(guān)系。 When Zhang Fangming started learning Portuguese, it was with an eye to becoming a top Chinese diplomat in Brazil.

張方明(音)當(dāng)初學(xué)習(xí)葡萄牙語(yǔ)的時(shí)候，他的理想是成為中國(guó)駐巴西的一名優(yōu)秀外交官。

For Sun Jianglin, a Portuguese degree was about landing a job, but also a deeper knowledge of Brazilian music. “Bossa nova!” the 19-year-old undergraduate cooed. “I really like this kind-of-close-to-jazz music!”

而對(duì)孫江琳(音)來(lái)說(shuō)，拿到葡萄牙語(yǔ)學(xué)位不僅是為了找工作，也是為了更深入地了解巴西音樂(lè)。“巴薩諾瓦!”這位19歲的本科生說(shuō)，“我非常喜歡這種類似爵士樂(lè)的音樂(lè)!”

The pair – who also go by the names Rodrigo and Antonia – are part of a new generation of Chinese students hoping a mastery of Latin America’s languages coupled with their country’s expanding role in the region will prove a recipe for success.

兩人的葡萄牙語(yǔ)名字分別是羅德里戈和安東尼婭。他們所代表的新一代中國(guó)學(xué)生希望，對(duì)于拉美語(yǔ)言的熟練掌握再加上中國(guó)在該地區(qū)不斷擴(kuò)大的影響力，會(huì)使他們走向成功。

Twenty years ago – before a commodities boom made China Brazil’s top trading partner – ties between the two were negligible and few Chinese students studied Brazil’s official language, which has more than 220m native speakers worldwide. Today, record numbers are doing so, wagering it will guarantee them work as diplomats, interpreters or lawyers for Chinese ministries or firms in the Lusophone world.

20年前，在商品熱潮令中國(guó)成為巴西最大的貿(mào)易伙伴之前，兩國(guó)之間的關(guān)系還不緊密，學(xué)習(xí)巴西官方語(yǔ)言葡萄牙語(yǔ)的中國(guó)學(xué)生寥寥無(wú)幾，而全世界以葡萄牙語(yǔ)為母語(yǔ)的人口超過(guò)2.2億。如今，學(xué)習(xí)葡萄牙語(yǔ)的中國(guó)學(xué)生人數(shù)創(chuàng)下了歷史紀(jì)錄，因?yàn)樗麄冋J(rèn)為學(xué)習(xí)葡萄牙語(yǔ)能讓自己成為中國(guó)的政府機(jī)構(gòu)和公司派駐葡語(yǔ)國(guó)家的外交官、翻譯或律師。

圖為巴西唐韻藝術(shù)團(tuán)小女孩展示中國(guó)童裝旗袍。　莫成雄 攝

“There’s a saying: ‘Learning Portuguese will help you find a good job, with good pay!’” said Sun, a second-year student at China’s leading language school, the Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU).

孫江琳說(shuō)：“很多人說(shuō)，學(xué)葡萄牙語(yǔ)能幫你找到高薪工作。”她是來(lái)自北京外國(guó)語(yǔ)大學(xué)的一名大學(xué)二年級(jí)學(xué)生。

There has also been an explosion in the study of Spanish – spoken in many Latin American nations – with about 20,000 Chinese undergraduates in 2016 choosing the language, up from just 500 in 1999, according to official figures.

學(xué)習(xí)西班牙語(yǔ)的人數(shù)也呈現(xiàn)出爆炸式增長(zhǎng)，許多拉美國(guó)家都說(shuō)西班牙語(yǔ)。根據(jù)官方數(shù)據(jù)，2016年有大約2萬(wàn)名中國(guó)本科生選擇學(xué)習(xí)西班牙語(yǔ)，而1999年僅有500人。

Margaret Myers, the head of the Inter-American Dialogue’s Asia and Latin America program, said more and more Latin America departments were opening in China because of a push to foster regional experts.

美洲國(guó)家對(duì)話組織亞洲與拉美項(xiàng)目負(fù)責(zé)人瑪格麗特·邁爾斯說(shuō)，中國(guó)開(kāi)設(shè)了越來(lái)越多的拉美語(yǔ)言院系，因?yàn)橹袊?guó)在大力培養(yǎng)該地區(qū)問(wèn)題專家。

“In the past five years we’ve seen … centres open all over the place, from Wuhan, to Tianjin, to Zhejiang – you name it,” said Myers, who wrote a recent report on the trend.

邁爾斯在最近撰寫的一份相關(guān)報(bào)告中說(shuō)：“在過(guò)去5年里，我們看到……各地都開(kāi)設(shè)了拉美研究中心，從武漢到天津再到浙江，不一而足。”

Many of China’s Portuguese graduates still end up in African countries such as Angola, Mozambique or Cape Verde. But as Beijing’s Latin American footprint grows, they are increasingly looking further west.

中國(guó)的許多葡語(yǔ)專業(yè)畢業(yè)生去了非洲國(guó)家，比如安哥拉、莫桑比克和佛得角。但隨著中國(guó)在拉美的影響不斷擴(kuò)大，他們也日益將目光投向了更靠西的地方。

“Brazil is a country of possibilities,” said Zhang, from Zibo in Shandong province, who is halfway through a four-year degree at BFSU. Zhang, 20, admitted the 17,000km between Beijing and Brazil meant his knowledge of Latin America’s largest economy had yet to expand far beyond the cliches. He painted it as a resource-rich “melting pot of different races” and admitted most students knew only about its football.

來(lái)自山東淄博的張方明在北外的四年葡語(yǔ)專業(yè)學(xué)習(xí)才剛剛完成一半。他說(shuō)：“巴西是一個(gè)充滿可能性的國(guó)家。”20歲的張方明承認(rèn)，北京和巴西之間1.7萬(wàn)公里的距離意味著他對(duì)這個(gè)拉美第一大經(jīng)濟(jì)體的了解尚未超越老生常談的范疇。他說(shuō)巴西是一個(gè)資源豐富的“多種族大熔爐”，不過(guò)也坦承，大多數(shù)學(xué)生對(duì)巴西的了解僅限足球。

Brazilian culture also left a better impression. “Every time I watch it, I will cry,” Sun said of her favorite film, Walter Salles’s Oscar-nominated Central Station.

巴西文化也給大家留下了不錯(cuò)的印象。孫江琳在談到她最喜愛(ài)的電影、巴西導(dǎo)演沃爾特·塞勒斯執(zhí)導(dǎo)的奧斯卡提名影片《中央車站》時(shí)說(shuō)：“我看一次哭一次。”

Chinese Portuguese students have security concerns though. Sun plans to visit Brazil after graduating, but will stick to São Paulo, one of the safer corners of a country that suffered a record 63,880 homicides last year. “Other cities are a little bit dangerous for me.”

而中國(guó)的葡語(yǔ)學(xué)生也擔(dān)心安全問(wèn)題。孫江琳計(jì)劃在畢業(yè)后去巴西，但僅限于圣保羅，這里是巴西更安全的一隅。巴西去年有63880人被殺。她說(shuō)：“其他城市對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)有些危險(xiǎn)。”

Zhang said a teacher recently told him of a friend whose Rio home was invaded by burglars while she was studying. According to Zhang’s account, the student asked her Brazilian assailant if she could finish her homework first.

張方明說(shuō)，最近有位老師告訴他，一位朋友在里約熱內(nèi)盧的家被小偷闖入，當(dāng)時(shí)這位朋友還在學(xué)習(xí)。根據(jù)他的描述，這名學(xué)生還請(qǐng)求歹徒讓她先做完作業(yè)。

“The robber was quite friendly actually,” he said. “But the final result was that he took her computer.”

他說(shuō)：“盜賊其實(shí)還算挺友好，但最后還是搶走了她的電腦。”