美国第一家孔子学院13岁啦​ First US Confucius Institute turns 13

Donna Wiseman(center) and Jianxin Cui(left), director and deputy director of Confucius Institute at The University of Maryland, accepted citations from Shawn Eum(right), policy advisor of Maryland Governor's office, at the Institute's 13th anniversary celebration. Yian Ke/China Daily

The Confucius Institute (孔子学院,CI) at the University of Maryland, the first(第一) Confucius Institute ever in the US, hosted its 13th anniversary(周年) of operations on March 28 in College Park.

Recently, CIs across the country have been facing criticism(批评) from US politicians and scholars, who accuse(指责) the centers of operating as tools(工具) of Chinese propaganda(宣传) and China's foreign influence(影响) operations in the US.

"We are not a tool of the Chinese government," said Rebecca McGinnis, coordinator at CI at the University of Maryland, in response(回应) to the allegations.

"Several times over the past years we have been criticized for being subjects of propaganda. We simply have to say, ok, you voice your opinion, but we feel that this relationship with China is providing opportunities(机会) for language learning(学习) and cultural understanding(理解), which is supremely important," McGinnis said.

Sandra Suber, assistant principal at Centennial High School in Howard County, Maryland, lamented(痛惜) the recent widespread skepticism.

Maxwell Holmes, a CI student who's also a research faculty engineer at the University of Maryland, was heading to a Chinese class after the celebration.

"I love(喜爱) their classes," Holmes said. "They are probably the best structured way I have ever had a language course(语言课程)."

Holmes considered studying Chinese as both a personal challenge he set for himself and something that could help with his future career(职业).

词汇 Words:

[dì yī] 第一 first
[zhōu nián] 周年 anniversary
[pī píng] 批评 criticism
[jī huì] 机会 opportunity
[xué xí] 学习 learning
[lǐ jiě] 理解 understanding
[huí yìng] 回应 response
[tòng xī] 痛惜 lament
[xǐ ài] 喜爱 love

重点词汇 Key word:

家

• <名词 n.> home
  E.g. Tā yǒu diǎn xiǎngjiā。
  她有点想家。
  She's feeling a little homesick. 

• <名词 n.> family
  E.g. Quánjiā dōu qǐde hěnzǎo。
  全家都起得很早。
  The whole family was up early.

• <名词 n.> specialist in a certain field
  E.g. Wǒ jiànyì nǐ bǎ tā liúgěi zhuānjiā lái jiějué。
  我建议你把它留给专家来解决。
  I suggest you leave it to an expert. 

• <名词 n.> party; side
  E.g. Liǎng jiā zài zuì hòu yī fēnzhōng dáchéng xiéyì。
  两家在最后一分钟达成协议。
  The two parties reached an agreement in the last minute.

• <量词 measure word> (used for families or enterprises)
  E.g. Zhè liǎngjiā gōngsī qǐ le chōngtū。
  这两家公司起了冲突。
  The two companies came into conflict.