How noodles led to girl's love ofMandarin

By Keyshia Cole

導讀:外國女孩因面條愛上中文。

Alittle girl’s interest in wanting to talk about Chinese food put her on a path to study the language.

Isabelle Szczerbinski first became interested in Chinese when she was 5.

“We were at a Chinese restaurant in Dallas.She was watching a man making noodles.She was so excited that she wanted to talk with him.Unfortunately,he didn’t speak English.On the way home,she said she wanted to learn Chinese,”said Eric Szczerbinski,Isabelle’s father.

“I totally fell in love with the language.It’s so beautiful and unlike anything I’ve ever heard before,” said Isabelle,who was one of 10 exemplary students honored by the Confucius Institute US Center in Washington on Saturday.

The People-People Award recipients were selected from 110 Confucius Institutes across the country.

“It’s not just your knowledge about language and culture,it's actually the special spirit that inspires you to do this,”said C.D.Mote Jr.,president of the National Academy of Engineering,who is also on the honorary host committee.

The honorees all have extraordinary stories about their journeys of learning Chinese with the CI.

Isabelle,whose Chinese name is Bao Ling,is now 12.She lives in Midlothian,Virginia,where she is home-schooled.

Szczerbinski watches movies and TV from China without subtitles.

Some of her favorite Chinese cartoons are Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf and Big Head Son and Small Head Dad,which are very popular in China.

“They are so different from what I’ve ever seen on American TV,” said Szczerbinski.

Szczerbinski studies at the Confucius Institute near her home,the William&Mary Confucius Institute in Williamsburg,Virginia.

“It is just the beginning of a fantastic ongoing adventure,all thanks to the Confucius Institute,” she said.

The WMCI offers courses on many aspects of Chinese culture,from travel tips to calligraphy,to tai chi,cooking and music.

The first course that Szczerbinski took was a cooking class.“I love Chinese food.The chef was a famous chef,Peter Chang,”she said.Szczerbinski then tried tai chi and kung fu through the WMCI.

In 2017,through the WMCI,Szczerbinski joined the JNCL-NCLIS(languagepolicy.org)to lobby Virginia senators and congressional representative for more funding for language instruction in public schools.

“I want to thank the Confucius Institute for sharing the wonderful language and culture of China to the world,”she said.“It has been a wonderful journey for all of us,” said Szczerbinski’s mother.

一個小女孩對談論中國美食的興趣使她走上了學習中文的道路。

Isabelle Szczerbinski在5歲的時候第一次對中文產生興趣。

“當時我們在達拉斯的一家中餐館里。她正在看一個人做面條。她非常激動，想和做面條的人聊聊。可是很遺憾，那個人不會說英語。在回家的路上，她說她想學習中文，”Isabelle的父親Eric Szczerbinski這樣說道。

周六，在華盛頓孔子學院美國中心，Isabelle榮幸地成為10名模范學生的一員，她說：“我完全愛上了這種語言。它是如此美妙，與我以前聽到過的任何東西都不一樣。”

“人人獎”獲得者是從全國110所孔子學院中挑選。

美國國家工程院院長，同時也是名譽主辦委員會成員的C.D.Mote jr.說：“這不僅是你對語言和文化的了解，實際上也是激發你去做這件事的特殊精神。”

獲得這些榮譽的人，他們背后都有不同尋常的故事：關于在孔子學院學習中文的經歷。

Isabelle今年12歲，她的中文名字是寶玲。她住在弗吉尼亞州的中洛錫安，在家接受了家庭教育。

她平常會看沒有字幕的中國電影和電視節目。

她最喜歡的中國動畫片是《喜羊羊與灰太狼》和《大頭兒子和小頭爸爸》，這些動畫片在中國也很受歡迎。

Szczerbinski說:“他們和我在美國電視上看到的節目很不一樣。”

Szczerbinski在她家附近的孔子學院學習，這所孔子學院是位于弗吉尼亞州威廉斯堡的威廉瑪麗孔子學院。

“這僅僅是奇妙的冒險之旅的開始，這一切都要感謝孔子學院。”她說。

威廉瑪麗孔子學院提供的課程涉及中國文化的很多方面，從旅行指南到書法、太極、烹飪和音樂。

Szczerbinski參加的第一個課程是烹飪課。她說：“我非常喜歡中國菜。這位是著名的廚師，彼得·張。”然后，Szczerbinski試著學習太極和功夫。

2017年，通過威廉瑪麗孔子學院，Szczerbinski加入了“JNCL-NCLIS”(languagepolicy.org)，游說弗吉尼亞州參議員和國會議員，為公立學校的語言教學提供更多的資金。

她說:“我要感謝孔子學院向全世界分享中國的精彩語言和文化。”Szczerbinski的母親說:“這對我們所有人來說都是一段美好的旅程。”