XINHUA
Guess what former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and United States president Donald Trump’s granddaughter, Arabella Kushner, have in common? They all study Chinese as a second language.
猜猜看澳大利亚前总理陆克文、脸书首席执行官马克·扎克伯格，还有美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的外孙女阿拉贝拉·库什纳有什么共同点？他们都在学习中文作为第二语言。
Although Chinese is known as one of the hardest languages to learn, a lot of people from different backgrounds are studying it with hopes of big benefits.
尽管中文被认为是最难学的语言之一，但仍有许多来自不同背景的人在学习中文，希望能带来巨大的收获。
Nov 2 saw more than 120 people, representing 105 countries, compete in the finals of the 12th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for foreign secondary school students. Held in Zhengzhou, Henan province, the finals featured speech contests and talent shows. The contestants also visited the Shaolin Temple, Longmen Grottoes and other historical sites in Henan.
11月2日，来自105个国家的120多名选手参加了第十二届“汉语桥”世界中学生中文比赛决赛。这场于河南郑州举办的决赛围绕演讲比赛、才艺展示等环节展开竞技。选手们还参观了少林寺、龙门石窟以及河南的其他历史名胜古迹。
While reasons for learning Chinese varied among contestants, a common one was enthusiasm for the country’s rich culture and rapid development.
尽管选手们学习中文的原因各不相同，但他们都对中国丰富的文化以及快速的发展怀有热情。
Raissa, 17, from the Union of the Comoros, developed a strong emotional connection with China after her grandmother was cured by doctors of the Chinese medical team in Africa three years ago. This led her to learn Chinese at a local Confucius Institute.
来自科摩罗的17岁姑娘拉一莎对中国抱有很深的感情，三年前，中国援非医疗人员治好了她祖母的病。这促使她开始在当地的一家孔子学院学习中文。
Fascinated by Chinese culture, the contestant has taken part in activities on traditional Chinese medicine and folk arts during her first trip to China. “My dream is to study medicine in China so that I could cure patients like the Chinese doctors did,” she said.
对中华文化深深着迷的这位选手第一次来到中国，她参加了中医、民间艺术等相关活动。“我的理想是到中国学医，像中国医生一样，去帮助更多的病人，”她说道。
For Fekete Marcell Zoltan, 17, from the Hungarian-Chinese Bilingual School, studying Chinese may secure him a future job as a Hungarian diplomat to China. “After graduation from high school, I would like to further my studies in China,” he said.
对于来自匈中双语学校的17岁少年费克特·马塞尔·佐尔坦（中文名马宏博）而言，学习中文或许能帮助他在未来成为一名匈牙利驻华外交官。“高中毕业后，我想来中国继续学习，”他说道。
Now that a bridge has been established between the contestants and China, where will their journeys take them?
如今这些选手和中国之间已经建起了一座桥梁，那么他们的旅途又会走向何方呢？
Robert Davis, director of the Chinese-language program in Chicago’s public school system, may give you a hint. “Chinese isn’t the new French. It’s the new English,” he told CGTN.
芝加哥公立学校系统中文项目主任戴静山或许能给你些许提示。“中文并不是一门像法语一样的新的第二外语，而是一门新的通用语言，就像英语一样，”他在接受中国国际电视台采访时如此表示。
