“Our research shows that Mandarin will be one of the most important languages for the UKs future prosperity and global standing—but we mustnt neglect Spanish， French and German which will still be vital post-Brexit.”

Nick Gibb， the schools minister， said： “It has never been more important for young people to learn a foreign language than now.”

“An outward looking global nation needs a new generation of young people comfortable with the language and culture of our overseas trading partners.”

In 2018 Chinese A-level （General Certificate of Education Advanced Level） has overtaken German for the first time， as it becomes the UKs third most popular language.

This year 3，334 students took Chinese A-level， compared to 3，058 taking German. While entries for Chinese have increased by 8.6 percent since 2017， German entries have declined by 16.5 percent.

Derek Richardson， the senior responsible officer at Pearson， said Chinese has “bucked the trend” of the fall in popularity of modern languages.

“In languages we are seeing some significant decreases in entries for the main modern languages： French， German and Spanish，” he said.

“But what we are also seeing is an increase in entries across some of the other languages that people study.”

“What this means is Chinese is now more popular than German. So maybe young people are beginning to think about what languages will be useful to them in the future.”

French remains the most popular modern language A-level followed by Spanish， but both have seen a fall in entries compared to 2017 by eight and four percent respectively.

Russian has also increased in popularity since 2017 by 3.4 percent， from 1，122 to 1，160. Arabic， however， has declined by 5.4 percent， from 782 entries in 2017 to 740 in 2018.

Suzanne OFarrell， curriculum and assessment specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders （ASCL）， said： “Were seeing German just moving into extinction really. It is in severe decline.”

Barnaby Lenon， chair of the Independent Schools Council （ISC）， said that whereas pupils used to be told “It will really help your career if you learn German”， this is no longer the case.

“In the 1960s， 70s and even the 80s， Germany was the economic powerhouse of Europe，” he told The Daily Telegraph.

“Pupils were strongly encouraged to study German because of the importance of the German economy. Although it is still strong， that argument has faded， and China has emerged in the last 25 years as the fastest growing economy in the world.”

Mr Lenon， a former headmaster at Harrow School， said the rise in Chinese A-levels is partly driven by private schools， many of which have invested in the subject in recent years.

“It is not the case that a large number of states schools are now teaching Chinese A-levels. They are not，” he said.

He said many of the entries will be Chinese native speakers， adding that independent schools have attracted “l(fā)arge numbers” of Chinese pupils in recent years.

Aspirational middle class families sending their children to be educated in the UK has fuelled a steady increase in Chinese students， with number at fee-paying schools almost doubling in five years according to ISC data.

Mark Herbert， director of schools and skills at the British Council， welcomed the rise in Chinese A-level entries.

“Against this overall downward trend， the increasing popularity of Chinese proves that our young people can be enthused to study languages，” he said.

在2018年的A-level考試中，選考漢語的考生人數(shù)首次超過德語，漢語成為英國第三大熱門語言。

2018年有3334名學(xué)生報(bào)考了漢語A-level考試，德語有3058人。選考漢語的報(bào)名人數(shù)比2017年增長(zhǎng)了8.6%，而德語則減少了16.5%。

培生集團(tuán)高級(jí)官員德里克·理查德森說，漢語“逆轉(zhuǎn)”了現(xiàn)代語言受歡迎度下降的“趨勢(shì)”。

他說：“我們看到一些主要現(xiàn)代語言的報(bào)考人數(shù)大幅減少，包括法語、德語和西班牙語?！?/p>

“但是我們同時(shí)也看到，報(bào)考其他一些語言的人數(shù)有所增加?！?/p>

“這意味著漢語現(xiàn)在比德語更受歡迎。也許年輕人開始思考未來哪些語言對(duì)他們更有用?！?/p>

法語仍然是A-level中選考人數(shù)最多的現(xiàn)代語言，其次是西班牙語。但是與2017年相比，這兩種語言的報(bào)考人數(shù)分別減少了8%和4%。

俄語的報(bào)考人數(shù)也比2017年增加了3.4%，從1122人增加到1160人。阿拉伯語的報(bào)考人數(shù)減少了5.4%，從2017年的782人減少到2018年的740人。

英國校長(zhǎng)協(xié)會(huì)的課程與評(píng)估專家蘇珊娜·奧法雷爾說：“我們看到報(bào)考德語的人數(shù)正在大幅減少，情況真的很嚴(yán)重?！?/p>

英國私立學(xué)校理事會(huì)主席巴納比·萊農(nóng)說，過去，學(xué)生被教導(dǎo)說“學(xué)習(xí)德語，真的會(huì)對(duì)你的事業(yè)很有幫助”，但是現(xiàn)在情況不再是這樣了。

他在接受《每日電訊報(bào)》采訪時(shí)說：“在20世紀(jì)60和70年代，甚至到了80年代，德國在歐洲經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展中一直起著重要作用?！?/p>

“以前，因?yàn)榈聡?jīng)濟(jì)的重要性，學(xué)生被大力鼓勵(lì)學(xué)習(xí)德語。現(xiàn)在，盡管德國經(jīng)濟(jì)依然很強(qiáng)，但是這種觀點(diǎn)正在逐漸消失，中國在過去25年中已經(jīng)崛起，成為全球發(fā)展最快的經(jīng)濟(jì)體?！?/p>

中國一些有抱負(fù)的中產(chǎn)階級(jí)家庭把子女送到英國留學(xué)，來自中國的留學(xué)生人數(shù)穩(wěn)步增長(zhǎng)。英國私立學(xué)校理事會(huì)的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，私立學(xué)校的中國留學(xué)生數(shù)量在5年內(nèi)幾乎翻番。

英國文化協(xié)會(huì)學(xué)校和技能總監(jiān)馬克·赫伯特對(duì)報(bào)考漢語人數(shù)增加表示歡迎。

他說：“在整體呈下降趨勢(shì)的背景下，漢語越來越受歡迎證明我們的年輕人可以充滿熱情地學(xué)習(xí)語言?！?/p>

“我們的研究顯示，漢語將成為影響英國未來繁榮和全球地位最重要的語言之一，但我們絕不能忽視西班牙語、法語和德語，它們?cè)谟摎W之后仍將非常重要?！?/p>

英國教育部國務(wù)大臣尼克·吉布說：“現(xiàn)在對(duì)年輕人來說，學(xué)習(xí)外語比以往任何時(shí)候都更加重要?！?/p>

“一個(gè)開放的國際化國家需要新一代的年輕人熟悉海外貿(mào)易伙伴的語言和文化?！?/p>

曾擔(dān)任哈羅公學(xué)校長(zhǎng)的萊農(nóng)說，報(bào)考漢語人數(shù)增長(zhǎng)一定程度上是私立學(xué)校推動(dòng)的，許多私立學(xué)校近年來都對(duì)這一學(xué)科有所投入。

他說：“但是，并不是說大量公立學(xué)?，F(xiàn)在開始教授漢語A-level課程，并不是這樣?！?/p>

他說，很多報(bào)考漢語的考生母語是漢語。私立學(xué)校近年來吸引了“大量的”中國學(xué)生。

Word Study

decline /d?'kla?n/ v. 下降;減少

significant /s?g'n?f?k?nt/ adj. 數(shù)量相當(dāng)大的;顯著的

respectively /r?'spekt?vli/ adv. 分別地;各自地

severe /s?'v??（r）/ adj. 十分嚴(yán)重的;極為惡劣的

aspirational /'?sp?'re???nl/ adj. 有志向的;有抱負(fù)的

prosperity /pr?'sper?ti/ n. 繁榮;興旺;富足

neglect /n?'glekt/ v. 不予重視;忽視