Early in his presidency, Obama set a goal to vastly increase the number of Americans studying Chinese and taking part in academic programs in China. Eight years later, American universities are experiencing a decline in the enrollment in Chinese language courses and study abroad programs.
歐巴馬在總統任內初期設定目標，大量增加美國人學習中文，以及參與在中國學術課程的人數。8年過後，美國大學正經歷中文課程及海外學習課程的就學人數衰減。
Stanford University announced in January it would indefinitely suspend its undergraduate program in Beijing as of May. The university had earlier merged its Chinese and Japanese language degree programs into a single East Asian studies course. The University of Pennsylvania and Williams College in Massachusetts may also follow suit.
史丹福大學1月宣佈，將於5月起無限期暫停在北京的大學課程。該校此前曾將其中文與日文學位課程，合併為單一的東亞研究課程。賓州大學及麻州威廉士學院可能也會跟進。
A key factor in American students’ decreasing interest in studying in China is the changing views of China in recent years. Nearly two-thirds of respondents in a January poll by Pew Research Center said they saw China as either an adversary or a serious problem.
美國學生對在中國學習興趣減少的關鍵因素之一，是近年對中國觀感的改變。根據「皮優研究中心」在1月份所做的民調，有將近3分之2的受訪者表示，他們視中國為對手，或是一個嚴重問題。
The researchers said negative views of China rose 21 percentage points between 2006 and 2016 among young Americans. Some students don’t want to spend time in the polluted environment of China, with their parents also having a big say in this.
研究人員指出，在2006年至2016年間，美國年輕人對中國的負面觀感增加21%。一些學生不願花時間待在中國的污染環境，他們的父母對此也擁有很大的發言權。
Source article: http://iservice.ltn.com.tw/Service/english/english.php?engno=1132635&day=2017-09-05