要是提到国际教育议题中最显著的问题，想想这样的场景：数百人挤在一间舞厅内，努力“糟蹋”着汉语的韵母。

Ifthere was any question about one of the most dominant issues in internationaleducation, consider this: Several hundred people packed a ballroom here tomangle Chinese vowels.

周五举行的国际教育工作者协会(Nafsa: Association of International Educators)年度会议中，中国学生姓名的问题成了热点。这倒不稀奇——如今美国校园里每三个国际生中就有一个来自中国，并且人数还在持续攀升。

Thesession on Chinese students’ names was a hot item at the annual conference ofNafsa: Association of International Educators, which runs through Friday. Nowonder — one in every three international students on American campuses todayis from China, and their numbers continue to surge.

然而，美国教育工作者对中国名字的发音能力却并没有自然而然地跟着提高。会议组织者珍妮弗·沃斯(Jennifer Vos)在福特汉姆大学(Fordham University)担任国际学生指导教师，她通过对福特汉姆大学中国学生的调查发现，75%的被调查者使用的是英文名。但几乎所有人都表示，如果不会讲中文的人也能正确读出中国名字的话，他们更愿意用中文名。

What’snot necessarily growing is American educators’ ability to pronounce Chinesenames. In fact, when Jennifer Vos, the panel’s organizer, surveyed Chinesestudents at Fordham University, where she is an international-student adviser,she found that 75 percent of them had adopted English names. But almost allsaid they would have preferred to use their given names, if only non-Chinesespeakers were able to pronounce them.

此外，沃斯调查的200名学生中，近半数表示在不得不使用中文名的场合下——比如处理学生签证问题时——他们会直接把中文名的拼音念给美国人，甚至不会尝试让他们听清自己的名字。

Inaddition, of the 200 students surveyed by Ms. Vos, nearly half said that insituations in which they had to use their Chinese names — for example, whendealing with student-visa issues — they didn’t even attempt to say their names.They just spelled them for Americans.

两年半前，会讲普通话并有语言学背景的沃斯决定举办汉语发音的入门课程，让她的同事们也能发出那些拗口的读音。从此，她开始在本校和其他地方，指导教授、教职工和行政人员练习发音。

Ms.Vos, who speaks Mandarin and has a background in linguistics, decided about twoand a half years ago to put together a primer to help her fellow advisers gettheir tongues around twisty Chinese pronunciation. She’s since given thetutorial to professors, staff members, and administrators, on her own campusand elsewhere.

周二下午，她和她的合作演讲人，密歇根大学国际中心项目协调员凯特·郑(Kate Zheng)，领着一整个屋子的国际教育工作者学习了陌生的发音：“xi”（听起来像“shee”），“zh”（有点像英文里的“j”），以及“Huang”（像“pong”的韵脚而非“pang”的）。

OnTuesday afternoon, she and her fellow presenter, Kate Zheng, a programcoordinator in the University of Michigan’s international center, led a fullhouse of international educators through unfamiliar phrasing: "xi"(said like "shee"), "zh" (sort of like an English"j"), and "Huang" (rhymes with "pong," never"pang").

对于中国姓氏和名字中都非常常见的“Yu”，读得像英语代词（you，意为“你”——编注）一样会让说普通话的人感到困惑，凯特·郑说。它尾音比较长，更像是“y eu-ee”。

Pronounce"Yu," common as both a first name and a surname, like the Englishpronoun, and you’ll confuse a Mandarin speaker, Ms. Zheng said. It’s drawn out,more like "y eu-ee."

“掌握的反义词是什么？”一位参与者在被问到是否已经掌握了窍门的时候抱怨道。

"What’sthe opposite of mastery?" muttered one participant when asked if he wasgetting the hang of it.

但沃斯表示这不是为了掌握完美的发音。在赴美留学的中国学生如此之多的情况下，尝试学习就会大有稗益。教育工作者的努力显示的是对学生背景和传统的尊重，学生们会更大程度地感受到对他们的欢迎。

ButMs. Vos said it wasn’t about nailing perfect pronunciation. Rather, with somany Chinese students pursuing American degrees, just trying can go a long way.It shows respect for students’ background and heritage, and it can help themfeel more welcome.

沃斯说，“学生们真的看得到你的努力。”

"Students,"Ms. Vos said, "really do notice your effort."