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Our Culture Can't Be Canceled: Language Program Chief Explains Why Russian Popular Among Foreigners_我的网站

成吉思汗

一 | 之前科普中国介绍过巧克力的制作方法（戳此回顾），当时曾提到，传统的巧克力生产离不开只生长在热带地区的可可（Theobroma cacao）树。

二 | During the Russia-Africa Youth Public Forum, which took place on July 26-28 with support from the Russian Presidential Grants Fund, Sputnik interviewed Svetlana Ulyanova, head of the Project Management Department of the Pushkin state Russian Language Institute, curator of the ‘World Russian Language Ambassadors’ Program. In the interview, she explained why people across the globe chose to learn Russian and what exactly makes Russian culture so great.,Sputnik: Why is it important to promote Russian language learning in foreign countries?,Svetlana Ulyanova: Vitaly Grigorievich Kostomarov, the founder of our Pushkin state Russian Language Institute, used to quote [Anton] Chekhov: “The more languages you know, the more you are a human being.” It was Kostomarov who proposed and developed the methodology of teaching Russian as a foreign language, that is, teaching it to foreigners - because it is a completely different story than teaching it to native speakers.,The Russian language is truly beautiful, interesting, fascinating. We have an amazing culture, a very interesting literature. You can experience Chekhov, Tolstoy in all their beauty only in their original language. So, there is an opportunity to truly understand what our great writers wrote about.,© Sputnik / Sergey Pyatakov / Go to the photo bankPushkin-related sites. Alexander Pushkin Museum-Reserve in Vyazyomy EstatePushkin-related sites. Alexander Pushkin Museum-Reserve in Vyazyomy Estate© Sputnik / Sergey Pyatakov / Go to the photo bank,Sputnik: Why is intercultural dialogue important, especially now, in the current political situation, between Russia and Africa, and Russia and other regions?,Svetlana Ulyanova: Cultural dialog has always been important, as evidenced by the idea of learning the Russian language through culture and the concept of “linguocountry studies”, which originated at the Pushkin Institute. After all, the Russian language is not just grammar and spelling rules. It is literature, art, and finally cuisine that form an understanding of the national character and the Russian language in particular. When we teach Russian to foreigners, we get engaged in a big dialog of cultures. Sometimes students from different continents study in the same group, and Russian becomes their only shared language. In the learning process, they also share part of their culture with us.,Our volunteers [participate], for example, in the program ‘Ambassadors of the Russian language in the world’, a program carried out by the Pushkin Institute with the support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia. We pay a lot of attention to intercultural communication. Otherwise, for example, the children we teach abroad would have no interest when we talk only about ourselves.,We're really interested in learning more about how people live in other countries, interested in learning about them and to really share our cultural moments with each other. That's always interesting. And speaking again about Russian ambassadors, they have the opportunity to learn more about how the whole world lives, to gain new knowledge. That is why we, in our expeditions, always pay great attention to intercultural dialogue. And the volunteers not only promote the Russian language, but they themselves learn more and more about the traditions of other countries.,© Sputnik / Anton Vergun / Go to the photo bankFestival of folk culture "Malanya Winter" in the Belgorod regionFestival of folk culture "Malanya Winter" in the Belgorod region© Sputnik / Anton Vergun / Go to the photo bank,Sputnik: Who is an ambassador of the Russian language in your understanding?,Svetlana Ulyanova: A person who promotes the Russian language. It is a measure of responsibility for what a person does, what a volunteer does. Hence, the high status of the ambassador of the Russian language speaks precisely about that. And on the other hand, indeed, this person is a representative of Russia abroad, a representative of the Russian language, Russian culture. And the ‘World Russian Language Ambassadors’ program just brings everything together.,Sputnik: How can people who learn Russian use the language in the future? Do they intend to work in Russia?,Svetlana Ulyanova: They have absolutely different opportunities. Indeed, it's a matter of business, work, international contracts, they don't have to come to Russia. After that, they can stay in their country and conduct international contracts with Russian companies or work for a Russian company that is abroad, such as Rosatom. Peaceful nuclear energy is one of the most important, large-scale things that Russia does abroad. The second point is the opportunity to travel around Russia and the CIS countries, where people speak Russian. And the third point is to delve deeper into the Russian culture.,We conducted a study called the Index of the Russian Language Position in the World, according to which Russian has taken good positions in such areas as use in international organizations, the number of Russian language resources on the internet, the number of scientific publications, which is why Russian remains the language of science and education, the language of figures and official dialog.,© Sputnik / Vitaliy Timkiv / Go to the photo bankParticipants in the celebration of the Day of the State Flag of the Russian Federation in KrasnodarParticipants in the celebration of the Day of the State Flag of the Russian Federation in Krasnodar© Sputnik / Vitaliy Timkiv / Go to the photo bank,Sputnik: How important is it to promote Russian culture now that the Russian people and culture are being subjected to the “cancel culture" in the West?,Svetlana Ulyanova: I believe that Pushkin, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, our ballet cannot be cancelled. I believe in people's good sense and that people will continue to take an interest in Russian culture. Besides, the Pushkin Institute program, including the ambassadors of the Russian language program, allows us to show the beauty of the Russian language and Russian literature to foreigners. And we do have these opportunities, which we are using.,Sputnik: What are the biggest challenges for people learning Russian?,Svetlana Ulyanova: Russian is considered one of the most difficult languages on the planet. But this does not deny its beauty. Difficulties arise depending on which language the people who learn it speak com from, because some people cannot get used to so many cases and how words change, because in their native language everything is completely different. Some people can't get used to the way we construct sentences, because in their language things are constructed differently. Everyone, probably every nationality, has its own difficulties in learning Russian. But the Pushkin Institute has special methods for teaching Russian as a foreign language. And we take this into account to make it as easy as possible for foreigners to learn our language.。这样的话，在热带地区之外，其他国家是不是就无法生产巧克力了呢？当然不是，我国就长期依靠进口获取可可豆——巧克力最核心的原材料——来生产巧克力。

三 | 而且，从热带地区进口可可豆也不是唯一的出路，我们国家甚至已经实现了可可豆的出口。下面我们就来讲讲这段巧克力的故事。1、从可可到可可豆可可原产于美洲热带地区的潮湿雨林，它需要潮湿、温暖的气候，也需要特殊的传粉昆虫。按照传统的分类方法，可可属于梧桐科，而在参考分子生物学证据编制的新分类系统（APG系统）中，旧梧桐科被合并到了锦葵科中，成为了梧桐亚科，可可也就因此和棉花、椴树拉近了“户口”上的关系。作为一种乔木，可可的植株不算高大，具有“老茎生花”现象，花朵看上去就像是直接从树干上长出来的，结出的果实也同样是挂在树干上。和不起眼的乳白色小花比起来，可可的果实堪称巨大，每个都能有几百克重，外形像橄榄球，内部有十几粒种子。每粒种子外面都包裹着白色、胶质的“果肉”。新鲜的时候可可“果肉”味道酸甜，有点像山竹，虽然也挺好吃，但这些“果肉”在加工制作巧克力时却派不上用场。可可的果实收获以后，会经过后熟、发酵、干燥等工序，最终只留下种子，这就是成品可可豆。2、从进口到出口从果实的采收到可可豆成品的诞生，这整个加工过程，都在可可产区完成。目前，全世界最主要的可可豆生产国是西非的科特迪瓦，产量约占全球产量的40%还多，排在它后面的还有加纳、印度尼西亚、多米尼加、喀麦隆等国。也就是说，目前可可豆的生产并不集中在可可的原产地热带美洲，这种植物已经引种到全球许多热带国家和地区。

四 | 我国华南也有一些地区足够温暖潮湿，可供可可生长，这些地方也引进了可可作为经济作物种植。海南就种植了可可。

五 | 在二十世纪八十年代，海南的可可产量已经很可观了，后来由于各种因素，这里的可可商业化种植一直处于低谷状态，年产量只有一二十吨。

六 | 这个量可远远不能满足国内巧克力生产的需要，因此绝大多数的国产巧克力品牌，原料都依靠进口。把可可豆、可可粉、可可脂等各种可可原料加起来，我国每年要进口十几万吨的巧克力原材料。

七 | 不过，在多方努力下，我国于2020年10月首次向比利时出口了海南可可豆，证明了国产可可豆的品质已经受到国际认可。不过当时的出口总量只有500千克，在完成了历史性突破的同时，也从另一个角度说明了国产可可豆的生产现状。

八 | 3、从可可豆到巧克力世界各地的巧克力制造商买来可可豆以后，会把它们清洗、去壳、烘焙，然后把种仁拿去研磨，得到细腻的“巧克力原浆”。“巧克力原浆”再经过分离、过滤等工序，就能得到可可粉和可可脂。

九 | 我们平时吃的黑巧克力，主要原料就是可可粉和可可脂；而白巧克力就只用可可脂，不加可可粉。在很多巧克力的包装上，都会标示着一个百分数，这个数字指的是巧克力中可可豆成分的比例，数字越大，可可豆占比越高，糖、奶等成分就越少，吃起来也就越苦。等一下，既然最后要把可可粉和可可脂混在一起，为什么不直接用可可豆做巧克力呢？其实，最早的巧克力的确是这么做的，只不过吧……不那么好吃。

十 | 在可可的原产地，也就是美洲热带地区，原住民们最早是用磨碎的可可豆，加上玉米、辣椒、蜂蜜等原料一起制作饮料的。

十一 | 这饮料味道又甜又苦又辣，喝之前还要打出泡沫。有一种观点认为，巧克力（chocolate）一词，就是音译自美洲原住民语言中的“苦水”或“打出泡沫的水”。

十二 | 而可可豆直接磨成的粉，也就是这种巧克力饮料的原料，味道是又苦又酸涩的，如果今天的巧克力还是这个味道，恐怕很难流行起来。那么巧克力又是怎么“进化”的呢？这就要等到可可豆从美洲原产地漂洋过海传到欧洲之后了。1815年，荷兰人豪尔顿（Coenraad Johannes van Houten）发明了可可豆碱化工艺，可以增加香气、降低苦味。1819年，瑞士人凯雅（Francois Louis Cailler）发明了固体巧克力，巧克力从液体饮料逐步向现代巧克力靠近。不过，当时的固体巧克力与现代巧克力比起来，口感还显得很粗糙。1828年，前面说的荷兰人豪尔顿又发明了一种机器，可以把可可粉和可可脂分开。并且他发现，先把可可粉和可可脂分离开，然后再把它们混合起来，这样制成的巧克力会更加香滑细腻。到了十九世纪后期，又经过雀巢、瑞士莲等公司的改进，现代巧克力就此出现。说了那么多，总结起来就是：现代巧克力发源于数千年前的美洲，诞生于十九世纪的欧洲。直到今天，全世界最知名的那些巧克力生产商中，欧洲公司依然占多数。由于可可只能在热带地区生长，所以不管是外国品牌还是我国品牌，基本都需要从热带国家和地区进口可可原材料。但在巧克力的生产过程中，其原材料可可豆的生产与最终巧克力的加工生产环节是分离的。所以，不产可可豆的地区，也可以获得原材料，生产出大众喜爱的美味巧克力。参考文献：[1]朱自慧. 世界可可业概况与发展海南可可业的建议[J]. 热带农业科学, 2003, 23(3): 28-33.[2]赵溪竹, 赖剑雄, 李付鹏, 等. 我国可可产业发展现状与前景[J]. 中国热带农业, 2018 (5): 4-5.作者 | 吴昌宇审核 | 顾垒首都师范大学生命科学学院副教授。