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It was indeed a
sunny day
as I arrived at
Sunny School to begin my second
year of teaching English in
China. My name is
David Bartlett, and I am a
New Zealander having a great experience living in
that oldest of nations that is known today
as the People’s Republic of
China. I first came to China
in August of 2004 as one
of many new teachers working for
Buckland International Education Group, a
Chinese company working
out of Yangshuo, Guilin in Guangxi
province. The teachers that I met
there were made up of various
nationalities, though mainly British,
American, Canadian and
Australian. We had come
from diverse parts of
the world for different reasons,
yet united we were in our new experiences within
China.
Before
I arrived here in
the Middle Kingdom I
possessed only a basic knowledge of Chinese
history and culture. As for the languages, I
knew even less ( and I am sorry to say that this
has changed little – though I am now able
to confuse myself and
others in Cantonese and Mandarin.
) Asian civilisation has
always had an enchanting and mystical
quality to many Westerners, and it has
drawn countless adventurers to its
lands over the centuries. China lies
at the centre of all this,
being the mother to all
the cultures of
east-Asia. Its
history stretches back into
the mists of time,
millennia upon millennia, dwarfing the 165 years
of my own nation, New Zealand.
Guilin, set amongst the uncounted
karst pillars that cover northern Guangxi, is
truly a breath-taking site for a city – as
well as a perfect
place for me to
start my Chinese experience. But
barely one week after I arrived, I was sent far
from southern China, northward to the capital,
Beijing, and thence deep
into Shandong province to the small town of
Huimin. How different could to places
be? Where Guilin was
mountainous, Huimin was flat to the
haze on the horizon.
Where Guilin was
ever green, Huimin was
brown and dusty. While
Guilin possessed many rivers and
streams, Huimin was almost empty of them,
but for the mighty Huanghe that flowed just
outside the towns limits, carrying the fertile
silts from thousands of miles of Chinese
landscapes.
I stayed in
that town, teaching at Guangyuan Middle
School for the best
part of a year, and
enjoyed it very much. Yet I knew that I
wanted to be somewhere else. I had fallen in
love with Guilin, and wished to return to that
city after my contract finished in Shandong.
I heard about a great primary
school there from some of my friends at
Buckland, and was eager
for more information. I found
that I might be able to
teach there starting with the new school
term in August 2005.
I was immensily excited. After
that I returned to the south for a
time, and taught in Zhongshan, Guangxi, at
the primary school Tianzhi for one month before
returning to New Zealand to see my
family.
I have
seen many schools in China, but none
have looked as beautiful as Guilin’s Sunny School;
the layout of the school grounds, the classrooms,
the playground, all of them help
to create a wonderful environment in
which to study and to
teach. The bright summer sun
hung high overhead as I passed
through its gates for the first time.
Meeting the headmistress was a
pleasant and enjoyable experience.
Though I could understand
directly only the simpler and slower things that
she said, I was left with the impression
of a great and
professional person. Those
qualities seemed to flow
out to all areas of the school. Having
taught at two Chinese schools previously,
I found that that this one
, Sunny School,
offered the best
environment. The
strong professionalism in
the ad- ministration, the discipline, the
aesthetics and the overall standards of the school
appealed to me very much. The other schools
that I have taught at, while good in their own
way, could not compete with this
one.
There
are many things that I
enjoy about teaching at Sunny
School. The most important
is certainly the students. They are
extremely bright, referring both to their
personalities and their intelligence. They
work long hours every day, yet rarely do they show
signs of exhaustion or bad temper. On the
whole, they are very well behaved in class,
displaying a willingness to learn and to
improve. I love both the
immense energy of the younger
students, and the studious diligence of the
older.
It is
natural for people to be afraid of trying to speak
a new language, being
nervous about making mistakes
(particularly in front of others), and yet every
day outside of class I am surrounded by students
of all ages who wish to speak with
me. The students of grade
1 seem never to bore of the standards “
Hello! How are you?! ”, and
their cries can be heard
whenever I see them. But the
older students are
possessed of a greater
vocabulary and creativity, and
their conversations with me pass
through many topics: their interests, their likes
and dislikes, their families – and
these are just a few
examples. To have contact like
this is very rewarding as both a teacher and a
person; seeing the object of
their classroom instruction become a
tool for friendly conversation is truly the
greatest happiness that an English teacher can
experience.
It has been
great to be here, even for only less than two
months as of yet. The teachers here are
inspiring to work with ,
and truly friendly.
It is easy to see
the enjoyment they have with their
students. Naturally, this
makes Sunny School a happy place to work.
Though my lack of any
substantial Chinese skills has
prevented me from getting
to know many outside
of the English
department, I can
only hope that I can
make some improvement over the next few
months so as to become closer to them. Given
my previous enjoyment, I can only imagine as to
how good the rest of my time here will be.
Sunny
School is a productive ,
fun, and diligent environment,
and one that the students can
benefit from greatly. From
my time here , it
is easy to see why
students are enrolled here from so many different
parts of China. In my
opinion, the school will continue to
grow, both in ability and reputation, and it is
wonderful to be here as it does
so.
David
Bartlett, October,
2005 |
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我到达阳光学校的那天，是我开始在中国教英语的第二年的一天，那的确是一个阳光明媚的日子。我的名字
叫大卫·巴特利特，是新西兰人，我现在正在一个具有古老民族的国家——中国，体验那里丰富多彩的生活。我于2004年8月第一次来到了中国广西省（即广西壮族自治区－译者注），成为桂林阳朔“巴克兰国际教育集团”的许多新老师中的一员。在那我遇见的老师来自各个不同的国家,主要有来自英国、美国、加拿大和澳大利亚的。虽然我们来自世界各个不同的国家，有着不同的目的,然而我们却都聚集在中国，一起体验这里的新生活。
在我到达这里之前，我只略知一些关于中国历史和文化的基本知识。对于汉语,
我知道得甚少(令我尴尬的是：虽然现在这已经有一点点的改变 但我还是把广东话和普通话弄混)。亚洲文明一直令许多西方人
为之感到神秘和着迷，几个世纪来吸引了无数的冒险家来到这里。中国正位于亚洲的中心，是东亚文化的鼻祖。它的历史可以追溯到几千年以前那个遥远的年代，相较之我们新西兰165年的历史 ，那真是小巫见大巫。
桂林, 位于广西北部，处在数不尽的岩溶地质的群山环抱之中——真是一个惊人的城市位置．这里也是我开始在中国新体验的好地方。但仅仅在我到达这的一个星期之后,我又被派到离中国南部很远,却离首都北京很近的北方地区, 从那时起就呆在山东省一个叫会民的小城镇。多么不同的两个地方啊? 桂林是那么多的青山,会民平坦又多雾。在桂林到处是绿色,会民则满是灰尘的褐色。桂林有许多河流，但会民几乎没有,只有镇外那从中国上千里的地方带着肥沃淤泥的、滚滚流过的黄河．
我留在了那个小镇,
在光源中学教书．我非常喜欢在那教书，在那里度过了一年快乐的时光．然而我知道我还是想要去其它地方的。我已经爱上了桂林,并且想在完成我与山东会民光源中学签的合约后回到那里。我从巴克兰一些我的朋友那听说桂林有一个很棒的小学,我也渴望知道更多的信息。
后来知道我有可能在2005年8月到桂林这所学校开始我的新工作，
我真是非常地兴奋。离开会民我回到了南方一段时间, 在我回新西兰看我家人前，我又在广西钟山的田知小学工作了一个月。
我在中国看到了许多学校, 但是没有哪一所像桂林阳光学校一样美丽的；学校教室、运动场等方面的规划，提供了一个很好的教学环境。当我第一次走进学校大门时，明媚的阳光在头顶照耀着。和学校校长的交谈更是一种另人愉快的享受。虽然我只能听懂一些她说得简单或说的很慢的话，但她的专业让我留下了很深的印象。她的那些品质似乎也展现在学校的每个角落。
和先前的两所中国学校相比，我发现，阳光学校提供了最好的环境。学校具有专业性的行政管理、规章制度、环境的美化等方面全都深深吸引了我。其他我去过的学校也有自己做得好的方面，但不能和这里相比。
有很多方面令我在阳光学校工作得很开心。当然，最重要的是学生。他们非常的活泼，聪明,有个性。虽然他们每天会学习很长的一段时间, 但他们很少会表示出疲惫或耍脾气。整体来说，他们在课堂上表现非常好,能自觉地去学习、提高自己。
我喜欢这种精力充沛、勤奋好学的学生。
人是天生就害怕去尝试说一种新的语言的，担心会出错
(特别 是在其他人面前),
但每天课后我就会被各年龄段学生包围着要和我交谈。一年级的学生似乎从不厌烦于询问
“哈罗!你好吗?!”,
不管我在哪看见他们，他们都这么喊叫。年级高的学生掌握的词汇量多一些，具有一定创造力,
可以和他们交谈很多的话题:
他们的兴趣、他们喜欢和不喜欢什么、他们的家庭……这些只是其中的一些例子。像这样的交流对老师和学生都是非常有益的；看到他们教室里挂的育人名言成为了指引学生友好交谈的工具，能让一位英语老师真正体会那种无比快乐的感觉．
虽然在这里工作还不到两个月，但我感觉很棒。和在这里一起工作的老师特别的友好，工作非常积极。在这随意可见到他们快乐地和学生在一起。自然地，这也使得阳光学校成为了一个快乐工作的地方。虽然由于在汉语的使用方面有许多还跟不上的原因阻碍了我去了解除了外语组以外的其他东西，但我只是希望在以后几个月能有所提高，和他们靠得更近。虽然在阳光只工作了一段时间，但却带给了我很多快乐，我能想象在接下来的在阳光教书的日子一定是多么的令人愉快！
阳光学校是个充满乐趣，勤奋学习的地方,
在这的学生能从中受益颇大。从我来这的一段时间，我明白了为什么来自中国不同地方的学生会来到这里学习。依我之见，学校将会继续向前发展,它的能力、名誉和地位将会不断地提高．能来到阳光工作真是荣幸之至，真是太棒了！！
大卫·巴特利特
2005.10
（阳光学校双语教研室翻译）
 点击：新西兰 |
桂林阳光学校＼教师与科研
