英語沙龍十年合集珍藏版第三輯An American Professor’s Advice to Chinese Stud
An American Professor’s Advice to Chinese Students
Try a little to stretch yourself and integrate into the greater society around you．It’ s definitely1) a challenge．It can be difficult and unpleasant．But it can also be fun and enriching，rewarding and of the utmost benefit in the long run．
Chinese TOEFL scores are averaging a little above６００，an amazing standard．But U．S．admissions officers2) are keenly aware that elevated TOEFL scores do not necessarily indicate truly superior command of the language．
The phenomenon that the Chinese graduate student can’t speak English is quite common and widespread among U．S．universites．
Some U．S．universities now conduct phone interviews of prospective Chinese graduate students．All this to insure that students culled3) from the highly reputed Chinese talent pool have the linguistic4) skills to bring their talents to bear on those tasks with which the university needs help．
For most Chinese graduate students t he language problem soon begins to resolve itself after arrival in the U．S．Be that as it may，a large number of Chinese graduate students continue to struggle with English years after arrival and even years into their professional lives here，which does have a negative impact on employment especially in times like these when market downturns dictate massive layoffs across many industrial sectors．
The crux5) of the problem lies in the Chinese student community．Not surprisingly，most Chinese graduate students begin their U．S．experience in a shared apartment or house exclusively with other Chinese．If they happen to work in a lab where there are other Chinese graduate students then there is often hardly any need to interact with Americans．
The long and short of this is that it is well worth a Chinese student‘s trouble to learn English well．Spoken English．Not just test－taking，TOEFL－blasting English．U．S．university admissions officers are less and less to be fooled by only a poor to middling command of the spoken language．And for those with little or no opportunity of improving this aspect6) of their foreign language skill while still in China，if you are lucky enough to get a chance to come to the U．S．for study，take full advantage of opportunities here．Take an English as a second language class．Most universities have them．City governments and community colleges offer them．Join some university clubs to begin to get to know some American students．Get to know your American classmates and office mates．Do Not Be Shy．Force yourself to join conversations．Find an American roommate．This last can be such a big boost in so many ways if you find the right match．
by George Tseo
美
試著擴(kuò)展你的生活范圍，參與到身邊更廣闊的社會(huì)中去。這肯定是個(gè)挑戰(zhàn)，會(huì)是困難和不愉快的，但這也是有趣和充實(shí)的、有價(jià)值并從長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)來看有最大收益的。
中國(guó)人的托福平均成績(jī)?cè)冢叮埃俺鲱^，這是一個(gè)驚人的高水準(zhǔn)。但是美國(guó)的招生官員非常清楚，托福成績(jī)高并不一定表明真正很好地掌握了這門語言。
在美國(guó)大學(xué)，中國(guó)研究生不能說英語的現(xiàn)象非常普遍，司空見慣。
現(xiàn)在美國(guó)一些大學(xué)對(duì)預(yù)期的中國(guó)研究生實(shí)行電話談話。這是為了保證從非常有名的中國(guó)人才庫(kù)中挑選出的學(xué)生具備使其才能得以施展的語言能力，以勝任學(xué)校需要幫手的工作。
大多數(shù)中國(guó)研究生的語言問題會(huì)在他們抵達(dá)美國(guó)后很快就得到解決。但是還有一種可能的情況就是，有大量的中國(guó)研究生在來到美國(guó)后仍需努力學(xué)習(xí)英語，甚至在美國(guó)從事專業(yè)工作數(shù)年后仍要刻苦學(xué)習(xí)英語，以克服這個(gè)障礙。這對(duì)他們的就業(yè)確實(shí)有著不利的影響，特別是在市場(chǎng)衰退導(dǎo)致許多行業(yè)大量裁員的那些時(shí)期尤為不利。
這個(gè)問題地結(jié)癥在于中國(guó)學(xué)生地群體觀念。大多數(shù)中國(guó)研究生開始他們?cè)诿绹?guó)的生活和時(shí)毫無例外地都是與其他的中國(guó)學(xué)生合租公寓或合租住房，這是不會(huì)令人感到意外的。如果他們工作的實(shí)驗(yàn)室里恰好有其他中國(guó)研究生，那么通常就幾乎沒有必要和美國(guó)人打交道了。
無論從長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)還是短期來看，中國(guó)學(xué)生費(fèi)點(diǎn)力氣學(xué)好英語都是十分值得的。要學(xué)口語，不只是應(yīng)試或托福式的短期英語。美國(guó)大學(xué)的招生官員越來越不會(huì)受騙了，只有蹩腳的口語和一般的口語水平是通不過的。對(duì)于那些仍在中國(guó)、很難有機(jī)會(huì)提高外語口語能力的人來說，如果你有幸能有機(jī)會(huì)來美國(guó)學(xué)習(xí)，那就要充分利用機(jī)會(huì)。參加一個(gè)英語為第二語言的學(xué)習(xí)班，大多數(shù)學(xué)校都開設(shè)此類課程。市政府和社區(qū)大學(xué)也提供這些課程。參加一些大學(xué)俱樂部來結(jié)識(shí)美國(guó)學(xué)生，去認(rèn)識(shí)你的美國(guó)同學(xué)和同事。別怕難為情，強(qiáng)迫自己進(jìn)行交談。找一個(gè)美國(guó)室友。如果你找到了合適的對(duì)象，最后這個(gè)方法會(huì)在許多方面使你有很大提高。
NOTE 注釋：
1. definitely [5definitli] adv. 明確地，肯定地
2. admissions officer 招生負(fù)責(zé)人
3. cull [kQl] v. 精選
4. linguistic [liN5^wistik] adj. 語言上的, 語言學(xué)上的
5. crux [krQks] n. 癥結(jié)
6. aspect [5Aspekt] n. 方面
