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美国人眼中的中国留学生
发布时间:2012-4-18 23:45:00|| 点击:2745次|| 文章分类:翻译学习|| 发布人:翻译家(Fanyijia.com)
The Classroom Experience. There's no such thing as an all-lecture class at Yale, nor at most other undergraduate colleges or business schools. Professors expect and demand engagement and discussion and students will often pipe up with questions in the middle of a salient point. In most cases, this is not considered rude; I think American students occasionally think of themselves as consumers of the course material, with the right to get their questions answered or theories explored by the professor. In one early class of ours, the professor even wrote to students who had not been participating to request that they speak up more in class. 课堂教学。 在美国,无论是商学院或是本科,我们都没有纯粹地“讲授式”教学。教授们通常都希望,甚至要求课堂互动与讨论,而学生们也会在关键点上主动提问。大多数情 况下,我们不认为这种“打断”是不礼貌的,因为美国学生普遍有一种“消费者心理”:我们花钱花时间来到这个课堂,就是知识和教授的消费者,就有权得到满意 的答案,有权请教授当下进一步阐述不明之处。我听说有的教授甚至亲自写信给那些课上过于“安静”的同学,请他们踊跃发言。 I imagine this is a difficult practice to begin if one comes from a place where the classroom dynamic centers on the professor speaking uninterrupted. But in the States I think students come to class to learn as much from each other as from the teacher, and so participation is viewed positively and seen as part of the unwritten contract. I know from speaking to other American students, we yearned to hear from our international classmates more, especially at the start of the year. 听说在很多其他国家,比如中国,课堂完全以教授讲述为主,教授与学生之间似乎有一种“不被打断”的约 定俗成。我认为,两者间最大的差别是,我们坚信课堂教学过程中,学生不但要向教授学习,更需要互相启发、分享见解,所以互动式教学是有积极意义的,也是一 种美国式的约定俗成。而作为美国学生,我们也真的非常希望在课堂上听到更多来自国际学生的声音。 Of course, not all participation is valid or particularly helpful. Students will often ask questions they should know the answer to, or attempt to build on a point with an off-base comment. Interestingly, I think if a group of students is in a class together consistently (as we are at Yale with our cohort system), the group begins to subtly govern itself and members whose contributions might not be adding to the total experience will get the hint and aim to consider the good of the whole when raising their hand. But shifting between absorbing the lecture and participating in a conversation about it is a key feature of the classroom experience. 当然,不得不承认的是,我们不可能保证这种互动总是有益且高效的。有些同学可能会问一些理应在课前阅 读中解决的问题,甚至会提一些不靠谱的想法。有趣的是,如果一个班的学生经常在一起上课,在同学间会渐渐自发地产生一种“潜规则”,或者说是一种“同侪压 力”,逼迫着那些经常提“傻问题”的同学三思而后行。总而言之,在课堂上把握好吸收知识与参与讨论的节奏是对每个学生至关重要. Teamwork. The team is the core unit of business school education, as it's meant to mirror what we will all face when we go back to the workplace. In American business schools, as in American business, everything gets done as a team. Though Americans value entrepreneurial spirit and individual drive, for whatever cultural reasons we believe teamwork is the Holy Grail for well-functioning businesses and organizations. I think it's the sense of cooperation and give-and-take, which most of us learned even in our family units that translates into how we learn and work. And though we all worked before coming to Yale, the heavy reliance on teamwork here is structured to teach us how to balance strengths, interests, and working styles for the good of the whole. 团队合作。学习团队是商学院教育的核心组成部分,因为我们中的每个人在未来工作中都将面对类似的情 形。在美国商学院,就好比在美国商业文化中一样,几乎所有的功课都由团队完成。我们坚信团队合作是成功商业运作中的“圣杯”,且与我们推崇的创业家精神以 及个人奋斗并不矛盾。我认为团队合作体现的是一种“有付出才有回报”的合作精神,这与我们在成长道路上所学到价值观相吻合。很多课业本身要求团队成员能够 为了最终共同的利益去主动平衡互相之间的优劣势、职业兴趣以及工作风格,以期达到最佳状态。 My study team was a typical blend of backgrounds, industries, and future goals. We all had different ways of working and part of the challenge (and lesson) was learning how best to work together. Teamwork here does differ from most workplace scenarios, because there is no hierarchy, no boss calling the shots. Leaders may naturally emerge or this position might rotate throughout the course of the year. But since no one can fire anyone else, the team really does need to reach harmony through cooperation and respect. According to friends from China and other countries, teamwork can occasionally be challenging or viewed as an inefficient use of time. The amount of discussion and debate that occurs can hamper the outcome. I don't think this complaint is unique to international students″it's one I sometimes share″as do others. But having worked in companies with meeting-heavy, team-oriented cultures, I know that the test of my time and patience is helping to prepare me for the post-MBA world. If anything, we can use our time here at Yale to learn how to make better and more effective use of our teams.
Socializing and Networking. Business school is not just about the classes. And depending on who you ask, it's not even mostly about the classes. Networking within the student body is a key piece of the experience, and the one with the most potential future benefit. In our tightly knit community are future CEOs, CFOs, Presidents of companies, government officials, and board members. It's to our benefit to get to know each and every member of the class. This was certainly the attitude I had coming into Yale, and among the people I was most eager to get to know were the international students. Learning about other cultures is one of the reasons. 社交网络。商学院绝不仅仅是上课学习(甚至有同学说,主要不是学习……)。与同学们多交往,建立起一个社交网络是重要组成部分,而且是将来能为每个 人带来益处的好事。在我们这个紧密的团体里,有未来的CEO, CFO,公司主席,政府领袖等等,我们应该努力认识每个人,与大家成为好朋友。我正是本着这个态度来到管院,也正是这个原因使我一直很积极去了解更多国际 同学。 I love to travel; business school seemed great because it brought all of those cultures to a single place. However after the first few weeks of school, people started to break down into groups, often by nationality. I too am to blame; most of the friends I spend time with outside of class are Americans. However as president of the student body, I plan many events that aim to bring everyone together. 我本人很爱旅游,原因就是可以见识到不同的文化,商学院对我就是一个很好的地方,因为他把当今世界上最重要的一些文化元素通过吸收国际学生而汇集到 了一个地方。但是我没有想到的是,开学不多久,同学们便不自觉地组成了按地域分的小团体。我自己也难辞其咎,因为我自己的好朋友也大部分是美国人。但是作 为新一任的主席,我计划安排更多跨文化的主题活动,来让他们走得更近。 Still, these events are not often attended by all groups. Speaking to some of my Chinese friends, I know that they can find the socializing more of a chore than pure fun. Perhaps because of language or cultural reference barriers, not everyone mingles as much as would be ideal. I think socializing is another piece of the business school experience that mirrors American business culture. In the U.S., many business deals and arrangements are forged in social settings, and high value is put on relationship-building. It's not always about being the best or brightest, but often comes down to who you know and how well you know them. Social networking sites like LinkedIn have become hugely popular ways for businesspeople to stay connected. In some ways business school is a real-life version of LinkedIn. Lucky for us at Yale, people are truly interested in each other's lives and ambitions, so the networking is not fake. Yet it is important and everyone would do well to take part. Sticking to our comfort zones and our areas of familiarity cheats ourselves and our peers out of the opportunity to break down barriers and get to know new people in new ways.
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