An American Professor’s Advice to Chinese Students
美國教授對欲赴美留學者的忠告

Try a little to stretch yourself and integrate into1 the greater society around you. It’s definitely a challenge. It can be difficult and unpleasant. But it can also be fun and enriching2, rewarding and of the utmost benefit in the long run3.

試著擴展你的生活范圍，參與到身邊更廣闊的社會中去。這肯定是個挑戰，會是困難和不愉快的，但這也是有趣和充實的、有價值并從長遠來看有最大收益的。

Chinese TOEFL scores are averaging a little above 600, an amazing standard. But U.S. admissions officers are keenly aware that elevated4 TOEFL scores do not necessarily indicate truly superior command of the language.

中國人的托福平均成績在600出頭，這是一個驚人的高水準。但是美國的招生官員非常清楚，托福成績高并不一定表明真正很好地掌握了這門語言。

The phenomenon of the Chinese graduate student who can’t speak English is quite common and widespread among U.S. universities. When they arrive with stunted5 verbal skills, this brings into serious question their competence and, in many cases, the continuation of their scholarships.

在美國大學，中國研究生不能說英語的現象非常普遍，司空見慣。他們來到美國時口語技能很差，這就使他們的語言能力成了嚴重問題，而且在很多情況下，這還會影響到他們的獎學金延續。

Some U.S. universities now conduct phone interviews of prospective Chinese graduate students. All this to insure that students culled6 from the highly reputed Chinese talent pool have the linguistic7 skills to bring their talents to bear on those tasks with which the university needs help.

現在美國一些大學對預期的中國研究生實行電話談話。這是為了保證從非常有名的中國人才庫中挑選出的學生，具備使其才能得以施展的語言能力，以勝任學校需要幫手的工作。

For most Chinese graduate students the 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 dictate8 massive layoffs9 across many industrial sectors.

大多數中國研究生的語言問題，會在他們抵達美國后很快就得到解決。但是還有一種可能的情況就是，有大量的中國研究生在來到美國后仍需努力學習英語，甚至在美國從事專業工作數年后仍要刻苦學習英語，以克服這個障礙。這對他們的就業，確實有著不利的影響，特別是在市場衰退導致許多行業大量裁員的那些時期尤為不利。

The crux10 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.

這個問題的癥結在于中國學生的群體觀念。大多數中國研究生開始他們在美國的生活時毫無例外地都是與其他的中國學生合租公寓或合租住房。這是不會令人感到意外的。如果他們工作的實驗室里恰好有其他中國研究生，那么通常就幾乎沒有必要和美國人打交道了。

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 aspect 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 boost11 in so many ways if you find the right match.

無論從長遠還是短期來看，中國學生費點力氣學好英語都是十分值得的。要學口語，不只是應試或托福式的短期英語。美國大學的招生官員越來越不會受騙了，只有蹩腳的口語和一般的口語水平是通不過的。對于那些仍在中國、很難有機會提高外語口語能力的人來說，如果你有幸能有機會來美國學習，那就要充分利用機會。參加一個英語為第二語言的學習班， 大多數學校都開設此類課程。市政府和社區大學也提供這些課程。參加一些大學俱樂部來結識美國學生，去認識你的美國同學和同事。別怕難為情，強迫自己進行交談。找一個美國室友。如果你找到了合適的對象，最后這個方法會在許多方面使你有很大提高。

注解

1.integrate into 使成一體，使結合
2.enrich [In5rItF] vt. 充實，使豐富
3.run [rQn] n. 一段時間
4.elevated [5elIveItId] adj. 提高的，升高的
5.stunted [5stQntId] adj. 發展不良的，受阻的
6.cull [kQl] vt. 挑出，選出
7.linguistic [lIN5gwIstIk] adj. 語言的，語言學的
8.dictate [dIk5teIt] vt. 發號施令地規定，命令
9.layoff [5leIBf] n. 臨時解雇(期)，失業期
10.crux [krQks] n. 關鍵，癥結
11.boost [bu:st] n. 推動，促進，激勵