評論
打印
Culture
文藝版塊
Education
教育
Oh, grow up
哦，變成大人
Need to learn how to change a tyre or file your taxes? “Adulting” courses are on the rise in America.
需要學習怎樣換輪胎或交稅？“成年”課程正在美國興起。
The teacher starts with the basics: how to thread a needle.
老師從基礎開始教起：如何給針穿線。
Then, over the course of the next 30 minutes, she shows the students a few different stitches, along with how to mend a torn shirt and beautify a frayed hem.
然后在接下來的30分鐘里，老師向學生們展示了幾種不同的針法，并教他們如何縫補破洞的襯衫、如何美化磨損的衣邊。
This is not a lesson at some fusty finishing school.
這不是某個過時的淑女學堂的課程。
The sewing class is part of a free, one-day course at Austin Community College (ACC) called “Adulting 101”.
這個縫紉課是奧斯汀社區學院開設的免費一日課程的一部分，這個課程叫做“成人入門101”。（注：101一般代指入門導論課。）
The students range in age from their late teens to mid-40s.
學生的年齡從十幾歲到四十幾歲不等。
ACC has been running such programmes for six years.
奧斯汀社區學院運行此類項目已有六年。
The workshops are designed to help people “successfully navigate adulthood”, even those who, legally and practically, have been navigating it for quite some time.
這些工作坊旨在幫助人們“成功駕馭成年生活”，即便是那些在法律意義和實際生活中已經駕馭了很長時間成年生活的人。
The topics run the gamut from basic—how to dress appropriately for a job interview—to advanced, such as how file income taxes.
課程主題無所不包，基礎內容有如何為工作面試選擇合適的著裝，進階內容有如何申報個人所得稅。
(That subject will surely be top of mind for Americans as their tax filings are due on April 15th.)
（美國人的納稅申報截止日期為4月15日，這一主題必將成為他們最關注的事項。）
In this way, institutions are helping people grow up.
通過這種方式，社會機構正在幫助人們長大成人。
Across the country community colleges, public libraries and civic centres are offering adulting classes; those who want to learn how to manage their home from the privacy of their own can stream a class on YouTube.
在全美各地，社區學院、公共圖書館、市民中心正紛紛開設成年課程，想要不受打擾地學習如何整理家務的人也可以在油管上觀看相關課程。
Adulting courses are not yet standard university fare, though perhaps in time they will be.
成年課程目前還不是大學的標配，不過也許在以后會成為常態。
Financial-literacy classes were once considered too basic to offer, especially at elite colleges, but they are spreading.
金融基礎知識課曾被認為過于基礎而無需開設，尤其是在精英大學中，如今越來越多的地方開設了這種課。
Adulting courses are not a uniquely American phenomenon—in Britain they are labelled “life skills” classes—but they do tackle three areas in which Americans, in particular, seem to be falling short: the home, relationships and money.
成年課程并非美國獨有，在英國這種課被稱為“生活技能”課，但這些課程確實針對了美國人尤其薄弱的三個領域：居家生活、戀愛關系、財務管理。
Compared with other countries, adults in America spend less time doing household chores such as mopping and ironing; they also get divorced more frequently than their counterparts in Britain, Canada or Germany.
與其他國家相比，美國成年人花在拖地、熨燙等家務上的時間更少，離婚率也高于英國、加拿大或德國的同齡人。
Less than half of Americans understand basic financial principles.
了解基本財務原則的美國人不到一半。
The courses are often set up by individuals taken aback by the “unexpected trials of early adulthood”, as Traci Bakenhaster has put it.
用崔西·巴肯哈斯特的話說，這些課程通常由那些被“成年初期的意想之外的考驗”所震驚的個人設立。
She runs Adulting University, which teaches teenagers how to write CVs and manage their time, among other things.
她經營著“成年大學”，教青少年如何撰寫簡歷、管理時間等等。
Raffi Grinberg, an author, created and taught “Adulting 101” for two years at Boston College.
作家拉菲·格林伯格在波士頓學院創建并教授了兩年的“成年生活101”課程。
The inspiration for his class came from his first day working at Bain & Company, a management consultancy, soon after leaving university.
他開設這門課的靈感來自大學畢業后不久在貝恩管理咨詢公司工作的第一天。
He and his cohort had to decide which health-insurance plan to choose, how much of his salary to devote to saving for retirement and other financial details.
他和剛入職的同事們必須決定選擇哪種醫療保險、將多少工資用于退休儲蓄等其他財務細節。
“Every one of us went out into the hallway and called our parents,” he admits. “We were graduates of really elite schools, and we still didn’t know what to do.”
“我們每個人都去外面走廊給父母打電話了，”他承認，“我們畢業于很頂尖的學校，可依然不知道該怎么辦。”
He has distilled his 14-week course into a new book called “How to Be a Grown Up: The 14 Essential Skills You Didn’t Know You Needed (Until Just Now)”.
他將為期14周的課程濃縮成了一本新書，名為《如何當一個成年人：你從不知道你所需要的14項必備技能（現在你知道了）》。
It imparts wisdom on matters practical (budgeting) and philosophical (how to think about rejection).
這本書傳授了在實際事務（預算）和哲學思考（如何看待被拒絕）方面的智慧。
Mr Grinberg writes with a positive, technocratic tone that will be familiar to anyone who has gone to business school, but his book is genuinely informative.
格林伯格的寫作風格積極向上且務實專業，任何讀過商學院的人都會對此感到熟悉，但他的書確實信息豐富。
A financial na?f will grasp the basics of investing.
金融小白將掌握投資的基本知識。
A mansplainer will come away reminded of the rewards of listening.
說教爹味男會在讀完書后知道傾聽的好處。（注：mansplainer即man加explain加-er。）
