ELIZA: I heard you were teaching English over there.
Tell me about it. Did you like it?
SUE: Oh, yes, it was very interesting.
ELIZA: What were the schools like?
SUE: Oh, I didn't actually teach in the schools.
I taught after school. I taught in English institutes.
ELIZA: But you taught children, yes?
SUE: Yes. That's right.
But children in Taiwan are very different from children in America.
At least as far as studying is concerned.
Many children in Taiwan go to special institutes after school
ELIZA: They actually study after school?
SUE: That's right.
After their school day is over, they go to a special institute to study math or English.
They are very serious about learning over there.
ELIZA: Hmm. That sounds pretty oppressive for the kids. Don't they ever relax?
SUE: Of course they do.
You know, Eliza, before I went over there I thought the same thing.
I thought that maybe kids in Taiwan study too much.
But now that I've worked there, and taught them, I feel it is a good thing.
Their parents are very concerned about their education. More than American parents are.
And that is good. American kids don't study enough.
ELIZA: Asian cultures value learning very much. I know that.
SUE: So it was interesting for me to see parents very concerned about education.
They would come to me after the class and ask how their son or daughter was doing.
I don't think that's a bad thing. I think it's a good thing.
In America, too many parents don't pay attention.
ELIZA: But aren't the kids tired out?
I mean, they go to school all day, and then they go to school in the evening too.
SUE: As an English teacher, I tried to make the lessons as fun as possible.
I tried to have a good time with my classes. The students often enjoyed it.
And if the students enjoyed it, they learned more. So it was a good experience.
ELIZA: Are the kids in Taiwan very obedient?
SUE: That's a stereotype we Americans have.
We think that Asian kids are very obedient and quiet.
But it's not true. There are plenty of naughty kids too.
ELIZA: Hmm. I know you taught in Costa Rica also.
Which did you like better--Costa Rica or Taiwan?
SUE: I don't know. In Costa Rica, I taught adults.
So it was a very different thing. So I really can't compare.

愛莉莎：聽說你在那里教英文。
說說看，你喜歡嗎？
蘇：是的，非常有意思。
愛莉莎：那是什么樣的學(xué)校？
蘇：我不是在學(xué)校教。
我教課后的，在英語培訓(xùn)機(jī)構(gòu)。
愛莉莎：你是教小朋友吧？
蘇：是的，沒錯(cuò)。
不過臺(tái)灣的小孩和美國的小孩非常不同。
至少就讀書來說是這樣的。
很多臺(tái)灣的小孩在放學(xué)后都上補(bǔ)習(xí)班。
愛莉莎：他們放學(xué)后還學(xué)習(xí)？
蘇：沒錯(cuò)。
放學(xué)后他們上補(bǔ)習(xí)班學(xué)數(shù)學(xué)或英文。
在那里他們非常認(rèn)真地學(xué)習(xí)。
愛莉莎：聽起來相當(dāng)壓迫孩子，他們不休息嗎？
蘇：當(dāng)然有休息。
愛莉莎,我去那里之前也是這么想。
我認(rèn)為臺(tái)灣的小孩念太多書了。
但是現(xiàn)在我在那里工作，教他們，我覺得這是好事。
他們的父母非常關(guān)心孩子的教育，比起美國的父母要關(guān)心得多。
那是好事，美國小孩念的書不夠多。
愛莉莎：亞洲的文化非常看重學(xué)識(shí)，我知道那一點(diǎn)。
蘇：看到父母這么關(guān)心教育，對(duì)我而言很有樂趣。
下課后他們會(huì)來問我兒子或女兒表現(xiàn)得如何。
我不認(rèn)為那是不好的，那是好事。
在美國，相當(dāng)多父母都不關(guān)心。
愛莉莎：但是小孩子不是累垮了？
他們白天一整天上學(xué)，晚上還要去補(bǔ)習(xí)班。
蘇：身為英文老師，我盡可能把課上得好玩。
我試著和全班學(xué)生玩得愉快，學(xué)生通常都很喜歡。
如果學(xué)生喜歡，他們就學(xué)得多。所以這是很好的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。

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