1 我在中国的生活(doc)
1. My Life in China LiXin: Michael, as our vice-Premier Li Lanqing wrote appreciatively, “ Comrade Crook in his history of more than 50 years in China, devoted his energy to China's revolution and construction, contributing outstandingly to training talents for our diplomatic, foreign trade and educational fronts.” We can see that your father was drawn to China by the Chinese revolution, while you stay in China as well. Could you talk about your experience and the things that attract you in China? Mr. Michael Crook: Yes. I think that I didn't come to China for the revolution. I was born here. I went through very many events in recent Chinese history. China has changed so much. I think it is really remarkable and it is a great privilege to have the opportunity to live through so many historical events. I prefer excitement and I think China is the place to come for excitement. For example, I first went to England when I was six or seven years old and after that I visited England again when I was twelve, fifteen, about twenties, thirties and forties. I felt that I could go back to the same neighbourhood where my grandma has been living for the last forty or fifty years. While I remember the road outside Beijing Foreign Studies University it was a dirt road. And the dirt road then became the paved road; then it became a wider road and now it is a two levels multi-lane highway. All these happened just in my lifetime but I'm not even old yet. Li:Your parents are educators, writers and old devoted friends of our country and our people. Mr. David Crook in particular, he spent a life of dedication. I couldn't help wondering: when you were a child, were they very strict with you? Michael: No, actually they weren't. I think that the Chinese notion of education is rather different from the western notion of education. In Chinese education, I could think of many sayings like “ Talented students are trained by strict teacher.” And folk wisdom of “ Beating means love, scolding means affection.” And so on. The idea is that pain and suffering are necessary to get good result. In English we have “ the carrot and the stick” . I think in Chinese tradition, a lot of stress was made on the stick. Well, I feel that the carrot is much more effective than the stick. Encouragement is better than scolding and criticism. 　　I think that my parents are both good educators. They don't use the stick. It was much more positive encouragement and more freedom. They would discuss things with us reasonably. They treat us more or less as equals. My father used to say that he didn't believe in the generation gap, such as, parents don't understand their children and children don't understand their parents. Why, if you don't communicate, if every time your children tell you something they truly believe and their innermost truthful thoughts, you immediately scold them, then of course they stop talking to you and won't tell you the truth. Li: Do you have kids? As their father, do you think that you'll let them choose where they are going to stay? Michael: Yes. I have three kids. They are all grown now. All three of my kids live in America by their own choice. I'm living in China by my choice. I chose to live here and they chose to live there. I can't decide for them. I would be very happy if one or more of them were to decide to come and live in China. I would enjoy having my children close by. All three of my children have talked about coming to China. It's a matter of when. Li: We do admire people fluent in two languages. As I was told you were brought up bilingually, right? Michael: Not actually. I didn't begin bilingually. I wasn't brought up bilingually from birth, for example in a mix-marriage. That was not the case in my family.When I was young, the home language was Chinese. So I learned Chinese before I learned English. Li: Do you have any good experience to share with the large number of language learners? Michael: Well, I think first of all, it's a wonderful thing to be bilingual. You are able to communicate directly with people from different cultures. I would offer some tips according to my own experience. First, I think that having two languages the best thing for me is just for use. Then I think learning a foreign language, practice should come before theory. I know people who get complicated books about foreign language and study the grammar and so on. I personally think that it's a waste of time certainly at the beginning. I would stress just talk, talk a lot. It doesn't matter if you make mistakes. 我在中国的生活 李昕：马凯，正如我国副总理李岚清赞赏地写下的，“柯鲁克同志在他待在中国的50多年 里，把全部精力投入到中国的革命和建设中，为我国的外交、外贸和教育战线培养人才 做出了突出的贡献。”我们知道你父亲是受中国革命的吸引来到中国，但你也待在了这儿 。你能谈谈你的个人经历和吸引你待在中国的事吗? 柯马凯先生：好的。我想，我并不是受革命吸引来中国的。我出生在这儿。我经历了中 国近期历史上许多事件。中国变化太大了。我认为这真是了不起，而能有机会经历这么 多历史事件是我莫大的荣幸。我喜爱激动，我认为中国正是感受激动的地方。比如说， 我在6、7岁时第一次去英国，后来又在12岁、15岁、20几岁、30几岁和40几岁时重访英 国。我觉得我总可以回到相同的街区，我祖母一直在那儿住了四五十年。我记着北京外 国语大学外面的路，原是条土路，后来铺了路，再后来扩宽了，如今那已是双层多车道 的公路了。所有这些就在我的有生之年发生了，而我现在还年轻着呐。 李：你的父母是教育家、作家，也是我们国家和人民忠诚的老朋友。尤其是大卫·柯鲁克 先生，他的一生是奉献的一生。我不由地想：在你小时候，他们对你要求严厉吗? 马凯：不，他们并不严厉。我认为中国的教育观念和西方的大不相同。中国的教育，有 许多老话，如“严师出高徒”，民间流传的“打是疼，骂是爱”等等。认为痛苦和磨难是获 得成功的必要条件。在英语里，我们有“胡萝卜加大棒”的说法。我觉得中国传统做法是 对“大棒”强调过多。而我感觉“胡萝卜”可比“大棒”有效得多。鼓励胜于责骂和批评。 　　我认为我父母都是好的教育家。他们不用“大棒”，而更多是正面的鼓励和更多的自 由。他们会通情达理地跟我们讨论事情。他们对待我们基本上是平等的。我父亲过去常 说，他不相信代沟一说，如家长不理解他们的孩子，孩子也不理解家长。为什么，如果 你们不交流，如果每次你的孩子告诉你他心里的真实信念和心底深处的想法，你就立刻 责骂他们，那他们当然就不再和你谈了，也就不会跟你说实话了。 李：你有孩子吗?作为他们的父亲，你会让他们选择待在哪国? 马凯：有，我有三个孩子。现在他们都长大了。他们三人都选择了住在美国。我选择住 在中国。我选择住这儿，他们选择住那儿。我不能替他们做决定。如果他们中有一两个 或全都要决定回来住在中国，那我是很高兴的。我很喜欢孩子住在近旁。他们三个人都 跟我谈起过来中国的事，只是个时间早晚的问题。 李：我们很羡慕那些能流利地讲两门语言的人。据我所知，你是双语培养成才的，是吗 ? 马凯：并不确切。我不是从一开始就学两门语言的。我不像某些跨国婚姻中，孩子一出 生就用双语培养。在我们家不是这样。我小时候，在家里所用语言是汉语。我学汉语比 英语早。 李：你有什么好的经验与众多的语言学习者分享吗? 马凯：哦，我想，首先会双语是一件很美好的事。你能够直接跟来自不同文化的人交流 。根据我的经验，我可以提供一些小建议。第一，我认为会两门语言对我来说最好的事 就是使用它们。其次，我认为学习一门外语，实践要先于理论。我认识一些人，他们手 头有各种各样的外语书，他们学文法等。我认为在开始阶段那肯定是浪费时间。我要强 调的是，说，而且要多说。犯错不要紧。
1 我在中国的生活(doc)