对于中国人来说，从小到大学英语一定是少不了的。

中国人学外语英语的热情，也不是最近才有，如果翻开历史的书页，就会发现晚清民国以来，中国人学习外语的热情就一直高涨，这种热情背后有强大的动机，就是“睁眼看世界”。因为外语是工具，是我们了解世界的方式和途径。

在中国工作和生活了30多年的老潘，作为一个母语是英语的“老外”，自然也会遇到很多热情的中国人，想要跟他学习英语。老潘有丰富的MBA课程教学经验，可他却还是感叹自己是个“失败的”英语老师，这是咋回事呢？

老潘来信全文

Many Chinese seem to assume that any native English speaker can easily teach English but that’s not true, even as not every Chinese can teach Chinese. Teaching is a profession and a skill, and taken to the level of people like New Channel’s David Symington, it becomes an art. I learned from experience that I’m not a good English teacher.

许多中国人似乎认为所有以英语为母语的人都可以轻松地教英语，其实并不是这样，就像不是每个中国人都能教汉语一样。教学是一种职业，也是一种技能，如果达到像新航道的斯明诚那样的水平，它就变成了一种艺术。我的经验让我发现我并不是一个好的英语老师!

斯明诚与孩子们

In the early 1990s, four Xiamen University laborers asked me to teach them English each day at lunch. "I've never taught English," I said. "I don't know how."

上世纪90年代初，厦门大学的四个工人让我每天在午餐时间教他们英语。“我从没教过英语，”我说。“我不知道怎么教。”

"Just follow a textbook," they said. I hated to disappoint them, so I naively agreed, though I wondered how English would benefit them. You don't need a foreign language to wield a hoe or a shovel.

他们说：“只要按照教科书的要求讲课就行了。”我不想让他们失望，所以我天真地同意了，但我很想知道学习英语对他们有什么好处，毕竟你不需要一门外语来挥舞锄头或铲子。

For over a month, they came to my office each day at noon and we went through the very basic English text I'd bought at the Foreign Language bookstore, but they made very little progress. After about six weeks, the students ended the class, and being polite Chinese, they blamed themselves, not their teacher. "We are sorry that we are such poor students," they said.

一个多月来，他们每天中午都来我的办公室，我们一起阅读我在外文书店买的基础英文课本，但他们没什么进步。大约六周后，这些学生们决定结束课程，作为有礼貌的中国人，他们责怪自己，而不是责怪老师。“对不起，我们是差劲的学生！”他们说。

I also apologized for being such a poor teacher. For several years, I felt badly about my 4 English students and I wondered what became of them. And 5 years later, one of them showed up on my doorstep with a large gift of Zhangzhou fruits—pomelo, and Tianbao bananas—and invited me to visit a new home he had just built for his family in the countryside.

我为自己糟糕的英语教学而深感抱歉。过去几年，一想到这四位学生，我就心生歉意，不知道他们过得怎么样了。5年后，他们中的一个带着一大包漳州水果，里面有柚子和天宝香蕉，出现在我的门口，并邀请我去参观他在农村建的新房。

I was astonished at the size and beauty of the home, with its traditional Minnan red brick and stone, and a large courtyard in the center. I wondered how on earth a laborer could afford it, but he explained, "I was a poor English student, but you at least had enough faith in us to try teaching us, and that gave me confidence. I took night classes in accounting, received my certificate, got a job, worked very hard, was promoted several times. And thanks to you, I built this home for my family. We've never had a home like this before. So even though I was a poor English student, your time was not entirely wasted."

我对这座房子的规模和美丽感到惊讶，它由传统的闽南红砖和石头构成，在中央有一个大庭院。我不知道一个工人怎么能负担得起，他解释说：“我英语很差，但至少您对我们有足够的信心，对我们不放弃，这给了我极大的自信。后来我参加了夜校的会计课程，拿到了证书，并且找到了相关的职位，我工作非常努力，还多次获得晋升。多亏了您，我才能为我的家人建造这个家！我们还没住过这么好的房子。所以，尽管我英语没学好，但您曾花在我身上的时间完全没有浪费！”

He laughed. "Maybe someday my son can go to college and then teach me English after I retire."

他笑着说：“也许有一天我的儿子有机会上大学，等我退休后，就可以跟他学英语了！”

Visiting that young man's home was one of the biggest highlights of my 36 years in China. And it taught me to never underestimate anyone—especially a Chinese Dreamer! He dreamed of learning English and failed, in large part because he had a very poor English teacher—but that did not stop him from dreaming.

拜访这位年轻人的家是我在中国36年来最深刻的记忆之一！永远不要低估任何人，尤其是一个中国的梦想家！他梦想学习英语，但没学会，很大程度上是因为他的英语老师很差——但这并没有阻止他的梦想。

It also taught me to not underestimate myself. Even today I can’t teach English—at least not like Englishman David Symington—but I can help people in other ways.

这也教会了我不要低估自己。即使到今天，我也不会教英语——至少不能像英国人斯明诚那样。但我可以用其他方式帮助别人。

A Fujian farmer in a remote valley once told me, “With billions of people in the world, it is 缘分 (fate) that you and I should meet.” How true. Each day, 缘分 brings new people into our lives, and as iron sharpens iron, we can help each other.

一位在遥远山谷里的福建农民曾对我说：“世界上有几十亿人，你我相遇即是缘分！”说得很对！每一天，缘分都让我们遇见新的朋友，就像铁片在相互摩擦中会变得锋利一样，我们可以在相互帮助中得到提升。

不忘初心!

近年来，随着中国国力增强，国际地位正逐步提升，学习汉语的外国人越来越多。我们再也不用追逐美国梦，学英语似乎变得没那么迫切了。

很多人或许更会疑问：“我们现在学英语是为了什么呢？”

或许看完老潘的这封信，你会有一个答案：我们都是中国追梦人。

以前我们学英语是为了学习更先进的理念和技术，但现在，随着中国的强大，我们的生活更好了，此时的中国青少年更是肩负了一份责任：为中国发声，让世界了解中国。

詹天佑曾说“各出所学，各尽所知，使国家富强不受外侮，足以自立于地球之上”。

今天的中国在世界的话语权依然亟待提高，如何才能为中国发声，这是中国青少年走出国门，走向世界必须掌握的能力。

中国文化就是最有力的武器，让中国文化通过中国故事传播出去：孔子的思想、中国四大发明的智慧、《诗经》的魅力、扶贫攻坚的丰硕成果、日新月异的发展、幸福的生活......

相信在老潘的影响和带动下，“用英语讲中国故事”的队伍将不断壮大，会有越来越多的人参与其中，向世界讲好中国故事。