海歸老人的快樂英語人生

文/本刊記者 李靜

海歸老人的快樂英語人生

文/本刊記者 李靜

彭中先生（左二）與英語角的學(xué)生們合影

英語優(yōu)秀 赴美留學(xué)

聽彭中先生的故事，感覺像是在看一部電視劇，波折而又不失精彩：13歲時(shí)，因?yàn)楦赣H的工作調(diào)動(dòng)從北京搬到重慶；1963年，成績優(yōu)異的他以四川省理工科高考第二名成績進(jìn)入天津大學(xué)電力系統(tǒng)自動(dòng)化專業(yè)，1978年考入中國科學(xué)院高能物理研究所讀研究生。

因?yàn)樽孕?duì)英文有著濃厚的興趣，即使在學(xué)校學(xué)的是俄語，彭中也會(huì)經(jīng)常跑去別的英語班聽英語課。在中科院研究生院的時(shí)候，有時(shí)候會(huì)有外國的教授來學(xué)校講學(xué)，大家都很興奮，都圍著老師轉(zhuǎn)，彭中也不例外，總是想到很多問題去和老師探討。那個(gè)時(shí)候，彭中總是騎著自行車往北京西郊的友誼賓館跑，因?yàn)橥饨套∧抢铮团苋ズ退麄兞奶?，這對(duì)他的口語訓(xùn)練非常有利。現(xiàn)在想想，彭中也稱是抱著一絲希望去的，因?yàn)榭梢栽谕鈬淌诿媲俺浞终故咀约旱挠⒄Z和專業(yè)水平，也有機(jī)會(huì)獲得全額獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金赴美留學(xué)。

終于，功夫不負(fù)有心人。1980年，電氣工程排名美國第八的普度大學(xué)的一位來訪教授對(duì)彭中印象深刻，同意給他獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金去美國。這讓彭中興奮了很久。很多人講究埋頭苦干，專業(yè)學(xué)習(xí)比他好，而優(yōu)秀的英語水平讓他的人生出現(xiàn)了轉(zhuǎn)折，34歲那年，彭中實(shí)現(xiàn)了他的出國夢(mèng)。

文化差異 毅然回國

踏上美國的國土，彭中仍然有種不真實(shí)的感覺，在舊金山下飛機(jī)以后，展現(xiàn)在他面前的便是另一個(gè)全新的西方國度，無論是物質(zhì)與精神上，彭中感到一切都與自己的國家完全不同了。在國外攻讀碩士、博士四年多后，他進(jìn)入美國舊金山太平洋煤氣電力公司調(diào)度中心工作，1989年6月16日拿到了綠卡。很多人都認(rèn)為，拿到綠卡就等于實(shí)現(xiàn)了美國夢(mèng)，這也是很多漂泊海外的人夢(mèng)寐以求的東西。而彭中卻有了不一樣的想法，他所理解的是：在美國，能夠改變自己，就叫美國夢(mèng)。

站在位于舊金山的EMBARKDERO頂樓的旋轉(zhuǎn)廳，看著窗外的夜景，短暫的興奮消退之后，彭中卻對(duì)前途和未來很茫然?！熬G卡”到手了，他卻反而有點(diǎn)想回國了，覺得自己在美國到頭了，43歲，自己才做到最普通的工程師。前途就像玻璃天花板，看得到，卻到達(dá)不了。

在美國工作的時(shí)間越久，彭中越能感覺到相互之間文化與工作管理上的差異和溝通的欠缺。要在美國有所發(fā)展，必須融入美國社會(huì)。但彭中始終無法完全融入，與他們沒有共同的話題。而且在出國時(shí)他已經(jīng)34歲，世界觀早已形成，已經(jīng)離不開根深蒂固的中國文化。雖然當(dāng)時(shí)的他已經(jīng)在美國內(nèi)華達(dá)州政府電監(jiān)局任職高級(jí)工程師，拿著高薪，但兩國文化的差異讓彭中最終選擇回國。

創(chuàng)辦英語角 快樂的退休生活

在美國學(xué)習(xí)、生活、工作了16年后，“老海龜”彭中在福建的一家美國獨(dú)資企業(yè)工作，2001年，彭中退休回到重慶，本是準(zhǔn)備安享晚年。然后，受不了清閑的退休生活，他又到重慶的一所英語學(xué)校教學(xué)生計(jì)算機(jī)英文課程。每個(gè)周末，學(xué)校會(huì)在解放碑組織一個(gè)英語角讓學(xué)生聚在一起練習(xí)口語，彭中就負(fù)責(zé)管理英語角。為了調(diào)動(dòng)他們的學(xué)習(xí)興趣，彭中會(huì)給他們講自己在美國的見聞和經(jīng)驗(yàn)；為鼓勵(lì)學(xué)生，他每次都自己花錢買獎(jiǎng)品給學(xué)生。后來，彭中工作的英語學(xué)校關(guān)閉了，但他還是把這個(gè)英語角保留了下來。每周在解放碑、沙坪壩舉辦兩次“快樂英語角”，近九年來共862次活動(dòng)，除此以外，彭中還用自己的退休金舉辦不同形式的英語聚會(huì)，獨(dú)家贊助大型英語學(xué)習(xí)活動(dòng)40多次, 如重慶赴上海外企精英經(jīng)驗(yàn)交流, 英語口語大獎(jiǎng)賽, 快樂英語圣誕晚會(huì)等。近九年來，彭中一如既往地辦著英語角，共累計(jì)捐資約五十萬元。德國電視臺(tái)、美國國際廣播電臺(tái)，重慶衛(wèi)視， 重慶晨報(bào)，重慶時(shí)報(bào)，重慶晚報(bào)，重慶經(jīng)濟(jì)報(bào)等多家媒體進(jìn)行了采訪報(bào)導(dǎo)。就這樣，英語角的名氣也越來越大，來的人也越來越多，高中生、大學(xué)生、工作的、甚至78歲的老年人也聞?dòng)嵡皝?，“快樂英語角”的影響力越來越大，很多來重慶的外國人或游客也會(huì)到這里和大家進(jìn)行交流。

到明年的4月就是英語角十周年，如今的英語角已經(jīng)成為彭中退休生活的精神寄托，看到這么多朋友因?yàn)樗膸椭谟⒄Z角成長，他覺得很有成就感，而這一切是他在美國工作的時(shí)候從來沒有的。彭中喜歡重慶，重慶的人耿直，城市發(fā)展變化快，他會(huì)一直在重慶生活，把英語角繼續(xù)辦下去，辦“快樂英語角”的他也在這里找到了自己晚年生活的快樂。

彭中與英語角第三屆口語大賽獲獎(jiǎng)選手合影

英語角也吸引了許多外國友人前往

“快樂英語角”八周年慶

Go to Study in US Because o f Exce llen t Eng lish

The p e rsona l sto ries o f M r. Peng Zhong a re like a TV se ries w ith p eaks and va lleys. He m oved to Chongq ing from Be ijing because o f the trans fe r o f his fa the r's wo rk w hen he was 13. In 1963, he was ac cep ted b y Tian jin Un ive rsity, m a jo ring in Elec trica l Powe r Eng inee ring. In 1978, he stud ied in the Institu te o f H igh Ene rg y Physics o f the Ch inese Academ y o f Sc iences.

His strong inte rest in Eng lish urged him to have Eng lish c lasses as an aud ito r, even though Peng Zhong stud ied Russian in schoo l. As a g rad ua te stud en t in the Ch inese Acad em y o f Sc iences, o the r p ee rs w ou ld a lways asked m any questions o f the fo reign visiting p ro fessors. At that tim e, he liked visiting Beijing Friend ship Ho te l by b icyc le because h is fo reign teache rs lived the re and he wan ted to cha t w ith them in Eng lish. Now sp eaking o f tha t pe riod, he said tha t he had cherished a hope tha t one day he wou ld fu rthe r his stud y in Am e rica w ith fu ll scho larship.

God he lp s those w ho he lp them se lves. A visiting p ro fe sso r from Pu rd ue Un ive rs ity ha d a d ee p im p ression on Peng Zhong and ag reed to he lp h im stud y in Am e rica w ith fu ll scho la rship, which stirred his m ind fo r qu ite a long tim e. As som e o the rs w e re be tte r than h im in g rades, his ou tstand ing Eng lish opened a new w indow for him. At the age o f 34, his d ream o f stud ying aboard cam e true.

Com e Back Because o f Cu ltu ra l Diffe ren ces

He fe lt un rea l when he land ed the job in Am e rica wh ich was a b rand new weste rn coun try w ith sha rp d ifferences in cu lture and m a teria ls. A fter m o re than fou r-yea r stud y o f m aste r's and doc to ra l d eg rees the re, he was em p loyed by the Pow e r Dispa tch Cen te r o f Pac ific Gas & Elec tric, San Franc isco, USA. He go t h is g reen ca rd on June 16, 1989. Many peop le be lieved ge tting a g reen ca rd wou ld m ean the rea lization o f the Am e rican d ream bu t tha t w as no t fo r Peng. Wha t he he ld was tha t se lf-im p rovem en t was his pe rsona l Am e rican d ream.

Watching from the roo ftop revo lving restau ran t o f Em ba rcade ro Cen te r, he fe lt a sud den em p tiness p op p ing in to h is m ind and he cou ld no t see his fu tu re. Nosta lg ia becam e m o re acu te and he saw his end in Am e rica because being 43, he w as still an eng ineer. A g lass ce iling stood in h is way up.

The longe r he wo rked in the US, the sha rp e r he fe lt the d iffe rences in cu ltu re and w o rk be tween Ch ina and Am e rica, and the lone lie r he fe lt. To achieve som ething in Am e rica, one m ust assim ila te h im se lf in to the soc ie ty wh ich is the exac t d ifficu lty fo r Peng. He se ldom had som e sha red top ic s w ith h is Am e rican co lleagues. Yes, he w as 34 when he first cam e to Am e rica. At that tim e his wo rld view w as form ed and deep ly a ffec ted by the Ch inese cu ltu re. The cu ltu ra l d iffe rences fina lly m ad e h im bac k to Ch ina, a lthough he w as the sen io r eng inee r in the Pub lic Se rvice Comm ission, State o f Nevada.

Crea ting the Eng lish Co rner and Live a Happ y Re tired Life

Back in China, Peng Zhong w orked in an Am erican com pany in Fu jian Province. After his retirem en t, he wen t bac k to Chongq ing to en joy h is re tired life. Bu t he was no t quite read y for tha t life. So he wen t to teach Eng lish fo r Com p u te r Sc ience in a schoo l wh ich w ou ld o rgan ize an Eng lish Co rne r on weekend s. Bu t la te r the schoo l he taugh t in had shu t dow n, bu t he m anaged to keep the Eng lish co rne r running. Eve ry week he o rg an izes the Eng lish c o rne r a t Jie fang b e i and Shap ingba resp ec tive ly, 862 in to ta l having been done fo r the past 9 yea rs. In ad d ition, Peng has he ld d iffe ren t kind s o f Eng lish parties w ith his pension and sponso red m o re than 40 ac tivities re la ted Eng lish lea rn ing such as the Ch ristm as p a rty and the Eng lish o ra l com pe tition. Th roug h the c ove rag e b y m any m ed ia su ch as Chongq ing Te levision, Chongq ing Daily and e tc., the Hap py Eng lish corner go t its nam e, attrac ting m o re and m o re peop le from h igh schoo l stud en ts to the 78-yea ro ld m an and from loca ls to fo re igne rs.

Ap ril o f the next year w ill m ark the 10th annive rsa ry o f the Happ y Eng lish Co rne r w hich is the b rainchild o f Peng. Wa tch ing so m any p eop le g row ing up and im p roving them se lves in the Co rne r, he fee ls a g rea t sense o f achievem ent tha t never happened to him in Am erica. Peng loves he re and w ill live here fo r the rest o f his life. Peop le he re a re stra igh t and he lp fu l and the c ity itse lf is unde rgo ing p ro found changes, he sa id w ith a sm ile. The Hap p y Eng lish Co rne r w ill go on and he w ill continue seeking hap p iness here.

美國柏克德工程公司高管也來英語角與學(xué)生們交流

A Happy Eng lish Life o f an Overseas Chinese

W ritten by Aggie & Gary Hynson Translated by Kenneth Hu