Ever on My Way to Expertise1

By Perdita Buchan

“You'd be an intermediate,” the clever, efficient Millennial at the Apple Store said brightly.2. intermediate: 中級水平者；Millennial: 千禧一代，一般指1982—2000年出生的一代人，他們差不多伴隨著電腦/互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的形成與發(fā)展一同成長。She w as talking about the free classes one could sign up for. An intermediate, I thought with pride. “I've used Macs since they had green text and f loppy discs,” I said, eager to consolidate my position.3. “我從蘋果電腦還在用命令操作和軟盤的時候就開始用它了，”我說道，急于鞏固自己的地位。green text: 這里指Mac早期的界面，通過輸入命令進(jìn)行操作，命令行的字是綠色的；f loppy disc: 軟盤；consolidate: 加強(qiáng)，鞏固?！癆nd I had a Mac Classic for years.”

She smiled at this impossible frame of reference, or maybe she was thinking, “If it's been that long, why are you still an intermediate?” Why indeed? Because that's what I seem to be: a lifelong intermediate. I get through the beginning level of things fairly quickly, but then I plateau4. plateau: （在一段時間的發(fā)展之后）趨于平穩(wěn)，進(jìn)入停滯期。as an intermediate.

I'm an intermediate horseback rider, knitter, painter, gardener, yogi, linguist, cross-country skier, kayaker,5. knitter: 編織者；yogi: 瑜伽修行者； kayaker: 皮劃艇愛好者，皮劃艇手。cyclist, typist, and pianist (barely). But there are degrees: I'm a better knitter than I am a painter, a better horseback rider than a kayaker.

Why does one remain an intermediate? Sometimes it's a matter of opportunity: Leaving New England was a blow to my cross-country skiing6. cross-country skiing: 越野滑雪。. Painting stalled7. stall: （活動）停止，中斷。w hen I had a small child in a converted one-room schoolhouse. No longer living on the banks of a river held up kayaking. Horseback riding, too, requires opportunity, an opportunity I haven't had since childhood, save for visits to a Western ranch w here I w as considered—intermediate.8. 騎馬也需要機(jī)會，這是我童年后不再有的機(jī)會，除非去西部牧場，在那里我曾被認(rèn)為是個中級水平的騎手。save for: 除……之外；ranch: 大牧場。

I know, how ever, that these are merely excuses. A friend I rode with as a child bought herself a retired police horse in her 40s. A dedicated kayaker would not have been deterred by the tangle of crowded highways lying between her and a number of rivers.9. 一個敬業(yè)的皮劃艇手也不會因為在她與她要去的若干河流之間橫亙著混亂而擁擠的公路就止步不前。tangle: 混亂狀態(tài)。

Sometimes, it's ability. I have taken up piano later in life. I love music, but I can see that I have no particular gift for it. Gardening was another late occupation. I w asn't a natural at that, either. I got better, but my garden remains a patchwork of sudden enthusiasms.10. 雖然我的水平有所提高，但一直以來我總是在每次心血來潮時才打理一下我的花園。patchwork: 拼湊而成的東西。

I confess I'm a little ashamed of being a perpetual intermediate. It seems to imply a lack of focus, an unwillingness to push oneself to go deeper or further. And being an intermediate at a lot of things smacks of dilettantism.11. smack of: 含有……意味，帶有……跡象；dilettantism: 淺薄涉獵（對某個學(xué)科或活動感興趣，但實際上并不認(rèn)真或知之不多）。Do I lack the stamina12. stamina: 耐力，毅力。to become an expert? Am I too easily distracted to put in the 10,000 hours reportedly required to achieve mastery?

Maybe I have to accept that, for now at least, intermediate is my sweet spot13. sweet spot: （球拍、球棒上）最有效擊球點，這里引申為最佳位置或狀態(tài)。. I've moved past the frustrations of beginnerhood without encountering the demands of expertise. “Intermediate” means that you're good enough to enjoy w hat you're doing. And it's a roomy category.14. 而且它是一個很寬泛的范疇。A beginner is a beginner and an expert is just that.

But an intermediate can be low, medium, or high. And wherever you are as an intermediate, you can always go forward, try harder, and learn more. I can go to those tutorials and get better with the Mac; I can practice harder at the piano and, maybe, in time, play a little Chopin.15. tutorial: 導(dǎo)師輔導(dǎo)課；Chopin: 這里指肖邦的鋼琴曲。肖邦（1810—1849），波蘭作曲家和鋼琴家。他的作品以波蘭民間歌舞為基礎(chǔ)，多以鋼琴曲為主，被譽為“浪漫主義鋼琴詩人”。

To me, “intermediate” is life's default position. We are beginners who learn as we go along till w e get to be—intermediate. Who of us can claim to be an expert parent, w ife, husband, child, friend? At best, we're high intermediate with much to learn.