校友风采丨我的东财情缘

1992年，我和妻子来到了大连，从朋友那里了解到东财这所学校。那时，国际教育学院还叫汉语培训中心。学院大约有四五十名学生，主要来自韩国、日本和美国。班级规模小，所以我们每个人都备受重视，因而学得很快。但是在学习材料、教学方法和技术方面却没有那么好。比如说，一本初级的教材会教授“毛主席万岁”之类的短语。当时没有电脑，没有幻灯片，甚至视频也没有；上课时只有一个老师，一本教材。但我们的老师非常贴心，并且勇于尝试新方法，所以我们学到了很多。不只是语言知识，还有文化，以及如何处理在中国生活的不同情况。晚上的时候，我会在街上散步，和小商贩们练习汉语。有一次，我甚至帮着卖了水果！

 In 1992 my wife and I first arrived in Dalian. We had heard of this university through a friend. At the time this school was called HanPei. There were approximately 40-50 students, primary coming from only 3 countries, Korea, Japan, the United States. Classes were small and so we were able to learn quickly with a lot of individual attention. But cultural material, teaching methods and technology were not as good. For example, one beginning textbook taught phrases like “long live Chairman Mao”. There were no computers, power points, or even videos. Just a teacher and a textbook. But our teachers were very caring and were not afraid to try new methods and we learned a lot from them, not just language, but culture, and how to deal with various situations living in China. In the evenings I would go out on the street and practice with vendors. One time I even sold fruit for a guy! 

 2000年，我回到美国后，仍然关注着学校的发展。2003年，我开始在美国的一所大学当老师。从2004年到2016年，每年夏天，我都会带领学生回到东财，进行短期的汉语进修。

I watched the school’s development even after we returned to the USA in 2000. In 2003 I began teaching at a university in the USA. Every other summer from 2004 I began bringing students back to DUFE for short term study in Chinese language. My last group of students was in 2016. 

这些年一共来了近70名学生。他们在这里都拿到了学分，并且学分可以回校认证。70人中，有15到20个学生后来又回到中国，生活了更长一段时间。很多学生都说，学汉语的夏天是他们人生中浓墨重彩的一笔。

In all, almost 70 of my students enrolled here for short term programs in Chinese language. They all got credit here they could transfer to their university in America. Around 15-20 of those students returned to China to live for longer periods of time. Many of them say that summer remains a significant experience in their life. 

 身为教师，我在东财的学习经历也让我能教授更多的课程。在美国，我的主要职责是教授英语写作和文学，但后来我的学校也让我教中文、中国历史和中国哲学。如果我没在东财学习过，这些都不可能实现。

My studies at DUFE also enabled me to expand my course offerings in the USA. My main responsibilities included teaching English Composition and Literature to my American students in the USA, but later my university also asked me to teach Chinese Language, Chinese History, and Chinese Philosophy. That would never have been possible without my experience here.

我们在学中文时有很多有趣的故事，而带学生来这里，也给我留下了许多美好的回忆，我将永远珍藏它们。感谢东财对我的教育，感谢学校对我收养女儿的支持，感谢学校任用我教授英文，感谢学校接收了那么多短期进修的学生。最重要的是，感谢我们过去26年的情谊。

We had many interesting experiences learning Chinese. I also have many good memories bringing my students here. I will always cherish my memories here. I am grateful to the school for an education, the way they supported me through the adoption of our Chinese daughter, for hiring us to teach English, for helping us with so many short term students, but most of all for the friendship we have shared over these last 26 years.