这几天真的快把我给累坏了. 每天都要去上课, 不停地讲啊讲啊, 讲得口干舌燥. 教完课后还要回家备课, 而且还要处理一些别的事情, 每天好乘好几趟公交和地铁, 有时一天的公交费也要二十几块钱, 真的让我超无语.
今天早上在世纪雅思上完中秋放假前的最后一次课, 感觉有一种如释重负. 机构的负责人尚老师在课间还找我聊了一下天, 说要在中秋以后为我增加课时, 问我有没有时间. 其实中秋以后到9月底, 我的课时已经是挺满的了, 有时一天要讲四个小时的课, 再加上有时晚上帮一些朋友辅导雅思, 有时一天可能要讲差不多六个小时的课了. 其实, 如果备好课了, 讲课本身是不辛苦的. 所以最辛苦的不是讲课, 而是备课. 不过因为尚老师为我加的课时也不是非常的多, 所以我也答应她了. 一方面我现在还没有找到合意的正式工作, 反正闲着也是闲着, 不如多教几个小时; 另一方面世纪雅思的老师们给了我极大的信任和支持, 我在里面工作得挺愉快的. 我感觉整个机构的氛围特别好, 那些工作人员和老师都特别的友善. 我对其他的老师不太熟悉, 不过我对我教的那个班的另一位老师-孟老师倒是有点了解. 她是英语专业的硕士生, 负责教阅读和写作; 我是负责教口语和听力的. 我感觉孟老师是一个有水平而且工作非常认真负责的人, 而且为人也挺nice的, 很平易近人. 我们两个人合作得挺愉快的. 课间休息时, 我会常常跑到咨询前台和那几个工作人员以及老师聊天. 我不得不说, 那都是一群可爱的人, 我常常被他们的热情所感染. 在这样的氛围下工作, 我真的感到非常的愉快. 这也就是为什么我坚持和世纪雅思合作的原因.
这两天经常有新老师跑到我的课上来观摩旁听, 弄得我多多少少有点压力. 昨天一个叫Harrold的中年老师来旁听, 他今天也来了. 他在澳大利亚生活了三十年了, 所以他的口音相当纯正, 和老外没什么差别. 不过他以前没有做过雅思培训, 所以尚老师把他安排到我的班上来听一下我的教学是怎样的. Harrold虽然和我们的年纪相差有点大, 不过我们的交流却是非常的和谐顺利的, 没有什么隔阂. 他在澳大利亚生活太久了, 中文不太好, 所以我们大部分时间都是用英语交流的. 他也是一个非常平易近人的人, 我相信他绝对是一个好老师. 今天听他说, 他这个月的15号就要开始教雅思基础班的口语课程了. 话说我还是很有成就感的, 因为我一进去就被安排去教雅思精品班了, 真的很感谢尚老师对我的信任! 今天还有另一位旁听观摩的老师, 好像也是英语专业的. 不过后来她告诉我她不是正式的老师, 暂时只是一个助理老师.
下课后, 一个工作人员说准备十月份会与深大合作开一个雅思讲座, 问我有没有意向当讲座的发言人. 我听了以后感到挺突然和意外的. 我没有立即答应他们, 而是和他们说, 我们双方都好好考虑一下. 我不答应他们不是因为我怕到时没空还是忙准备讲座材料, 而是因为我觉得我好像不太够 “格” 去开这么一个讲座. 其实我本来是一个很自信的人, 但是这时候我也不得不感到 “humble”. 为什么呢? 因为一般来讲, 那些开雅思讲座的发言人都是很牛B的人, 不仅于海外名校毕业, 而且有N年的雅思培训经验, 硕果累累, 要么是考官, 要么是金牌教师. 像我这种初出茅庐的人去深大的科技楼开个讲座, 实在是有点上不了台面. 关于这点我还是有自知之明的. 所以我才和尚老师以及那位工作人员说, 我们双方都再考虑清楚, 也建议他们找一个比我名气更大, 头衔更多的人来当发言人. 当然如果他们后面坚决要找我去开讲座, 那我也不会过分地推辞了, 我只能尽力将这个讲座讲好. 这不管怎么说也算是人生中宝贵的经历了. 不过在此我真的非常感谢世纪雅思对我的充分信任与支持!
话说我发现回国教雅思以后, 讲口语的时间比在外国多得多. 在国外除了上课和开小组讨论与老外讲讲话外, 平时大多数时间是在自习的. 现在基本每天都要讲, 而且一讲就是几个小时, 讲得我对英语的热情已经消退得七七八八了. 更好笑的是我经常很难从口语班中走回平时的生活, 哪怕我上完课走出课室, 我还会经常讲英语, 这引起了不少尴尬. 经常上公交车或者乘地铁时不小心碰到别人, 我都会不自主地说“Oh, I’m sorry”, 直到旁边的人都盯着我, 我才意识到我应该说 “对不起”. 更搞笑的是今天中午上完课后经过一个小卖部, 我想买一瓶水, 居然直接拿起一瓶矿泉水对店主说: “How much is it?” 他很疑惑地望着我, 我才突然意识到我又讲错话了, 慌忙地改口. 反正那种感觉很奇怪, 也很搞笑. 后来走出小店以后, 我忍不住一直在发笑. 我觉得这样天天地教英语已经让我的神经错乱了.
总的来讲, 这段教学生涯过得虽然累, 不过还是挺愉快的. 教雅思这样的高端课程也让我感到一定的挑战性, 在备课和讲课的过程中, 我觉得自己的收获比学生的还大. 中秋回来以后, 我的BEC班也快开课了, 不知到时又会是一番怎样的光景. 现在我真的非常期待看到BEC班上的新同学们! 我相信, 一段难忘刺激的商务英语口语练习之旅又要开始了! 最后, 我预祝所有的同学朋友还有经常支持我空间的网友们中秋快乐!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
President Barack Obama Weekly Address: Time to Act on the Transportation Bill
The White House September 3, 2011
At the end of September, if Congress doesn’t act, funding for our roads and bridges will expire. This would put a stop to highway construction, bridge repair, mass transit systems and other important projects that keep our country moving quickly and safely. And it would affect thousands of construction workers and their families who depend on the jobs created by these projects to make ends meet.
Usually, renewing this transportation bill is a no-brainer. In fact, Congress has renewed it seven times over the last two years. But thanks to political posturing in Washington, they haven’t been able to extend it this time ? and the clock is running out.
Allowing this bill to expire would be a disaster for our infrastructure and our economy. Right away, over 4,000 workers would be furloughed without pay. If it’s delayed for just 10 days, we will lose nearly $1 billion in highway funding that we can never get back. And if we wait even longer, almost 1 million workers could be in danger of losing their jobs over the next year.
Those are serious consequences, and the pain will be felt all across the country. In Virginia, 19,000 jobs are at risk. In Minnesota, more than 12,000. And in Florida, over 35,000 people could be out of work if Congress doesn’t act.
That makes no sense ? and it’s completely avoidable. There’s no reason to put more jobs at risk in an industry that has been one of the hardest-hit in this recession. There’s no reason to cut off funding for transportation projects at a time when so many of our roads are congested; so many of our bridges are in need of repair; and so many businesses are feeling the cost of delays.
This isn’t a Democratic or a Republican issue ? it’s an American issue. That’s why, last week, I was joined at the White House by representatives from the AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce ? two groups who don’t always see eye-to-eye, but who agree that it’s critically important for our economy that Congress act now.
That’s also why 128 mayors from both parties wrote to Congress asking them to come together and pass a clean extension. These are the local leaders who are on the ground every day, and who know what would happen to their communities if Congress fails to act.
So I’m calling on Congress, as soon as they come back, to pass a clean extension of the transportation bill to keep workers on the job, keep critical projects moving forward, and to give folks a sense of security.
There’s a lot of talk in Washington these days about creating jobs. But it doesn’t help when those same folks turn around and risk losing hundreds of thousands of jobs just because of political gamesmanship. We need to pass this transportation bill and put people to work rebuilding America. We need to put our differences aside and do the right thing for our economy. And now is the time to act. |
