作者: 爱尔兰都柏林大学 赖小琪
接近两周没有开小组会了, 今天下午终于又开了, 而且一开就开了两个小时, 因为任务相当繁重. 这周五轮到我们组做两个short case presentation, 还要写一篇long case study, 最难的还要讨论一下我们的group project. 最后分工时, 要有两个人在周五做presentation, 一个做一个Case, 结果大家都时不时地望我一下, 意思是暗示我要自动请求做一个presentation. 其实我完全不可以做的, 因为之前的小组任务我都做了很多, 而且写了几篇小组的case study了. 不过我想抓住每一个锻炼的机会, 特别是口头表达能力的机会, 所以我就对他们说我做一个presentation. 但是还要选一个人做另一个presentation, 结果另外五个组员就你推我, 我推你, 并且都坚持说自己在过去已经做了很多工作了, 现在不应该轮到自己做了. 闹了十来分钟, 最后终于定下来了, 让Martina做, 前提是她不用参加这周的long case discussion. 当然, 她的待遇也惠及到我, 我也不用参加了. 可是, 我却很想参加的……
现在想想, 我现在的学习态度真的和刚开始来这边读书时变化巨大. 以前我最讨厌小组讨论, 一来听不太懂, 二来不太敢讲, 三来觉得小组讨论相当冗长和浪费时间, 也就是很低效率. 这学期以来, 我觉得自己像变了一个人, 反而很想参加小组讨论. 原因也挺多的, 比如说现在听这边的老外讲话更习惯了, 不会有很多从前的 “云里雾里” 的感觉; 由于听懂了别人讲什么, 自己在开会前也准备好了, 所以也可以很容易地融入到讨论中, 不断地发表自己的观点, 而且都受到别人的认可; 最后一点, 也是最重要的一点, 是我要多练习听力和口语!!! 前段时间, 我吃惊地发现我的口语好像比在深圳时还退步了, 特别是流利程度! 当你看到这里, 肯会骂我说大话, 怎么可能我在国外口语却退步了? 可是我说的是千真万确的. 以前在深圳时, 我经常会和别人练口语做辩论, 而且也在外面教英语做翻译, 每周末还要主持英语角, 所以讲英语的机会特多. 而现在来了这边, 多半是上课和自习, 除了小组讨论和偶尔的一些聚会外, 我都没有什么机会讲英语了. 特别是在圣诞放假以后, 开学时我明显发现我的表达能力好像下降了一些. 然后, 这两周没有小组讨论, 今天下午讨论时, 虽然我也像从前那样滔滔不绝地讲, 可是我明显感到没有以前那自在, 好像有什么东西在阻碍着我的表达, 让我有点力不从心.
讨论会完了以后, 我回到宿舍, 心想, 这样下去真的不行. 无意中打开邮箱, 看到一个朋友发给我一个视频, 是关于前段时间温家宝召开的中外记者问答会的. 我当时漫不经心地点开网站, 心里还嘀咕着那位朋友怎么发这个视频给我, 因为我不太喜欢看. 然而当我打开了视频以后, 我发现那是一个交替传译视频, 除了温家宝和记者们的讲话外, 还有他的著名随身翻译张璐在一旁口译的. 看到此情此景, 我顿时打醒十分精神, 把这个视频看下去. 我越看心里越震憾, 真的超级佩服张璐的口译能力, 难怪之前看一些新闻曾评论她是 “中国同声传译第一人”. 也正是因为这个视频, 激发了我封闭已久的决心, 那就是我要学口译! 无独有偶, 来爱尔兰时, 我随身带了一本国家二级口译的辅导书. 我想现在终于可以派上用场了.
突然发现, 我来了这里以后, 对英语好像失去了以前的热情和斗志, 特别是口语. 这里的原因也是很多方面. 第一, 当初觉得自己到国外了, 天天要看英文版的资料, 都不需要专门去学了, 不像在深圳那样的一定的针对性; 第二, 好像以前国内我这个年纪能考的英语证书也考得七七八八了, 就只剩一个口译没考, 出国也来不及考了, 而且感觉自己的口语还是很不错的, 所以来了这里就掉以轻心. 说直白点, 就是自大和自我满足; 第三, 觉得自己在平时和老外交流时也没什么问题, 想说什么就说什么, 于是就以为自己学到家了, 本质还是自大. 结果, 就在不知不觉间, 我发现我的口语其实是在不断地下滑, 只是很缓慢, 我现在才发现了.
看完那个长长的视频后, 我痛定思痛, 立即找出带来的那本口译书, 坚决每天练习一篇口译的文章. 没有人和我练口语, 我只能自己练习了. 我突然发现, 自大和自满真的是一个人学习的最大敌人. 当你自大和自我满足时, 你就会永远停留在原有的水平而不思进取, 甚至不断下降. 写到这里, 我不禁问自己, 从前永不满足而且不断进取的自己哪去了? 我从学起外语来是有极大的热情和动力的, 然而现在好像如喝开水一般, 平淡无味, 似乎学也行, 不学也行, 心里总想: 反正自己的英语已经对得起街坊邻居了, 多学少学也没什么大不了的. 现在想想, 这种思想真的要不得啊!! 从前我最看重的就是口语, 现在笔头英语虽然仍然不断地练着, 却放弃了自己曾经最重视的东西, 真的是一个很大的遗憾! 难怪我出国前, 一个老师和我说: “暂且不论专业学得如何, 出国回来后能把英语, 包括你的专业英语, 学得个精通回来, 已经是最大的成功了!” 这句话虽然我一直也记着, 可是直到今天, 我才深刻地体会到里面的含义. 也难怪一个在美国留学回来的师兄当时对我说: “所谓出国, 其实就是花巨款到国外学外语.” 这句话虽然不完全正确, 可是也真的很有道理啊!
既然决定了要做的事, 就要从今天做起了. 可是我想想我也真的很累, 又要学专业课, 做一大堆的作业, 又要时不时帮一些公司翻译文件, 又要学中国注册会计师的教材准备今年的CPA考试, 现在还要练习口译, 我真觉得自己是一个super man! 不过这些东西看似很多, 其实只要你合理安排好时间, 还是可以应付的. 起码对我来讲, 我喜欢有挑战性而且有压力的生活, 不喜欢那种懒懒散散的日子. 好吧, 从明天开始, 6:30起床! 大家为我做监督, 看我7:00前(中国时间下午3:00)会不会把QQ挂上!
李彦宏:自己决定命运
原文作者: 来自小故事网
英文译者: 赖小琪
有的人认为，命运是天注定的。是不可改变的。但在李彦宏看来，命运不过是人生的方向盘，驶往哪个方向它掌握在每个人自己的手中。
Some people think that our destiny has been fixed and unchangeable since we were born. But from Li Yanhong’s perspective, destiny is merely a steering wheel of our life and we can control it in the direction we want.
高中一年级时，李彦宏在计算机方面的技能比其他同学强。学校选派他参加全国中学生计算机比赛。去之前李彦宏信心满满，还想着拿个名次回来。结果没想到，连个三等奖也没有。
When Li was in grade one in senior middle school, he demonstrated superior talent in computer skills than other students. Therefore, his school selected him as a representative to participate in the national computer skills competition for middle school students. Before setting out, Li was full of confidence in getting a prize. But out of his expectation, he even failed to get the third prize.
这样的结果对李彦宏而言是一个打击。当他走进省会太原的书店时，才知道为什么。李彦宏发现，在这里有许多自己在家乡根本看不到的计算机书籍。别人在信息的获取上比他有着先天优势。
It was a big blow to Li at that time. But when he walked into the bookstore of Taiyuan, the capital city of Shanxi Province, he learnt the reason for his failure immediately. He found that there were a wealth of computer books that could by no means be spotted in his hometown. That is to say, his competitors had natural advantages over him in accessing information.
这让李彦宏第一次感到了眼界与命运的关系，强烈渴望到外面的世界看一看。
This granted Li the first time to see the relationship between one’s outlooks and his destiny, making Li eager to go to outside world to have a look!
在之后的近20年中，无论是在北大的求学经历，还是在美国学习计算机以及在华尔街和硅谷的工作经历，都大大开阔了李彦宏的视野，甚至对他后来创立百度公司也产生了巨大的影响。
During the later 20 years, no matter he was studying in Peking University or studying computer in the U.S or working in the Silicon Valley, Li had enormously broadened his horizon with all these experiences which even had huge impact on his later establishment of Baidu Co., Ltd.
几年前，高盛公司前总裁约翰•桑顿在清华大学开了一门关于领导力的课程，专门邀请一些大型跨国公司的全球CEO去讲课。
Several years ago, John Thornton, the former president of Goldman Sachs, launched a leadership course and specially invited some CEOs of large multinational companies to give lectures.
有一次，李彦宏也被邀请去讲百度的成功故事。当他给学生们讲完课之后，桑顿跟他聊天：“看你的性格和一般人眼中的成功人士或者说企业家很不一样，因为你的性格很柔和。没有那么强硬。可是你做的也很成功啊，而且我相信你将来会更加成功。”
One day, Li was invited to talk about the success of his company, Baidu. When he finished his lecture, Thornton said to him, “I think you personality is quite different from those of other successful entrepreneurs in our eyes because yours is quite soft and not hard. But still you are very successful and I believe you will get more successful in the future.”
作为高盛的总裁，桑顿几乎见过当今世界上所有成功的企业家。而从他对李彦宏的评价来看，各种各样性格的人都有可能成功，只不过是看有没有利用自己的性格优势来做事情。比如说。有的人就是善于与人沟通，那就应该朝自己擅长的方向努力。他们非常愿意和客户沟通，也许未来就可以成为一名很好的销售人员，这样也会取得成功。关键是要分析自己的实际情况来做一个判断，究竟自己的性格适合什么。
As the CEO of Goldman Sachs, Thornton had almost met all successful entrepreneurs around the world. But from the comment he made on Li’s personality, we can see that people of various personalities all have the chance to succeed. The key factor is that whether we can fully utilize our own personality advantage to do our business. For instance, some people are good at communication and should work hard towards their own advantage. These people are highly willing to communicate with clients, so maybe they will be super sales representatives in the future. Therefore, the key issue is to make objective evaluation of yourself and see what profession can accommodate your personality.
在美国读研究生时，李彦宏报名参加了学校的一个研究小组。当时，负责面试的教授可能对李彦宏回答他的答案不满意，便随口问道：“你是从中国来的?”“你们中国有计算机吗?”
When Li was studying his postgraduate in America, he registered for a research group in his school. At that time, the professor in charge of the interview, probably felt dissatisfied with Li’s answers and asked him casually, “Are you from China? Does China have computers?”
尽管可能不是有心刺伤李彦宏，但教授的问题让他的心里特别难受，中国这么大的一个国家。而且那时已经是20世纪90年代了，怎么可能没计算机?这近似是对自己祖国的一种羞辱。但也激发了李彦宏内心那股不服输的精神和一定要实现“中国梦”的信念。这也是李彦宏为什么放弃了在美国稳定的工作和安逸的生活回国创立百度公司的原因。
Although the professor did not mean to hurt Li purposely, his question did cast blow to his heart. Li thought that China was such a big country that how was it possible for China not to have computers in even 1990s? The professor’s question seemed more than an insult to his mother land, China. But it also provoked Li’s internal unyielding spirits and confidence of realizing his “China dream”. That was why Li would later give up his sable job and comfortable life in America and come back to China to establish his company.
百度创立之初，一切都非常困难。李彦宏和同伴在宾馆租了两个房间作为办公室，加上他，公司总共只有8个人。但尽管如此，大家都有一个共同的梦想，那就是做中国人自己的搜索引擎。
In the initial phase of his company, everything was very difficult. Li and his partners, 8 people totally, rented two rooms as offices in a hotel. Even thought the condition was harsh, they were all convinced of one dream that they resolved to create Chinese own searching engine!
后来为了超越当时已经在中国市场上占有6成份额的google，他们成立了一个名为“闪电计划”的技术攻关小组。饿了就泡一包方便面，困了就干脆席地而睡，醒来以后继续工作。百度作为全球最大中文搜索引擎的地位正是由此开始奠定的。
Later, in order to surpassed the giant competitor, Google, which took up 60% of the market in China, they formed technology study group known as the “Lightning Plan”. When they were hungry, they usually ate instant noodles; when they were tired, they would sleep where they sat. After waking up, they would continue their work. All these gradually led to Baidu’s biggest Chinese searching engine in the world. |
