Among MI students, Peter is definitely one of the most seniors in his field. Being a British, he worked in France, traveled to Russia, African, South America…finally came to the land of Asia and established himself in Shanghai for work. Why did he decide to stay here and learn Chinese?
不管是在MI学员里，还是在自己的领域中，Peter绝对算得上资深人士了。作为一名英国人，他在法国，俄罗斯，非洲，南美洲等地都工作过…最终来到亚洲大陆，选择上海继续深耕事业。是什么让他决定留下来并学习中文的呢？
Q: You have a lot of international working experience! What’s your impression of Shanghai, or China?
你去过好多地方工作，对于上海或者中国的印象如何？
A: Very good and interesting. I like Shanghai because it is dynamic. People always try to help you. Security is 100%. Foreigners who are not good at Chinese can still live here with good experience. My wife does not have the same experience like me but because of the solidarity of the wives of expatriates, she has a big group and they do a lot of activities. She is very happy in Shanghai too.
很好。我喜欢上海的活力，人们愿意帮你，安全性100%。就算是汉语不好的老外也能在这座城市有很好的体验。我太太没有像我这样的国际背景，多亏了外籍员工太太群的团结有爱，她在这里参加好多活动，对在上海的生活很开心。
Q: Since the culture and language are totally different from what you are used to, what is the hardest thing for you in China?
这里的语言和文化都和你过去所熟悉的大不相同，对你来说最难的事是什么？
A: The beginning when you as a foreigner you do not have a bank account, without “papers”. You cannot order a taxi as you do not know how things work. You wait the car to stop but no one does…like this kind of small things. Once you have the things ongoing then it is easy. Now the phone has a lot effects in daily life. If you lose your phone, that is a problem; but 99% I have no bad experience.
最开始作为一个外国人来说，没有银行账号，没有办事文件很难。比如叫不到车，不知道在这里人们怎么操作，想在路边等车停，但是又没人停…类似这种生活小事。一旦事情有所进展就顺利多了。现在手机的用途很大，如果掉了就会有大麻烦，但是99%的时候我的体验都是好的。
Q: When do you make the decision to start learning Chinese?
你是什么时候决定想学中文的？
A: It was a long-term target for me due to business activities I saw in here. China is becoming more and more important in automotive sector worldwide. In addition, through the language you can understand a bit culture: how things work and how people think. I understand that when you are older, the capacity to learnis a bit less, especially you have work and pressure. Sometimes I cannot stop working for six months intensively. Therefore, I am not seeking to be fluent. I set my target to understand the language, to be able to live the daily life and sort myself out.
学习中文对我来说是一个长期计划，因为这里商机无限。中国在世界汽车领域的地位越来越重要。另外，透过语言能够了解文化，对我来说很重要。当然，我也知道年纪越大，学习能力会越弱，尤其还有一大堆工作要处理，就像我有时候要密集工作6个月时间。所以我也不是想要追求中文说得很流利，我的学习目标是能够理解这门语言，便于处理日常生活中的问题。
As much as I am in China, I will do the course because I think it is interesting. I like the course with different people. You can compare to and interact with other students. Being with young people is funny.
只要我在中国有时间，我就会学中文，学习语言很有趣。我喜欢和不同的同学一起学习课程，比较和互动，和年轻人在一块很有意思。
Q: Sounds like you had good atmosphere in class. I know you have different teachers to teach you. How do you think of them?看来你们的课堂氛围不错呀。你有不同的老师教你，觉得她们怎么样？
A: We have two teachers. The first teacher used to live in Europe and deal with Europeans so her English is fluent. I think she is the ideal person to attract new comers and good at encouraging students during the class. Second teacher is also good in her style, more patient and repeating the key points in Chinese, different styles, either works.
我们班有两位老师。一位曾经在欧洲生活过，懂得和老外交流且英语流利。她很适合吸引新学生培养兴趣，她会在课堂上鼓励我们。另一位老师也有自己的风格，很耐心，会用中文重复重点。两个人都很好，只是个人风格不一样。
Q: Do you prefer teacher speaking more Chinese or English as a medium language?
你更喜欢老师多说中文，还是用英语作为媒介语言来教学？
A: I prefer the way when we learn more Chinese. When the Chinese expression is not enough, then teacher need to find a way to speak English, this is how it should be for me.
哪种方法能够让我们学到更多中文，我就更喜欢哪种。如果中文不足以表达意思的时候，那么老师可以用英文来解释，对我来说是这样的。
Q: Do you have good tips for learning Chinese?
有没有学习中文的好方法？
A: I think game is nice. We did some games like asking the price and negotiating in Chinese. It is funny and people are more involved. The golden rule for learning language is “People learn from using”. The other tip I could say is to mix people. Why not every three months, make some games with people from similar level of other classes? You know, to see different people.
我认为可以通过游戏。在课堂上我们通过游戏用中文练习讨价还价之类的对话。大家参与度高，也很有趣。学习语言的黄金法则就是“在用中学，学以致用”。另外可以打乱班级学生，比如每三个月，把不同班级差不多级别的学生聚在一起做一些游戏，通过交流来认识更多的人。
Q: Due to the worldwide pandemic, many schools still not open. Online education is getting popular, how do you thinka bout it?
由于全球疫情，许多学校还没开放。在线教育火起来了，你怎么看待？
A: In my opinion, online education is different when you do not have a choice, e.g., the Covid situation, or as a support to the physical class. Online classes cannot completely replace the group classes but will be in support of it. As my Chinese course is getting more complex, the 1.5 hours per time may not be enough. After each physical course it could help to do exercise or review the content that we have learnt. (End)
我个人认为，在线教育是不一样的，当你在疫情的情况下没办法上课，或者作为面授课的补充内容，那是可以的。在线课没法完全代替现在的班课，但可以作为辅助工具。就像我的课程随着进度内容越来越复杂，可能每次1.5小时都不够了。那么在线课可以帮助我练习和复习学到的内容。（完）
