發人深省！華裔女孩哈佛大學超流利英文演講

編輯手記

別因為我是華裔，你們就否定我的所有努力！華裔女生哈佛演講，一上台氣場爆棚，精致的真女神！這份自信是你我需要學習的！她也在演講中強調了這個時代沉默的缺失，讓人們忘記了沉默的價值。其實，說話是一種本能，大多數人生來兩年便習得；沉默卻是一門學問，大多數人半輩子都沒學懂；什麽時候說話，什麽時候沉默的秘籍更是精深，無數人花一輩子才參透。Bessie Zhang 哈佛大學2017畢業演講，語速平緩流利，落落大方，小夥伴們若能練到這個水準，英語八級妥妥的。

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演講全文

Sparks crackles as 10 pairs of hands reached for the fire pit to stay warm. Around the circle set several bright-eyed incoming freshmen including myself. We shivered slightly in the evening chill and I pulled my jacket tighter. Above us a canopy of stars emerged from the darkness. We were asked to tell a story about ourselves. I had only known these people for 48 hours but excited, nervous and willing to go wherever we were pointed. We went ahead.

當我們的十雙手一起伸向火坑取暖的時候，火花發出陣陣聲響。一群眼睛明亮的新生圍坐在一起，其中也包括我。我們在傍晚的寒氣中微微顫抖，我也把夾克拉得更緊。在我們的頭頂上方，漫天繁星從黑暗中露出身影。按照規則，我們都要講一個關於自己的故事。我才剛剛認識這些同學48個小時而已，但在興奮和緊張的驅使下，我很樂意按照要求做任何事情。於是，我們就照做了。

I told the story of my family and our journey settling into North America as immigrants. As I spoke, everyone stayed silent. After I finished, the only sound with the flowing stream and crackling fire. I briefly wondered if I was a terrible storyteller and everyone had fallen asleep. But in this very silence, I felt an inexplicable sense of connection with my peers who moments ago were strangers. If you had told me that my introduction to Harvard involved body odor built up over five days without a shower, I may have gone to Yale.

我講述了自己的家庭以及作為移民定居在北美的故事。我在發言的時候，現場一片沉靜。當我講完之後，現場也只有流動的小溪和劈劈啪啪的火焰聲。我很想知道是不是自己的故事講得不好，所以每個人聽了都會犯困。但正是在這種沉默中，我也莫名的地感覺到了自己與這些同齡人之間存在著某種聯繫，因為他們在此之前都是陌生人。如果你當初告訴我，說我在對哈佛進行介紹的時候散發出了五天沒有洗澡的氣味，那麽我很可能已經去耶魯了。

But today four years later, this moment is one of the most formative of my college experience. It wasn't just the warmth of the fire, the scenery it illuminated or the excitement of starting the next phase of our lives. It was because of the silence. As I spoke, everyone simply listened. Their motivation was not to comment, respond or a few chose to truly hear what I had to say. Our society values the outspoken, the opinionated. There are debate tournaments, but who's ever heard of a listening tournament, especially at Harvard where we are constantly asked to speak our minds and prove ourselves.

但在四年後的今天，此時此刻是我大學生涯中最具影響力的一次。這不是因為篝火帶來的暖意，它所照亮的風景，或者是即將步入人生另一個階段時的激動心情，而是因為沉默。在我演講的時候，每個人都只是在聽，沒有人想要對我的演講進行點評或回應，其實也只有極少數人真正在聽我講。我們的社會重視直言不諱、固執己見的人。辯論比賽到處都有，但有誰真正聽說過“聽力比賽”?尤其是在哈佛，我們通常被要求說出自己的想法，並證明自己的能力。

Silence is devalued. But as we focus on talking, we miss an opportunity to grasp the complexity around us. Instead, when we let silence wash over, a space is created for vulnerability and the potential to know others in a way that all our talking could never allow. To hear the person who is brave enough to share in moments of struggle when everyone else seems to have it together, the peer who feels like an outsider, the friend who has secretly endured an experience that has shaped all our interactions. Silence allows us to engage with each other more deeply. It has shown me during my time at Harvard with all of you that the person sitting two rows in front of me has a story as complex, rich and confusing as my own.

沉默的價值已經被忽視了。但當我們專心交談之際，很可能會錯過一個抓住周圍複雜事物的機會。相反，當我們的沉默被衝刷殆盡，就會產生一個為脆弱而生的空間環境，並且會以一種所有交談方式都不允許的方式去了解他人。當大家都在一起的時候，你可能會聽到有人在勇敢地在分享自己的經歷，而正是那些感覺自己像局外人的小夥伴以及曾默默經歷過一段艱難時刻的朋友塑造了我們所有的互動情景。沉默可以讓我們更深入地了解彼此。與你們一起在哈佛的那段時間裡，它已經向我展示了坐在我面前的那兩排同學的故事，就像我自己的故事一樣複雜、豐富、讓人感到困惑。

In the piece of reflection, we can also engage more genuinely with ourselves. To pause from the programmed noise and rush of the everyday, and to just be. Sometimes instead of books filled with texts, we simply need to open one with blank pages onto which our own thoughts musings, and reflections can pour out. That night as the flame flickered low, I learned that what made others feel most understood, what makes me feel most understood, is an appreciation for the mundane. The stories we find ourselves sharing around the fire are not the contents of our resumes, they are about our families, about a walk we took along the Charles River with a friend, about a call we got from a parent, sibling or child to check in. It is these hidden moments, the seemingly forgettable substance of our daily lives that make up the very core of who we are.

在反思的過程中，我們也可以更加真誠地接觸自己。擺脫程序化的噪音，停下每天匆忙的腳步。有時，我們需要一些空白頁，在上面寫上我們自己的想法和思考，而不是滿是文字的書籍。那天晚上，當火焰搖曳的時候，我了解到，讓他人最容易理解的，同時也是讓我最容易理解的，是對世俗的欣賞。我發現我們那天晚上所分享的故事並不是關於簡歷的內容，而是關於我們的家庭，我們和朋友一起沿著查爾斯河散步，關於我們與父母、兄弟姐妹或孩子通電話的故事。正是這些潛在的時刻、這些我們日常生活中看似容易被遺忘的故事構成了我們人生的核心。

Dear class of 2017, tomorrow we graduate and we leave behind dining hall FroYo, historical snow days and Dean states Easter's fungi. With a Harvard degree come expectations to lead the way change the world and assert our presence. But, what if we enter the next phase of our lives not only with our talk and opinions, but also our silence to honor and listen to the complexities around us and in ourselves whatever they may be. Four years ago, one of the most powerful welcomes I received at Harvard was in the quiet of nature, as the stream trickled by and the embers continued to blow. We are not gathered around a fire today, but I'd like to practice what I preach and take the last valuable moments of my speech not speaking with you but instead spending the next 10 seconds with you in silence, reflecting and listening to this unique place we have all shared these last four years. Thank you!

親愛的2017屆同學們，明天我們就要畢業了，我們將要離開餐廳裡的那家冰凍優酪乳店、哈佛的雪景和我們敬愛的院長。我們手捧哈佛大學的學位，期待著改變世界、證明我們的存在。但是，假使我們步入了人生的另一個階段，不僅只是發表自己的觀點和看法，而且還帶著一種沉默，尊重、傾聽我們周圍以及自身的複雜性，無論那是什麽，將會怎麽樣呢?四年前，我在哈佛受到的最有力的歡迎儀式就來自於大自然的寧靜，溪流慢慢流淌，餘燼繼續吹著。今天我們雖然不是圍坐在篝火旁，但我想將我的理念付諸實踐。在我演講的最後幾分鐘的寶貴時刻，我就不講了，我想在最後的10秒鐘與你們一起保持沉默，反思、傾聽這個我們一起共同度過了四年的特殊地方。

（中英文來源於 TED）