写给凯拉韦和其他想转行教书的人的话

 　　Hurrah¹, she has finally done it.

　　好哇，她终于这么做了。

　　Ten years ago, Lucy Kellaway told me — in hushed tones as though it were a guilty secret — that she dreamt of being a maths teacher.

　　10年前，露西.凯拉韦(Lucy Kellaway)告诉我——她压低了声音，好像这是个罪恶的秘密——她的梦想是当一名数学老师。

　　The occasion was my decision to leave the Financial Times to teach English.

　　当时，我决定离开英国《金融时报》去教英语。

　　I am delighted that now she too has decided² to take the plunge³.

　　我很高兴，现在她也决定果断行动了。

　　I made my career change earlier — in my 40s — but I do not regret it, and I have every confidence that Lucy won’t either.

　　我改行的时候比她早——在40多岁的时候——但我不后悔，而且我很有信心，露西也不会后悔。

　　Lucy was not the only one to confess such yearnings: quite a few journalists, I discovered, hankered after a life in front of an interactive⁴ white board and wished they could be as brave as me.

　　露西并非唯一坦承心存这种渴望的人：我发现，在度过一段整天对着交互式电子白板的职业生涯之后，许多记者有这种渴望，并希望自己可以像我一样勇敢。

　　But Lucy was particularly sincere and thoughtful.

　　但露西的渴望特别热烈，并且考虑周到。

　　Her mother, Deborah Kellaway, had been an inspirational head of English at Camden School for Girls — the actor Emma Thompson named her My Best Teacher in a column for the Times Educational Supplement.

　　她母亲黛博拉.凯拉韦(Deborah Kellaway)曾是卡姆登女子学校(Camden School for Girls)富有启发力的英语教学主管——演员艾玛.汤普森(Emma Thompson)在给《泰晤士报》教育副刊(Times Educational Supplement)写的一篇专栏文章中称她为我最好的老师。

　　Lucy gave me some advice about what made her mother so adored: She was open to the girls’ ideas.

　　露西给我指点了一下她母亲那么受崇拜的原因：她对女孩们的想法持开放态度。

　　She made them feel clever and original.

　　她让她们感到自己聪明、与众不同。

　　It was advice I took to heart and it turned out to be easy to follow.

　　我把她的话记在了心里，后来发现做到这些并不难。

　　One of the most rewarding things about teaching is that teenagers really do make original and thought-provoking observations.

　　教书的最大回报之一，是青少年真的会提出与众不同、发人深思的观点。

　　Mind you, this might be more of a phenomenon when you are teaching Charlotte Bront? rather than Lucy’s beloved trigonometry.

　　请注意，如果你教的是夏洛特.勃朗特(Charlotte Bront?)而不是露西喜欢的三角函数，就更可能如此。

　　I had been at the FT for 10 years — not a patch on Lucy’s 31 — when I decided to move into teaching.

　　当决定改行去教书时，我已在英国《金融时报》工作了10年——比露西的31年短多了。

　　I had enjoyed myself thoroughly⁵ at the paper: my roles had included deputy UK news editor, arts editor and, at the time I left, co-Editor of what was then the Weekend section — now Life & Arts.

　　我在报社时非常享受我的工作：我担任过的职位包括英国新闻副主编、艺术版主编，离职时我是当时的周末版——如今的生活与艺术(Life & Arts)——的联合主编。

　　But my fascination⁶ with education grew.

　　但我对教育越来越着迷。

　　I became a governor at my children’s primary school and a pupil mentor⁷ at a comprehensive, but it was not enough.

　　我成了我孩子小学的董事和一所综合性中学的学生导师，但那还不够。

　　I was mad, I told myself.

　　我自言自语说，我疯了。

　　Those teacher recruitment advertisements, full of pupils gazing in open-mouthed wonderment at an enthusiastic (young and good-looking) teacher, were peddling⁸ a fantasy, I said, sternly.

　　我严肃告诫自己，那些教师招聘广告——上面都是张大嘴巴、好奇地注视着热情洋溢（且年轻貌美）的老师的学生——在兜售一种幻想。

　　Teaching could not really be like that: just read the headlines and listen to the politicians.

　　教书的真实情况不可能是那样的：只要读一读头条、听一听政客们的话，就知道了。

　　In the end, I went to watch some teachers in action — and it turned out that the cheesy fantasy was not so far from the truth after all.

　　最后，我去观察了一些老师的工作情况，然后发现，那美妙的幻想与现实的距离根本不远。

　　You really do get golden moments when pupils turn to you agog⁹ that Shakespeare was really clever.

　　当学生兴高采烈地过来对你说莎士比亚真聪明，那真是你的黄金时刻。

　　These are deeply touching¹⁰.

　　这些深深地打动了我。

　　So I wish Lucy — and everyone else who joins her through Now Teach — the best of luck.

　　所以，我希望露西——还有所有通过Now Teach（现在教书吧）跟她走相同道路的人——一路好运。

　　It won’t all be Dead Poets Society and School of Rock, but I work with several colleagues who after careers in the City, as investment bankers, consultants¹¹, insurance brokers¹² and lawyers, have come into teaching.

　　不会都像《死亡诗社》(Dead Poets Society)和《摇滚校园》(School of Rock)中的那个样子，但我现在有几位同事，都是在伦敦金融城(the City)当过投行家、顾问、保险经纪人和律师之后，转行教书。

　　They, like me, enjoy the variety and challenge of the job.

　　他们像我一样，喜欢这份工作的多元性和挑战。

　　As one said to me, just the other day, over dodgy staffroom coffee (no more delectable¹³ cappuccinos from around the corner, Lucy): I have never worked so hard.

　　正如其中一人几天前在喝着教员休息室质量一般的咖啡（露西，不再有随手可取的美味卡布奇诺了）时跟我所说：我从没工作得这么辛苦过。

　　And I have never been so happy.

　　可我也从没这样开心过。

　　However, there are a few surprises to look out for.

　　然而，也有一些惊喜等着你。

　　Never mind former colleagues thinking you are mad: staffroom colleagues will think you are crazy for giving up a glamorous¹⁴ media career.

　　前同事认为你疯了根本不算什么：学校教员休息室里的同事会认为，你放弃一份光鲜的媒体工作太疯狂了。

　　And pupils will think you are utterly¹⁵ barking.

　　学生们会认为，你完全是精神错乱。

　　The most humiliating thing a student ever said to me: You went to Oxford¹⁶ and you’re just a teacher? I know that education is the most popular destination for Oxford graduates, but it was little comfort at that moment.

　　学生曾对我说过的最让我感到羞辱的一句话是：你上完牛津，结果就只是当老师？我知道，教育是牛津毕业生最喜欢的职业选择，但当时我并没因为这个感到一丝的安慰。

　　Be prepared for the first time you are asked what you do by a stranger at a function: I’m a teacher gets a very different response from I’m an FT columnist¹⁷.

　　请为如下的第一次做好准备：当陌生人在活动上问到你的职业时，我是老师得到的反应与我是英国《金融时报》专栏作家完全不同。

　　You think you won’t mind, but you may find that you do.

　　你认为你不会在意，但你或许会发现，你是在意的。

　　Lorna Dolan is assistant head of Sixth Form at Sevenoaks School.

　　洛娜.多兰(Lorna Dolan)是七橡树中学(Sevenoaks School)第六学级(Sixth Form)的副主管

1 hurrah   

int.好哇，万岁，乌拉

参考例句：

• We hurrah when we see the soldiers go by.我们看到士兵经过时向他们欢呼。
• The assistants raised a formidable hurrah.助手们发出了一片震天的欢呼声。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

4 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

5 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

6 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

7 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

8 peddling   

忙于琐事的，无关紧要的

参考例句：

• He worked as a door-to-door salesman peddling cloths and brushes. 他的工作是上门推销抹布和刷子。
• "If he doesn't like peddling, why doesn't he practice law? "要是他不高兴卖柴火，干吗不当律师呢？

9 agog   

adj.兴奋的，有强烈兴趣的； adv.渴望地

参考例句：

• The children were all agog to hear the story.孩子们都渴望着要听这个故事。
• The city was agog with rumors last night that the two had been executed.那两人已被处决的传言昨晚搞得全城沸沸扬扬。

10 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

11 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。

12 brokers   

n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• The firm in question was Alsbery & Co., whiskey brokers. 那家公司叫阿尔斯伯里公司，经销威士忌。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• From time to time a telephone would ring in the brokers' offices. 那两排经纪人房间里不时响着叮令的电话。 来自子夜部分

13 delectable   

adj.使人愉快的；美味的

参考例句：

• What delectable food you cook!你做的食品真好吃！
• But today the delectable seafood is no longer available in abundance.但是今天这种可口的海味已不再大量存在。

14 glamorous   

adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的

参考例句：

• The south coast is less glamorous but full of clean and attractive hotels.南海岸魅力稍逊，但却有很多干净漂亮的宾馆。
• It is hard work and not a glamorous job as portrayed by the media.这是份苦差，并非像媒体描绘的那般令人向往。

15 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

16 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

17 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。