题记：有人说过，梦想就像是一个氢气球，每一个追梦的人都是坐着一个美丽的氢气球，遨游于湛蓝天空中，向着自己的目的地勇敢前行。学好英语，应该是很多很多中国人的梦想，有梦未必能够实现，有行动才能真正地成就自己的精彩。在美丽的海岛之城珠海，就有着平和这样一个国际语言村。这里是很多英语追梦人的沃土，这里有着很多像Michelle一样的英语爱好者，他们美丽的英语梦就是在平和起航的。
The GLV, achieve my dream
Michelle Xu
It is more or less a year after my victorious landing in Shenzhen city, Guangdong Province. Now I still remember the scene, some of my classmates and I were sent to Kempinskin, an international five star hotel, to finish our training given by the university on 9th November, 2009.It was the first time for us to step out of the campus, with no idea what is ahead, instead full of passion, ambition and dreams, as any other enthusiastic youngsters.
Working in hotel plays an important role in my whole life, not only because it gave me a lot of work experience, but also made me realize the importance of English. With the rapid development of Chinese-foreign economy, a lot of foreign companies have the chance to build branch companies as their bases in China. Undoutedly, English as an international language is becoming popular among Chinese if you want to get a high position, good salary. Speaking fluent English will be considered as a significant factor. Especially, in hotel, we should communicate with foreign customers every day. Many colleagues around me could speak English very well, which made me decide that learning English is going to be my goal this year. During that time, I always thought how to improve my English, study by myself or through other ways. Until I read about GLV on the internet. I was deeply attracted by its special education theory, total immersion program.
Before I contacted GLV, I had been to other schools such as EF, Wall Street English, Crazy English and so on. It’s pity that I was interested in none of them. Their teaching ways were not suitable for me. It’s just my personal opinion about their education theory. Besides, I’m sure they will not help me achieve my English dream, speaking English fluently.
In my opinion, language environment is the most important factor for any language learner, like a new-born baby, the first thing they can do is to listen, they can’t make sense of what people say, they just follow and repeat. It’s natural for them to speak out what they listened from their family members. GLV creates this kind of immersion English environment for us, both in the classroom and when interacting with teachers, classmates, visitors, administrators and so on. The moment you step into GLV, “English Only”, the strict rule makes you open your mouth, practice what you learned from the books. It’s very different from Chinese traditional mute English teaching ways.
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The girl who sits before in white is Michelle
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This is a common mistake for Chinese people learn English. We always like to translate Chinese into English, not speak out English directly. Before when I spoke with foreigners, I often took a few minutes to think about what I should say, how to organize my sentences. The lack of vocabulary made me talk without confidence and afraid of making mistakes. We must throw out of the traditional learning method of translation from Chinese to English. Studying in GLV, all classes are taught in English and we seldom use books. In the classroom, the teachers use a variety of communication devices other than translation to help the students understand, like pictures, body language, or facial expressions. It’s very interesting and relaxing. This way is my favorite way because we can gain knowledge from simple games and short conversations or just talking.
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Presentations are funny and impressive
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GLV’s teachers come from all over the world, like America, England, Australia, Poland and so on. It is really beneficial for us to talk with them, so we are able to adjust to different countries accent and culture. At GLV, all the teachers are like your friends. In the classroom, we can play games together and we can ask any questions about their country culture and customs. Also, if you come across some problems in your life and have no idea, you can discuss with them and get some useful suggestion from them, because most of them have rich work and life experience or operate their own business. They are always happy to help you. If you study here, it’s very easy for you to find many other interesting things. For example, it is very common for you to see that a CEO just sits in the classroom and plays games with other students. Or you can see a group of people standing on the stage and doing some funny things. They are giving a presentation, which help to practice their English and enhance the relationship between students.
GLV includes students from different ages, social status and educational background. One of the greatest benfit for them to stay here is to study English well. What’s more, we can exchange our work experience, social opinion and life view. You can image how beautiful it is. Studying in GLV was my right choice. Of course it’s also suitable for you. Let’s improve English together.
我的英语梦在平和起航
弹指一瞬间，我来到美丽的广东深圳已经有差不多一年的时光了。那些初来咋到的新奇画面我仍然历历在目。2009年11月9日，按照学校的安排，我和我的一些同学一起被派到国际五星级凯宾斯基酒店进行培训。这是我们第一次走出校园，走进社会职场。跟很多其他的热血青年一样，我们面对着前路的未知，充满了热忱、野心以及梦想。
在酒店工作迅速成为了我生活中不可或缺的一个重要组成部分，因为它不仅带给了我很多非常有价值的工作经验，还让我慢慢意识到英语学习的重要性。随着中国经济的腾飞，很多外资企业都选择在中国建立他们的分公司，将业务拓展到中国市场。毫无疑问，英语作为一种国际通用的语言，已经成为了不少人在职场上争取更多提升机会和工资的优势。一口流利的英语将成为我们求职中的大筹码。特别是在酒店里工作，我们每天都要面对外国客人。我身边有很多同事，他们的英语水平都非常好，这也让我下定了决心，今年学好英语就是我的目标。那时，我常常疑惑，应该如何通过自学提高自己的英语水平。直到我在网络上看到了“平和英语”的相关介绍，我才找到了答案：我深深地被平和独特的全封闭、浸泡式教学理念打动。
在来平和之前，我曾经参加过不少英语学习机构的培训。但遗憾的是，对于我个人而言，他们的教学方法我都不感兴趣，似乎我也无法从那里实现我的英语梦。
我个人觉得，语言环境对于任何一个外语学习者来说都是最重要的学习因素。就像一个刚出生的婴儿，他们第一件做的事情只是单纯地听，他们并没有真正意识到人们正在说什么，他们能做的只有跟着模仿和重复。他们能够自然而然地习得一些从他们家人那里听回来的话语。无论是在教室里，还是在与其他的老师、同学、员工交流互动，平和都为我们创造了一个浸泡式的英语学习环境。当你踏进平和的一刻，“English Only”的黄金条例定将严格地促使你大胆地开口讲英语，练习一切你从课本中学到的知识。这种教学方式与中国传统的“哑巴英语”教学方法截然不同。
中国人学英语，有一个共同的误区，那就是我们总是喜欢将汉语直接翻译成英语。以往，当我跟一些外国人交谈的时候，我经常都需要花费几分钟的时间去思考我究竟可以说些什么，我应该如何组织我的句子。词汇的缺乏也使我缺乏自信，害怕出错。我想，要学好英语，我们必须抛弃传统的中英翻译法。在平和，所有的课程都是用英语授课的，而且我们很少仅仅局限于课本。课堂上，老师会使用各种各样的交流方法帮助我们理解，而不仅仅是简单的翻译，比如会使用图片、身体语言或者是面部表情等等。这些教学方法既有趣又轻松，也是我最乐在其中的学习方式，因为我可以通过简单的游戏或是简短的对话就能获得新知识。
另外，平和的老师来自世界各地，像美国、英国、澳大利亚、波兰等等，营造了平和国际语言村的良好氛围。与他们交谈，我们可以接触到不同国家的口音和文化，真是获益匪浅。在这里，所有的老师就像你的好朋友一样。课堂上，我们一起玩游戏，一起针对异国文化提出有趣的问题；课堂外，如果在生活中遇到了困难却不知如何解决，也可以和他们讨论。他们都有着丰富的人生阅历和生活经历，而且乐于给我们提出建议。如果你在这里学习，你还会轻易地发现很多其他有趣的事。比如，你会看到来自某企业的成功CEO正坐在教室里，和其他的高中生一起，玩着游戏，学着英语；你还可以看到一群学生站在舞台上兴高采烈地表演，既练习了英语，又加强了与同学之间的友谊。
平和的学生来自不同的年龄、教育背景、社会层次，他们来到平和最大的收益之处就是能够在这里真真正正地掌握英语。不仅如此，我们还可在平和这个大家庭里，与来自五湖四海的人交流我们的工作经验、生活感悟和人生看法。你可以想象，在平和学习是多么愉悦和美丽的事。平和，是我最正确的选择。我相信它也会适合你的。
让我们的英语在平和起航吧！
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让我们的英语梦在平和起航吧！
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Michelle就读期间的班主任和所在班级：Adam.S(5B),Aaron.B(5A),Julie.V(4C) ,Ed.M(4B),Bruce.M(3D),Donald.T(3C),
（英文原稿：Michelle Xu 中文文字整理：Cloe Liu）
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