A:Hey! How was your first day of class? I’m in level two and I’m loving my class this semester! It’s great being in a class of international students!
B:Mine was ok, except that no one in my class speaks English. I guess it will force me to converse in Chinese more in class so at least I should improve a lot this semester.
A: That’s both fortunate and unfortunate. It’s the United Nations in my class! We have people from all over the world! There are three Germans, a Pole, a Scottish, two French, an American, a Brazilian, a Chilean, a New Zealander, though he prefers to call himself a Kiwi. Who else do we have? Oh, we also have a Moroccan, a Togolese, a Pakistani, and two Indonesians!
B:That’s quite the array of nationalities. Everyone in my class is from Asia, except me. There are a few South Koreans, several Japanese, Malaysian, Thai, Singaporean, Filipino, Kazakhstani, and one Russian.
A:Well, I think you’re pretty lucky actually. You’ll have the opportunity to learn so much about Asian culture.
B:I guess so, but I think it’s going to be hard to relate to my classmates, especially with the language barrier. I think I might change classes.
A:Don’t! Stay the course! Your spoken Chinese will be eternally grateful. I bet you it will even surpass mine with all that practice.
B:I highly doubt it. Your girlfriend is Chinese.
A:Well, there is that, yes.
词汇注释
United Nations 联合国
array n.一系列, 大批
opportunity n.机会
language barrier 语言障碍
stay the course 坚持到最后
参考译文
A: 嘿！上学第一天怎么样？我在第2年级，我喜欢这学期的课。在一个满是国际生的班级中感觉很棒。
B：我还可以，就是班里没人说英语。我想那会迫使我在课堂上多用中文交流，至少这学期我会大幅度提高中文水平。
A: 那既是幸运的又是不幸的。我们班就是个小联合国。学生来自全世界各地。有3个希腊人，1个波兰人，1个英国人，2个法国人，1个美国，1个巴西人,1个智利人，1个新西兰人。尽管他更愿称自己是Kiwi人。还有别国得人吗？还有1个摩洛哥人，1个多哥人，1个巴基斯坦人，2个印尼人。
B：有这么多国籍。我们班的每个人除了我都来自亚洲，有些韩国人，一些日本人，还有马来西亚人，泰国人，新加坡人，菲律宾人，哈萨克斯坦人，以及一个俄国人。
A: 我认为你很幸运。你有机会来学习亚洲的文化。
B：我也这么想，但我想和同学们交流有点难度，尤其是有语言障碍。我想我得换班。
A: 别。要坚持到最后。你说汉语的口语能力最终一定很强。我打赌在如此多的练习下你会超过我的汉语水平。
B：我对此很怀疑。你女朋友是中国人。
A: 确实是。
