Speech at 10th Anniversary and 2013 Graduation Ceremony of the SFL, BNUZ
Tao Wenhao 陶文好
28th June 2013
Good evening, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, staff members of the School of Foreign Languages, parents and above all, graduates!
Ten years is not long in history but is long enough for the School of Foreign Languages (SFL), BNUZ, because it is the tenth anniversary of this wonderful beauty. I fell in love with her ten years ago and I am confident that I will be with her for the rest of my life. For the graduates of 2013, I would say to you that you are so special, because today is not a day of saying good bye but a day of celebration of both you and the tenth anniversary of SFL though you will leave tomorrow.
各位嘉宾，先生们，女士们，外国语学院的全体同事，各位家长，尤其是亲爱的毕业生：晚上好！
十年对于历史的长河来说不算长，但是对于北师大珠海分校外国语学院来说却很长、很长了，因为今天我们迎来了这位美女的十岁生日。十年前，我爱上了这位大美人，我想我这辈子都会对她不离不弃，厮守到老！对于亲爱的2013届毕业生，我要对你们说，你们非常特别，今天不是告别的日子，而是伟大的庆典，你们和外院的十岁同庆，但是我们知道你们明天确实要告别这个美丽的校园。
In June, ten years ago I came to this wonderful land of BNUZ, I was deeply attracted by the beauty of the landscape, the enthusiasm and the hospitality of the people on campus. Particularly I appreciated the hard-working spirit and the prosperity of the new-born university. This was just the place where I could spend my whole life on the establishment and development of the School of Foreign Languages. Therefore I decided to stay here and started my lifelong journey with my total sincerity. The memory of the great events of the faculty, my explorations into teaching reforms, the creative modules of English, Japanese majors and College English are all evidences of my devotion to the foundation and development of the faculty. Now I am proud of having such a strong staff of 81 members of the faculty with 30 native English and Japanese teachers working with more than 1000 students of English and Japanese majors of BA and MA besides offering over 40 different courses of College English to over 22,000 students of the university. In the "12th Five-Year Plan”, supported by our team members, SFL would like to recruit more native staff of English and Japanese with PhDs and by the end of the “12th Five Year Plan” period (in the year of 2015), they will have made up half of the staff.
十年前的六月，我来到了这片神奇的土地，北师大珠海分校，我被这里的美景深深的吸引了，被珠海分校的热情和好客深深感动了，尤其是被这所新型大学的刻苦务实的精神所感动了。我就在想这不就是我一直在寻找的地方吗？我愿意把我的一生贡献给她。于是我就决定留下，带着百倍热诚开始了对于外国语学院的创建和发展。学院建设中的一桩桩、一件件、点点滴滴无不在我的脑海里清晰可见，如带领全院教职工对于大学英语改革的深入探索，对于英语专业、日语专业创新模式的建立等。我把青春献给了你！现在引以自豪的是我们拥有81位教职工，其中31位是外教。外国语学院承担了学校2万多人的公共外语课程的教学，开设了40多门大学外语必选课, 当然还有我们自己的1000多人的英语专业和日语专业本科生和英语专业硕士生。我们的目标是到“十二五”规划结束之年，即2015年外教和中方教师达到1:1，其中博士的比例达到15%。
After 10 years of development, this beauty has grown up, I love her more than I did ten years ago for some other reasons too. This beauty is special in the following ways: for the English majors, we educate her with two foreign languages throughout four years such as French and Portuguese, for the Japanese Majors, we educate her with both Japanese and English for four years. So this beauty is not only beautiful but also intelligent and multilingual. A good data is: more than twenty percent of our BA graduates every year go on to read for MAs either in China or in other famous overseas universities.
经过十年的发展，这位美女已经长大，我们比十年前更加相爱了。她出落得更加与众不同了。不同之处在于，对于英语专业来说，我们进行了四年不间断的双外语教学，如英法双外语方向和英葡双语方向。对于日语专业来说，我们也进行了四年不间断的日英双语方向的教学。所以今天的这位美女不仅漂亮美丽而且很富有智慧，并且能说多个语种。我们还有一个数据和大家分享，即我们每年有20%多的同学到国内外著名高校攻读硕士学位。
For the graduates of 2013, I am happy to tell you that you are lucky to live in such a happy family for the past four years, which will never be back to campus but memory. The four years of the university is the days rooted not just in your memory but in your soul and spirit for your whole life. You may still remember your first day on arrival at our campus, your first class and your first absence! Your first love, your first cry and your first reward! For the year of 2013, you may love the movie: Ode to the Youth (---致青春), and my recalling of my university days are pretty much the same as what the movie described. We had been once ridiculous, foolish, naïve and of course may be very clever to cheat our exams. However, we are grown up now, these minor things will not come back. We are just as brave and strong enough to make this country powerful and realize “China Dream”. A few days ago, the manned Shengshi (神十) had a perfect round trip over the space, the astronauts were once as young as you are. I know that many of you are very happy with your brilliant achievements in the university days.
对于2013届亲爱的毕业生，我要对你们说，你们很幸运能够生活在外国语学院这个幸福的大家庭。大学生活的四年是无限美妙的，但是她将一去不复返了，留在我们脑海里只有这些美好的记忆。这些记忆不仅深深扎根于我们的脑海，而将终生深入我们的灵魂和血液。大家肯定还清楚的记得你们第一天到校的情景，上第一堂课的情况，甚至是第一次逃课的心情！青春美妙，情窦初开，第一次校园恋爱，第一次痛哭流滴，第一次获奖都将是我们大学里最难以忘怀的！对于2013这个年度，你们一定会喜欢这部电影：——致青春！同学们，回顾大学生活，我和大家一样，经历了正如这部电影所描述的细节。同学们，在大学四年间，我们都曾经荒唐过，犯傻过，天真过，当然，也一度特别聪明过，如在考试中有过小动作！但是现在我们长大了，这些插曲永不再来！我们是英勇的新一代，我们有能力把祖国建设的更加繁荣富强，实现中国梦！就在几天前载人飞船“神十”完成了完美的太空之旅，宇航员们也曾经和你们一样年轻过！你们和他们都是好样的！我知道你们在大学期间也取得了令人刮目的成绩！
When you say goodbye to your teachers and classmates, to this most beautiful campus in Asia, you will, I believe, take with you a sweet, unforgettable memory, which will be a constant source of nostalgia no matter where you are in the future.
当你们和老师，和同学说再见的时候，和这个亚洲最美丽的校园告别之时，我要告诉大家，你们也同时带走了温馨而终身难忘的记忆，无论将来走到哪里，这些都是大家怀旧的源泉。
For the fragrant memories, these popular words as “江南style”; “正能量Rip it up ”，“郭美美Guo Meimei”，“表叔Uncle Watch ”and “房姐Sister House”，你幸福吗? Are you happy？Of course, one more, 雷政富Lei Zhengfu！Your bedroom talks, classroom presentations, graduation thesis defence, etc. are all back again at this special moment! No matter what they are, they are fragrant. We have been gratified to witness every little step of your progress in independence and academic excellence. You have been part of this big family of the School of Foreign Languages, worked hard on your studies, and explored your potential by participating in the campus activities. Your GPA, your scores in the TEM 4 and TEM 8, your good command of English and a second foreign language, your expertise in business English, English education, or English language and literature, your outstanding performance in competitions are all an embodiment of your hard work over the past four years. Congratulations, my dear graduates! I’m fully convinced that your parents are proud of you. I am proud of you! We are all proud of you!
这些温馨的记忆中，你们一定不会忘记“江南style”; “正能量”，“郭美美”，“表叔”，“房姐”，你幸福吗?当然还有雷政富！宿舍密谈，课堂演示，毕业论文答辩，等等都在此时此刻定格在我们的记忆里。她们是多么地可爱、温暖！我们作为老师也是多么欣慰看到了你们迈向前方的每一步，你们进步了，独立了，有学术思维了！你们是外国语学院的不可分割的一个组成部分！你们在这里成长了，潜力得到开发了，GPA，专四、专八，二外、商务英语、出国了，考研了等等，你们做到了，你们很优秀！你们很杰出！我祝贺你们，亲爱的同学们！你们的父母肯定为你们而自豪，我也为你们自豪！
On the day I fell in love with this beauty 10 years ago, I had a dream that I would make her the strongest in our university. Today, I would say that she may not be the strongest but is certainly one of the strongest on campus. Now I have a new dream that I would like make her one of the most influential in Southern China in the next ten years, will you join us? I am pretty sure with your support and our mutual cooperation, this new dream will come true. For the staff members, I have a wish. I wish half of you could have PhDs and promoted as professors in the next ten years. I wish you a happier and healthier life. For our graduates today, I wish you found your best love, your favourite job and your favourite university for higher degrees!
十年前我爱上这位美女之时，我有一个梦想，那就是我想把她建设成我校最好的学院。今天我不敢说她是最好的，但是我可以说她是最好之一。现在我有了新的梦想，十年后，我想把她建设成华南地区最具影响力之一的外国语学院。各位，你们有此信心吗？我要说在大家同心协力的支持和努力下，这个理想一定会实现。对于我院全体教职工，我有一个希望，十年后希望你们中一半人员具有博士学位，晋升为教授！我祝愿大家身体更健康，家庭更幸福美满！对于今天的毕业生，我祝愿你们找到自己最爱的人，找到最喜欢的工作，就读最理想的大学攻读更高学位！
East or west, home is best! For both our staff and graduates, I wish School of Foreign Languages the best home in the world. Thank you！
东好西好，还是家里最好！我院的全体教工，全体毕业生，我祝愿外国语学院就是世界上最美好的家园！谢谢！
