漢語(yǔ)之花盛放在澳洲沙漠

隨著中澳貿(mào)易往來(lái)和文化交流日益加深，漢語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)對(duì)澳大利亞人而言越來(lái)越有特殊意義。截至2017年，由西澳大學(xué)孔子學(xué)院參與教學(xué)的漢語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)人數(shù)超過(guò)6000人，比前一年增長(zhǎng)四成。

西澳大利亞大學(xué)孔子學(xué)院于2005年5月20日揭牌成立，是中國(guó)在澳大利亞創(chuàng)建的第一所孔子學(xué)院，由西澳大利亞大學(xué)（以下簡(jiǎn)稱(chēng)西澳大學(xué)）與浙江大學(xué)合辦。學(xué)院派教師和志愿者到珀斯、奧爾巴尼、班伯里、杰拉爾頓和卡爾古利各地區(qū)的43所中小學(xué)協(xié)助漢語(yǔ)教學(xué)，為中小學(xué)提供免費(fèi)的中文教學(xué)支持。

26歲的寧波姑娘朱意煒就是其中一名志愿者。去年1月，她通過(guò)國(guó)家漢語(yǔ)辦公室在國(guó)內(nèi)的選拔，作為浙江大學(xué)畢業(yè)生赴西澳大學(xué)孔子學(xué)院，并將于今年12月底結(jié)束任期回國(guó)。作為志愿者，她協(xié)助中文教學(xué)和文化推廣工作，讓澳洲本地學(xué)生和居民體驗(yàn)中國(guó)文化的博大精深，這也讓她充分感受到澳大利亞人學(xué)習(xí)漢語(yǔ)的高漲熱情。

由此，朱意煒給本刊發(fā)來(lái)一篇親歷，記錄這段跨文化交流的特殊經(jīng)歷—

初見(jiàn)卡爾古麗

作為西澳大學(xué)孔子學(xué)院的一員，珀斯是我最先踏上的澳洲土地。它被稱(chēng)為這個(gè)世界上“最孤獨(dú)的城市”，因?yàn)楦浇贌o(wú)第二個(gè)相當(dāng)規(guī)模的大城市作伴。因?yàn)楣ぷ靼才?，兩周之后，我和另外一位志愿者就出發(fā)前往距離珀斯車(chē)程6個(gè)多小時(shí)的小城卡爾古麗，去開(kāi)辟一個(gè)新的漢語(yǔ)教學(xué)點(diǎn)。這是一個(gè)120多年前因淘金熱而發(fā)展起來(lái)的城市，至今仍以礦業(yè)聞名澳大利亞。前往卡爾古麗的這一天，我們眼見(jiàn)著路邊的植被由茂盛變?yōu)橄∈?，土壤漸漸裸露并且顏色變得越來(lái)越紅，一路上車(chē)輛寥寥，一直與我們相伴的，是與公路并行的從珀斯往內(nèi)陸輸水的管道。

兩位中文教師志愿者的到來(lái)，對(duì)小城卡爾古麗當(dāng)?shù)鼐用駚?lái)說(shuō)是件大事。到達(dá)第二天，我們就接受了當(dāng)?shù)貓?bào)社的采訪。我們?nèi)温毜膶W(xué)校是當(dāng)?shù)氐囊凰搅W(xué)校，教學(xué)對(duì)象是該校小學(xué)部的學(xué)生約140人，從學(xué)前班到六年級(jí)，這樣大跨度的教學(xué)對(duì)象，一開(kāi)始就對(duì)我們形成了挑戰(zhàn)。初來(lái)乍到，我們受到了學(xué)校同事和學(xué)生們的熱情歡迎，但同時(shí)也苦于記不全他們的名字。

學(xué)說(shuō)漢語(yǔ)樂(lè)趣多

終于到了正式開(kāi)課的日子。剛開(kāi)始的幾個(gè)課時(shí)里，我們向?qū)W生們介紹了中國(guó)的基本情況、文化歷史和漢語(yǔ)的一些基本知識(shí)。對(duì)于中國(guó)文化，孩子們最感興趣的永遠(yuǎn)是美食，滿(mǎn)屏看得到吃不了的中國(guó)菜品圖片在每個(gè)班級(jí)都引起驚嘆。

不過(guò)，因?yàn)榭柟披惖慕虒W(xué)點(diǎn)是新開(kāi)設(shè)的，所以學(xué)生的中文基礎(chǔ)和教學(xué)物資的積累幾乎都為零。曾經(jīng)有段時(shí)間，我每天一到辦公室，不是舊物堆里翻找，希望能找到一些材料，就是剪剪貼貼，不管用不用得著，先做一點(diǎn)什么出來(lái)再說(shuō)。漸漸地，我也發(fā)現(xiàn)了一些竅門(mén)。比如第一個(gè)語(yǔ)言教學(xué)主題是“家庭”，在教學(xué)過(guò)程中，一些低年級(jí)的孩子會(huì)扳著手指計(jì)算自己有多少堂表親和叔叔阿姨，數(shù)個(gè)沒(méi)完?？粗麄償?shù)手指，我突發(fā)奇想，結(jié)合一首當(dāng)?shù)睾⒆邮煜さ摹妒种父琛返膬?nèi)容，制作了貼有熊貓頭像的手指套，套在手指上，改編《手指歌》，一邊唱一邊教說(shuō)家庭成員稱(chēng)謂。對(duì)于中國(guó)國(guó)寶熊貓，孩子們都很喜歡，還爭(zhēng)著搶著把指套戴起來(lái)，很快就學(xué)會(huì)了。

而針對(duì)中高年級(jí)學(xué)寫(xiě)漢字，我找了塊小白板，畫(huà)上田字格就可以帶去每個(gè)教室重復(fù)使用了；沒(méi)有現(xiàn)成的詞卡，我就自己制作模板打印塑封，不僅完全貼合課程需求，還經(jīng)濟(jì)實(shí)用。

隨著教學(xué)的開(kāi)展，當(dāng)?shù)睾⒆拥闹形乃铰岣吡?。我們平日里在校園里走動(dòng)，就能聽(tīng)到學(xué)生們?cè)谑褂煤?jiǎn)單的漢語(yǔ)詞匯。有一次和學(xué)前班的老師閑聊，她們告訴我，漢語(yǔ)課以外的時(shí)間，時(shí)不時(shí)能聽(tīng)到有學(xué)生開(kāi)心地大聲說(shuō)著學(xué)到的漢詞，或是唱著學(xué)到的漢語(yǔ)歌，甚至還有孩子會(huì)用中文說(shuō)自己分到的玩具的顏色。到了放學(xué)的時(shí)間，家長(zhǎng)們會(huì)趁著接孩子的功夫和我們聊上一陣子。有一次，一位爸爸興奮地告訴我們，他的孩子給遠(yuǎn)在中國(guó)工作的叔叔發(fā)了一條“你好”的短信。每每聽(tīng)到這樣的好消息，我就很開(kāi)心，自己的努力總算有所收獲。

一筆一畫(huà)最怡情

語(yǔ)言教學(xué)漸入佳境后，我常常想，如果能配合教學(xué)，給孩子們帶去更多的文化體驗(yàn)就更好了。

一開(kāi)始，我非常想開(kāi)設(shè)書(shū)法課，但一直苦于缺乏材料，在卡爾古麗，筆墨紙硯“一應(yīng)俱無(wú)”。遠(yuǎn)在珀斯的西澳大學(xué)孔子學(xué)院院長(zhǎng)知道后，就千里迢迢開(kāi)車(chē)趕來(lái)，送了大量的書(shū)法材料。我設(shè)計(jì)了針對(duì)五六年級(jí)學(xué)生的書(shū)法入門(mén)課程，從每個(gè)年級(jí)的漢語(yǔ)課課時(shí)中各抽出幾節(jié)課，專(zhuān)門(mén)進(jìn)行書(shū)法教學(xué)。

當(dāng)我拿出墨水、宣紙和毛筆時(shí)，學(xué)生們的眼睛就沒(méi)離開(kāi)過(guò)這三樣?xùn)|西。這對(duì)他們來(lái)說(shuō)，是非常新奇的書(shū)寫(xiě)工具。有孩子睜大了眼睛跟我說(shuō)：“我在電視上看到過(guò)！”還有孩子摸著毛筆問(wèn)我：“這么軟，怎么寫(xiě)字呢？”

顯然，好奇心是最好的學(xué)習(xí)動(dòng)力。學(xué)生們從筆畫(huà)開(kāi)始學(xué)習(xí)，然后學(xué)寫(xiě)“?！薄皹?lè)”等字以及他們的中文名字（在第一學(xué)期的時(shí)候就已經(jīng)為他們?nèi)『茫?。有學(xué)生指著自己寫(xiě)的字，仰頭問(wèn)我：“中國(guó)的孩子也這樣寫(xiě)字嗎？”學(xué)生們很是喜愛(ài)這種獨(dú)特的書(shū)寫(xiě)體驗(yàn)。在他們眼里，中國(guó)字原本就很神秘，如今用毛筆渲染在紙上，更增添了幾分中國(guó)韻味。孩子們寫(xiě)完一張紙又要一張紙，打算把字送給家人或朋友。

值得一提的是，因?yàn)榭柟披惖靥巸?nèi)陸，有非常多的澳洲土著生活在這里，他們的母語(yǔ)為土著語(yǔ)，因此對(duì)本校的一些土著學(xué)生來(lái)說(shuō)，學(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)已經(jīng)要比其他同學(xué)花更多的精力，再要學(xué)習(xí)中文便自然有抵觸情緒，所以我們特意關(guān)注他們。而隨著接觸時(shí)間變長(zhǎng)，這一類(lèi)學(xué)生也能較好地融入到中文課堂中。令我感到意外的是，一些土著學(xué)生對(duì)書(shū)法特別感興趣。有個(gè)土著學(xué)生告訴我，寫(xiě)書(shū)法很像畫(huà)畫(huà)，比如“月”字，他覺(jué)得就像一個(gè)彎彎的月亮掛在沙漠的天空里。聽(tīng)到這樣的描述，我心中莫名有一絲感動(dòng)，一個(gè)七八歲的孩子竟也讀懂了中國(guó)的漢字文化，同時(shí)自己心里隱隱生出“舉頭望明月，低頭思故鄉(xiāng)”的情結(jié)。

書(shū)法課的最后，學(xué)生們欣喜地互相展示作品，我也感受到了前所未有的滿(mǎn)足感——就連平時(shí)不愿開(kāi)口講中文的孩子，在書(shū)法課上也興致勃勃地拿著毛筆寫(xiě)了又寫(xiě)，描了又描。事實(shí)上，孩子們這股對(duì)書(shū)法的熱情一直不減，在期末，孩子們又用筆墨書(shū)寫(xiě)了圣誕與新年祝福，樂(lè)趣滿(mǎn)滿(mǎn)。

學(xué)習(xí)漢語(yǔ)永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)太遲

一開(kāi)始，我們的教學(xué)對(duì)象只是小學(xué)生。等到下半年，有不少高年級(jí)的學(xué)生甚至是當(dāng)?shù)鼐用褚才軄?lái)學(xué)習(xí)漢語(yǔ)。

學(xué)校中學(xué)部有一位女生Zoe獲得了去中國(guó)游學(xué)一年的機(jī)會(huì)。她在卡爾古麗生活，從未有機(jī)會(huì)學(xué)習(xí)漢語(yǔ)。針對(duì)她的情況，我們利用備課時(shí)間，開(kāi)始了一段“突擊”教學(xué)的日子。Zoe勤奮好學(xué)，在短短的十節(jié)課時(shí)間內(nèi)，她的中文水平實(shí)現(xiàn)了巨大的飛躍。如今，她已經(jīng)開(kāi)始了在中國(guó)東北的游學(xué)生活，時(shí)常能看到她在社交媒體上分享她在中國(guó)的見(jiàn)聞。作為中文“啟蒙老師”的我，也很為她驕傲。

在這里，其實(shí)不少成年人也對(duì)學(xué)習(xí)漢語(yǔ)有著極大的熱情。在學(xué)校的漢語(yǔ)課堂上，總會(huì)有一位本校的老師隨堂管理，隨堂次數(shù)最多的一位，是本校的體育老師，日積月累，他學(xué)會(huì)了不少中文詞句。有時(shí)聊天，他突然就會(huì)蹦出幾個(gè)發(fā)音不標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的中文詞，其他澳洲同事對(duì)他刮目相看。而他也成了很好的榜樣，帶動(dòng)其他同事對(duì)漢語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)躍躍欲試。去年10月，我們的成人漢語(yǔ)入門(mén)課程終于在當(dāng)?shù)氐拇髮W(xué)開(kāi)設(shè)起來(lái)，來(lái)學(xué)習(xí)的學(xué)生中有大學(xué)學(xué)生，也有教職員工以及我們?nèi)温殞W(xué)校的澳洲同事等等。

我們這一次系列課程，雖然目標(biāo)是“入門(mén)”，但是成人學(xué)員們的學(xué)習(xí)能力比較強(qiáng)，有時(shí)甚至?xí)巴浦崩蠋熥摺笕藗兺⒌暮闷嫘囊稽c(diǎn)也不輸孩子們。課程結(jié)束之前，一位學(xué)員說(shuō)，他幾個(gè)月之后就要赴中國(guó)旅游，如果能在去之前掌握更多的漢語(yǔ)生活用語(yǔ)，就能在中國(guó)有更好的旅行體驗(yàn)。我整理了許多日常生活、旅行場(chǎng)景中的對(duì)話(huà)給他，他全部“啃”了下來(lái)。

其實(shí)，初到卡爾古麗，我心里很沒(méi)底，這樣獨(dú)特的自然與人文環(huán)境，這樣偏遠(yuǎn)的地區(qū)，所有在這里開(kāi)展的工作，對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)都是第一次。在當(dāng)時(shí)看來(lái)，四個(gè)學(xué)期的工作將會(huì)是漫長(zhǎng)而辛苦的。但是當(dāng)月歷翻到8月，我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的內(nèi)心早已沒(méi)有了當(dāng)初的那一份不安，不知從什么時(shí)候起，我的工作模式已經(jīng)從“盡力而為”切換到了“享受一切”。

在卡爾古麗工作與生活的這一年，感觸最深的還是當(dāng)?shù)赝禄蚺笥训纳顟B(tài)度。澳大利亞人天性積極樂(lè)觀，卡爾古麗人似乎比他們生活在別地的同胞更勝一籌，他們十分喜愛(ài)自己生活的這個(gè)內(nèi)陸小城，時(shí)不時(shí)拿漫天的風(fēng)沙開(kāi)開(kāi)玩笑，對(duì)生活中的種種不便也處之坦然。只要跟他們交談，你就能感受到流淌在他們血液里的隨遇而安的天性，這與我們中國(guó)人安土重遷的文化差異巨大。但是對(duì)我們年輕人來(lái)說(shuō)，這樣的生活卻充滿(mǎn)了冒險(xiǎn)色彩，是值得一過(guò)的另一種生活。這一年，我生活在這里，工作在這里，讓更多的澳大利亞人接觸漢語(yǔ)、喜愛(ài)中國(guó)文化，卡爾古麗于我，便是一種“詩(shī)與遠(yuǎn)方”。

Girl from Ningbo Teaches Chinese in Western Australia

By Zhu Yiwei

As trade and cultural exchanges between China and Australia keeps growing， Chinese as a language is becoming increasingly important to Austria. Statistics in 2017 indicated that Confucius Institute of the University of Western Australia enrolled over 6，000 students learning Chinese， an increase of 40% year on year.

Confucius Institute of the University of Western Australia came into being on May 20， 2005， the first of its kind in Australia. It is a partnership between the University of Western Australia （UWA） and Zhejiang University in Hangzhou， China. Teachers and volunteers from the institute now assist Chinese language teaching in 43 primary schools and high schools in Perth， Albany， Bunbury， Geradton， and Kalgoorlie， key cities in Western Australia.

The 26-year-old Zhu Yiwei， a graduate from Zhejiang University， passed a qualification test and was selected as a volunteer by Confucius Institute Headquarters （Hanban） in January 2017. While teaching Chinese and promoting Chinese culture in schools in Kalgoorlie， she has also experienced Australians passion for learning Chinese. The following is her story she sent us from Kalgoorlie for Cultural Dialogue.

After a brief stay in Perth， another volunteer and I went to Kalgoorlie， a desert city that takes a drive of 6 hours from Perth to reach. We were there to set up a Chinese teaching course in a local private school. Kalgoorlie was born into a settlement over 120 years ago because of a gold rush. Today， mining is still the citys economic pillar. As we drove along， trees decreased in number and the soil became naked and turned increasingly red. The highway was almost empty as there were not so many cars. In our company all the way to Kalgoorlie was a water pipe system going in parallel with the highway. The pipe system distributes water all the way from Perth to outback.

Our arrival was a big event in Kalgoorlie. On the second day， a local newspaper journalist interviewed us. The private school where we were to work had about 140 students in six grades in the primary school department. The students and teachers gave us a warm welcome. We had trouble memorizing their names.

At the very beginning， we introduced China to students. Pictures of Chinese cuisine always created the biggest wow in classrooms. As the course was new and we had no teaching materials， we needed to be creative in teaching. In the first class， I taught them the relation names of family members and relatives. Seeing kids count on their fingertips how many aunts， uncles， cousins on father and mothers sides they had， I hit upon the idea of adapting a local nursery rhyme “Song of Fingers” to teach the Chinese words. So I made finger cots and painted pandas on them. And I adapted the rhyme. Kids loved the panda images and found little difficulty in citing Chinese words. Pretty soon they learned how to name the relations of their family members and relatives in Chinese. For children in fifth and sixth grades， I made word cards and had the cards plastic-packaged. They were cheap and perfect for the course.

As the course proceeded， more and more children began to speak Chinese in the campus. I was happy to hear Chinese words and sentences spoken loudly here and there. Teachers of a preschooler class told me that children sang Chinese songs now and then and children pronounced Chinese words loudly.

I wanted to teach calligraphy in the school， but the school didnt have any Chinese brush-pens， ink， and Xuan paper. After learning about the situation， the director of Confucius Institute of UWA drove all the way from Perth and brought us all the necessary supplies. I adjusted the classes and found time to teach children to practice Chinese calligraphy. The first time I demonstrated the brush-pen， ink and rice paper to children， their eyes widened and found these tools incredible. One declared， “I saw them on television.” Another touched a brush-pen and wondered aloud how the soft hair could write. They learned fast. After learning the essentials of brush-pen writing， they were able to write their Chinese names and well known Chinese words such as 福 （fortune， good luck） and 樂(lè) （happiness， joy）. They wrote happily and asked for more paper. It turned out that they wanted to show off their Chinese and give away their brush-pen writings to their friends and relatives.

In Kalgoorlie live some aboriginals. They speak their own language. Some children of these aboriginal families have trouble speaking English and have to spend more time learning English. For this reason， some of these children didnt want to trouble themselves with the Chinese language. I went out of my way to get them interested. As the course went on， they became interested. To my surprise， some showed special interest in calligraphy. One told me， practicing Chinese calligraphy was like doing a drawing. He pointed out that 月 looks exactly like the moon high up in the sky above the desert. I was touched by the comment and there and then， I suddenly found myself miss my home back in China.

In the first six months， we taught primary school students only. In the second half， some students from high school and some local residents came to learn Chinese. Zoe， a girl from the secondary school， was to spend a year in China. But she had never learned a Chinese word in Kalgoorlie before. So she came to me. I designed a crash course for her. She learned amazingly fast within ten classes. Now she is in a school in northeastern China and she often shares her experience in China on the social media with her friends. Seeing her progress in Chinese， I as her first Chinese teacher feel extremely happy for her.

Adults in Kalgoorlie are more passionate about learning Chinese.

In my classes， I work with a local teacher. I teach and a local teacher observes. These teachers take turns to attend my classes. A PE teacher has attended my class most. Before long he was able to speak some Chinese words while chatting with his colleagues. His colleagues felt amazed and they wanted to come to my class. In October 2017 we started a Chinese course at a college in Kalgoorlie. This course has attracted college students and faculty members as well as colleagues from our school. Though it is only an essential course， adult students are making amazing progress and are pushing us forward. Their curiosity can well compete with that of youngsters at the school.

When I was first in Kalgoorlie， I wasnt sure about the success of my mission there. It was the first time I worked in such a remote place with its natural and cultural particulars. I thought the time I would spend there would be a long challenge. But in August I found my sense of uncertainties gone. I dont know when my work philosophy in Kalgoorlie changed from “I will try my best” to “I really enjoy everything here.”

Teaching Chinese in Kalgoorlie has given me a lot. One impression stands out： my friends and colleagues have a unique optimism toward life. They love their home city in the inland and often joke about sandy winds. They are reconciled with what they have from nature and they are contented with their special position in life. For me， working in Kalgoorlie is like leading an alternative life worth leading and trying out. Kalgoorlie is like “poetry and another world”.