海外遊學既悠閒又充實

2002年以前，家長會為強化子弟之英文能力，每年暑假委託學校辦理校內英語生活營，以及尋求殷實旅行社規畫設計海外遊學活動。

本活動於2002年碰上美國911事件，暫告中止；2003年又因國際SARS流行不克舉行，遊學活動一時沉寂無聲。直至2004年5月份，部分熱心家長肯定學校以往協辦海外遊學之活動績效，再次提出建議，希望校方重新啟動海外遊學計畫。

因時日緊迫，學務處迅即與英文科和家長們合作規畫相關行程，利用假期，經過多次開會討論，決定選擇波士頓之優良大學做為遊學活動地點，計畫終於敲定，海外遊學活動就此恢復。

特別感謝英文科及蕭宜君老師，因為他們的付出，今年的海外遊學活動得以安全圓滿結束，另一種語言的學習模式已經成型，未來的學習選擇之路更為寬廣。（社團活動組）

Twenty-one days in Boston

☉蕭宜君老師

On July 3, 2004 , I together with fifteen students flew from Taipei to Los Angeles , where we would stay over one night and then flew again to Boston . The students were excited about the coming study life in America while I, in addition to feeling excited as well, felt heavy responsibility on me as the chaperon. Fortunately, we arrived at Tufts University , Boston safely and here we started a different life for twenty-one days.

The campus of Tufts University was so green that you wanted to have a picnic on the grass in the shade right away. Time to time, you saw squirrels running through in front of you and climbing up to the tree again. Besides its friendly campus, you could tell the long history of some of the buildings only by glancing at their exteriors. Such a lovely surroundings indeed provided a pleasant study place.

The next day after we arrived the students took the placement test, which enabled the school to place the students at the similar level together. To my disappointment, the coordinator did not suggest my attending the course with the students, but I was welcomed to observe the class. Therefore, I joined three classes to see what was exactly going on in class. All the three teachers I observed tried very hard to make the class more interactive. Some students, naturally, were more active while some were still passive in learning English. Comparing to the students from other nationality, most of the students from Taiwan seemed to be more passive and silent in class. As an English teacher myself, the classes were going rather smoothly and lively. Nevertheless, sometimes what the teachers taught seemed to be too easy for some of the students. I didn't observe all the classes; hence, I did not know the situation in other classes. However, I believed there was still room to improve both in the students and the course.

Besides leaning English with people from different countries, what excited the students the most was the excursions. Boston , with its rich, long history, was a city full of human, art atmosphere. The subway in Boston was convenient; actually, it was a “walking city”; you could walk to almost all the tourist attractions. We had a tour guide to introduce a little history about the city Boston to us at the first time we visited the city. Later on, the school arranged a lot of excursions for us to explore the city bit by bit. As you know, one can never come to Boston without tasting its lobsters. Under my girls' request, I led them to a restaurant to have lobsters; happily, we were all satisfied with them even though they were not cheap, but at least there wasn' t any ‘regret' left in the trip.

As a whole, the study tour was not perfect, but satisfying. However, if the study hours had been longer, and the students had had a complete week for only traveling, the trip would have been better because sometimes the students learned more in traveling than in the classroom.

Memory is much more unforgettable

☉龔聖淳（二年 18班）

I went to Boston with my schoolmates this summer vacation. We stayed in the dormitory of Tufts University . Its campus was big and had many beautiful buildings and gardens. I felt relaxed studying there.

We visited Boston downtown for three times. The first was a tour called‘the Duck Tours'. Why it was called‘the Duck Tours' was because the vehicles for them could be transformed from a car to a boat just like a duck could walk on land and swim in water. Our driver, also our tour guide, introduced Boston to us, and we also had a great view to see Boston when we were on the Charles River .

We visited so many places in Boston that I couldn't describe them in detail. Faneuil Hall and Harvard Square were great places for shopping-lovers. Quincy Market was full of all kinds of food. We also visited Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.).

Boston was really beautiful. I hope that I could visit there again.

波士頓行腳

☉鄭雅綺（二年 11班）

歷經17個小時的長途飛行，我們終於到了塔佛玆大學，一進入學校就先被他優美的風景給吸引。一天上3小時的課，下午會安排活動，是自由參加的，每天都過的很悠閒，也很充實。而且3餐都由學校供應，吃的是自助餐，菜色也很豐富，偶爾廚師還會煮中國菜，一點都沒有不適應的情形。週末通常沒有作業，所以會安排到較遠的地方活動，例如：紐約之行、賞鯨費用都包括在團費裡了。

這次去遊學，整體來說還算不錯，但如果真要說英文程度有沒有進步，倒是膽子變大了，敢主動開口找外國人說話即使覺得自己說的不好，但是畢竟之要多說、敢說就會有進步。我還是很高興參加了這次的遊學團，他讓我的見識更廣了，也結交了很多不同國籍的朋友，如過下次有機會，我一定還會再參加！

波士頓印象

☉顏于婷（二年 4班）

這次的波士頓遊學之行，飛越了大半個地球，見識了許多西方文化。在波士頓除了風景優美外，令我印象深刻的是在波士頓過馬路（沒紅綠燈的小路），車子往往會讓行人先走完再開過，而不是行人等車子；若是在有紅綠燈的大馬路上，有時我們遇到黃燈而停下腳步，車裡的駕駛還是會揮揮手，讓我們先過，這是讓我很訝異也很感動之處。

三個星期下來，我覺得班上的外國學生英文都很棒，倒是台灣學生都沈默不語。我們可能是因為不知如何說起，字彙背的不夠，意見也無法表達，這時我才體會到「書到用時方恨少」啊！

這次遊學，可能英文沒有進步很多吧！但已敢跟外國人聊天，而聽力部份，倒是獲益不少。所以學英文，環境真的很重要，一傅眾咻是沒有用的。

敢說才能展現英文能力

☉張毓真（二年 2班）

老實說，對於和英文完全不同語系的台灣人來說，學習英文本來就比那些歐洲語系的人困難許多，這次的機會就是讓我們展現平常學習的成果，訓練聽和說的能力，剛開始真的不知道該說什麼，要講話前總在腦中思考很久該怎麼講，不過到後來，環境的壓迫和熟悉感的增進，讓我能和外國人自在的聊天，也許語法上有許多錯誤，但是在簡易的字句中建立國際間的溝通，是一件很有成就感的事。上課時，不同國籍的學生在師生的互動上即有明顯的差異，不論什麼題目和疑問，外國人總是自然的試著回答，而大多數的台灣人總是畏於答案錯誤而不敢回答，也許這就是整個民族性和教育上很大的不同吧。

這次的遊學讓我為今年暑假增添了不少色彩。我要跟隨世界的軌道來運轉，看得更高更遠！

既悠閒又充實的生活

☉黃書澐（二年 10班）

今年暑假做了一件非常有趣的事－到美國遊學。波士頓是個融合古典與現代的城市，在街上有高聳的玻璃圍幕大樓，也有小巧可愛的童話木屋，進到塔佛茲大學，首先映入眼簾的是一片翠綠的草地，還有古色古香的樓房（很有小說《飄》的感覺）。上課時，有和善的外國同學、親切的老師。有時候因為口音的關係，跟同學溝通有點困難，但是只要多努力，這並不會造成很大的困擾。

這次遊學認識了許多外國同學，也學了一些英文，主要目的算是有達成，但是還是覺得到了美國卻沒去好萊塢、Disneyland等地一遊有一點可惜。在波士頓每天過著悠閒又充實的生活真有點樂不思蜀了，三個禮拜看起來很長，其實一下就過去了，希望下次時間可以再長一點。