I would definitely say that effort is more important when learning a language. There are so many new words to learn, that making flashcards, and putting in a little bit of time each day is so much more important that talent.

　　Aaron Cooper来自英国。2010年，Aaron在英国利兹大学取得英语文学硕士学位，但他对自己取得的成绩仍然不满意，2013年，他取得教授剑桥IGCSE课程的资质，从去年开始，他也一直在攻读专业教育领域(专攻教育)硕士，除了对教育方面的热情外，他对语言也充满热情，目前正在学习俄语，日语，古挪威语和古英语的翻译。在职业发展上，Aaron拥有十年的教育经验，在英国，马来西亚，中国都任教过，负责对整个学校英语课程的审核和报告以及对跨校园教师团队的管理。

　　Aaron Cooper comes from UK. In 2010, Aaron achieved his master’s degree in English Literature in University of Leeds but he is still not satisfied with what he has achieved, so he got accredited to assess and deliver Cambridge IGCSE coursework in 2013 and is doing a MSc leadership in Proffessional Contexts (specialising in education) since last year, besides the passion in education, he is also passionate about languages and he is currently learning Russian, Japanese, Old Norse and Old English for translation. On his professional development, Aaron has ten years teaching experience in UK, Malysia and China, responsible for reviewing and reporting upon English programmes across the school and managing a cross-campus team of teachers.

　　1、“在北京君诚同时学习英文和中文给了你们很大的优势”

　　小君：Cooper先生您好。首先祝贺您将在君诚开启一段美好的旅程!据我所知，您除了在教育方面非常有热情之外，您对于各国语言也非常热衷，学习过俄语、日语、古挪威语和古英语的翻译。对于高中生来说，您会建议他们除了学习主业外，另外再学习一门语言吗?在学习语言中，天赋与后期努力哪个更加重要?

　　SIBS：Hello Mr. Cooper. First of all, congratulations on your coming wonderful journey in SIBS ! As far as I know, in addition to being very enthusiastic about education, you are also very keen on the language of each country and you have learnt Russian, Japanese, Old Norse and Old English for translation. For high school students, would you suggest them learning another language besides studying the main courses? When comes to learning a language, what is more important , talent or later efforts?

　　Aaron：谢谢，我非常期待加入君诚并且很快见到你们。随着时间的变化，我对学习语言的感觉发生了改变——实际上我在学校的时候语言并不是一件我特别感兴趣的事情。现在我想分享给你们我最大的建议。在君诚学校同时学习英文和中文给了你们很大的优势。学习一门语言将让你们受益终生——即便我只在高中时候学习了一些基础的法语，他们也能在我去欧洲旅游的时候对我产生了很大的帮助，就好像学习日语在中国也很有用一样，因为可以帮助理解一些基础汉字的结构。

　　Aaron：Thank you!I’m really excited about coming out to join you and meeting everyone very soon. My interest in languages changed over time – the truth is that when I was at school, it wasn’t something I was particularly passionate about. Now, it would be one of my biggest recommendations! At SIBS, you’re already studying both English and Chinese, which gives you a big advantage. Learning a language is something that sticks with you for the rest of your life – even knowing a small amount of French from high school, helps me when I go on holiday in Europe, and studying Japanese was useful in China, because I can understand some basic characters.

　　Aaron：我肯定会说努力是学习一门语言最重要的因素。有如此多的新词需要学习，制作记忆卡片，每天都要投入一些精力，这些都是比天赋更重要的事情。不管你有多大的天赋，都不可能在短时间习得一门语言。其实每个人都是有学习语言的天赋的，最好的证明就是你已经学会了一门语言。

　　Aaron：I would definitely say that effort is more important when learning a language. There are so many new words to learn, that making flashcards, and putting in a little bit of time each day is so much more important that talent. No matter how talented you are, you can’t cram and learn a language in a short time. The great thing is that you all know at least one language already, so that’s proof that everyone is talented enough!

　　2、“从文化碰撞中受益”

　　小君：您之前在英国、马来西亚、中国都有非常丰富的任教经验，您认为英国学生、马来学生、中国学生在学习方面各有什么优势?可以举一个令您印象非常深刻的例子吗?

　　SIBS：Considering you have had a lot of educational experience in the UK, Malaysia and China, What are the advantages of British students, Malay students and Chinese students in learning? Would you like to share an example that impressed you a lot?

　　Aaron：我学到最重要的一件事就是无论在哪里，人与人的个体差异其实不大。人们在文化上会有一些差异，我曾经在马来西亚和中国接触到过一些学生，他们总是努力做到最好，但是我也见过一些学生并不符合我们对文化的成见。

　　Aaron：The biggest thing that I have learnt, is that everywhere I have been, people are really quite similar. There are some differences in cultures, and I have maybe met more students overall in Malaysia and China who have been really dedicated to doing their best, but I’ve also met people on both sides who don’t fit any stereotypes.

　　Aaron：有一次在北京的学校旅行给我留下了非常深刻的印象。这些学生来自不同的地方，其中多是来自韩国、中国、和日本的，我们一起住在一个不错的宾馆里。一天晚上，我在一天的忙碌后来到休息室放松，休息室里面有一个台球桌和一个台球杆。我原以为一定会有争抢的情况出现，首先跑过来的两个学生先占领了台球桌，而其他人都在旁边静静地等着，或者其他人会找一些别的事情来做。但是出乎意料的是，所有的人都在一起玩儿这个游戏。大多数学生都站在了台球桌子边上开心地交谈， 他们传递着台球杆轮流击球。没有队伍和分数，也没有争吵和冲突， 而且他们甚至没有商量过怎么玩儿——就这么自然的发生了。他们用晚上的时间给着对方建议，拿对方糟糕的击球开玩笑， 一起为好的击球庆祝。我想学生在学校时候的压力是很大的，我们总是想做到最好。但是大多数时间，你们是不和其他人一起竞争的， 看到人们互相合作是一件令人欣喜的事情。

　　Aaron：One of my favourite memories is from a school trip to Beijing. The students were from lots of places – the biggest groups were from Korea, China and Japan – and we were staying in a nice hotel. One evening,we went to the lounge to relax after a busy day, and in the lounge there was one pool table, and one cue. I expected there to be a rush, for the first two people to run over to claim the table, and slowly play their game while everyone else waited, or tried to find something else to do. But what actually happened, was that everyone played a game together. Around ten students stood around the table talking happily, and they passed the cue to a new person for every shot. There were no teams, or points, no arguing or fighting, and they didn’t even have a discussion about it – it was just natural. They spent the evening giving each other advice, laughing together at their terrible shots and celebrating the good ones. I think there is a lot of pressure at school and we always want to do well. But most of the time, you aren’t competing against each other, and it’s great to see what can happen when people work together.

　　3、“就像学生一样，老师们也会经常尝试新鲜事物”

　　小君：作为学校的教学指导，您曾经引进和开发新的学习和评估工具，并创建了“动手工作坊”来指导教师。这些新型的事物对于改善教师的教学有哪些好处?学生的反馈如何?

　　SIBS：As a teaching guide for the school, you have introduced and developed new learning and assessment tools and created “hands-on workshops” to guide teachers. What are the benefits of these new things for improving the teaching of teachers?What is the student's feedback?

　　Aaron：就像学生一样， 老师们也会经常尝试新鲜事物。一直以来总有新的技术出现，我们可以用不同的方法帮助学生学习，或者和从未有过的更权威的听众来分享我们想法。你也可以阅读教育有关的研究，人们在那里分享涉及教育教学的最佳方法，或者说，哪种给学生的反馈形式最能帮助到学生，如何激发学生的想象力还有其他的东西。举办教育工作坊是教师们觉得最有效的获得灵感的方法，因为教师可以在那里分享他们的想法。

　　Aaron：Just like students, teachers are always trying to learn new things. There is new technology coming out all the time, which we can use to help approach learning in different ways, and to share our ideas with a much bigger audience than ever before. You can also read about research in education, where people try to look at the best way to design a classroom, or what type of feedback students find most useful, how to help encourage creativity and all sorts of other things. Having education workshops, where teachers can share their ideas and what they have found most effective, is a great way to get inspired.

　　Aaron：当然，学生的反馈也是至关重要的-——有没有更好的方法找出来学生们觉得什么是最好的想法呢?以我的经验来看， 他们往往很乐意尝试新的东西。如果他们可以用做视频的方式来体现他们学到的知识，而不是全都用书写的方式来体现呢?何乐而不为呢?

　　Aaron：Of course, student feedback is also crucial – what better way to find out what they find most useful? In my experience, they are usually pretty happy to try out something new. If they can make a vlog where they talk about something studied in class, instead of writing another essay, why not?

　　Aaron：作为一名老师，有时候你的点子不是第一次就能完美实施的。但在多年后掌握更多技能或者技术后，对同一个点子再一次尝试是必要的。

　　Aaron：As a teacher, sometimes the idea you had in your head doesn’t work perfectly the first time, but it’s great to explore new ideas every now and again, to help improve and build on other techniques you have developed over the years.

　　4、“暑期高中推荐书单”

　　小君：暑假来了，您可以给君诚的高中生推荐一些书单吗?

　　SIBS：Summer vacation is coming. Could you recommendsome books to SIBS high school students?

　　Aaron：暑期是我读书的最好时机，在旅行的时候这些书也是消磨时间的好东西。我的假期推荐如下。

　　Aaron：Summer holiday is a great time to get some good reading done. And if you’re travelling somewhere over the break, a book helps those long flight times whizz by. Here are my summer recommendations.

　　Aaron：布兰登·桑德森的《天空》系列是一个结合了幻想和科学的小说， 讲述了一个来自失去荣誉家庭的女孩夺回荣誉的故事。如果你喜欢它,桑德森也是目前最丰富的作家之一(他写了很多的书)，你将可以有很多尝试阅读的书——老少皆宜。

　　Aaron：Brandon Sanderson’s Skyward is a fun mix of fantasyand sci-fi, involving a girl whose family has lost its honour, and herdetermination to get it back. If you like it, Sanderson is also one ofthe most prolific authors around at the moment (he writes a lot), so there willbe tons of other things for you to try out – for both older and younger audiences.

　　Aaron：艾米莉·威伯利和奥斯汀·西格蒙德-布罗卡著的《如果我是诚实的》是一个爱和救赎的故事。 它依据于的《驯服史鲁》而来,所以你将从其中之前技巧受益的同时享受一个吝啬女孩试图改变她的方式的故事。比原著更女权主义的方法有助于帮助故事更好地融入有趣的夏季阅读范畴。

　　Aaron：If I’m Being Honest by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka is a story of love and redemption. It’s loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, so you get some bonus points for sophistication, while being able to enjoy the story of a mean girl trying to change her ways. A much more feminist approach than the original helps the story fit well into the category of fun summer reading.

　　Aaron：萨拉·塞迪所写的《美国化：没有绿卡的反叛者》讲述了一个在美国生活的女孩儿无意间发现自己是非法移民的故事。这是一个关于某人试图在世界上找到自己的位置,同时也处理更多的驱逐焦虑的时代故事。

　　Aaron：For something a little different, Americanized:Rebel Without a Green Card by Sara Saedi, is a funny and engagingstory about a teenager living in America, who inadvertently discovers that sheis an illegal immigrant. It’s a good coming of agestory about someone trying to find their place in the world, while also dealingwith the added anxiety of deportation.

　　Aaron：最后,如果你不熟悉很多奖项的得主刘慈欣,这将是一个很好的机会去读他的作品。《流浪地球》最近在Netflix上发行,在这部小说在全球取得巨大成功之后,目前正在制作《三体》的动画片。可以读读原著(中文,英文翻译或两者),看看改编的有多成功。

　　Aaron：Lastly, if you aren’t familiar with the multi-award winning Liu Cixin, it’s a great time to get out there and give his writing a go. The Wandering Earth was recently released on Netflix, and there is currently an animation in production of The Three-BodyProblem, following the novel’s massive global success. Give the original works a go (in Chinese, English translation or both) and see how successful you think the adaptations have been.