“It is tremendous.” Such is Steven Gauntt’s gut feeling of TKKC. This is the 11th year he works here as a foreign teacher since he joined the big family of TKKC in February 22, 2013. Over the years, he has taught mainly Oral English and Spanish and gets on well with his students in and out of class. In order to let students know more about him, we had an interview or a heart-talk with Steven.

      “这里实在是太棒了。”这是Steven Gauntt被问起关于厦门大学嘉庚学院如何的第一反应。自2013年2月22日加入这个大家庭以来，这是他作为外籍教师在这里工作的第11个年头。多年来，他主要教授口语英语和西班牙语，并且在上课之外还与同学们关系十分融洽。为了让同学们更了解他，宣传中心的工作人员与Steven进行了一次访谈。

         Starting off, he shares why he chooses to reside in China for work and life. Steven says that the main reasons are his family and the pleasant environment. He enjoys the quieter environment and beautiful nature of TKKC. What’s more, it is relaxing here for him and his family, and his son is happy attending a local public school. Even if Steven has had an opportunity to go to Xiamen University, he still takes delight in this tranquil area. For his part, he doesn’t care about prestige or salary too much. What he really cares about is a happy, pure and simple life.

      首先，他分享了他为什么选择在中国生活和工作。他说，主要是因为他的家庭和宜人的环境。他喜欢嘉庚宁静的环境和美丽的自然风光。更重要的是，对他和他的家人来说，这里的生活非常放松，他的儿子也很高兴能在这里的公立学校上学。即使Steven曾有去厦门大学授课的机会，他仍然更喜欢待在嘉庚，更喜欢在这个宁静的地方生活。对他来说，他不太关心声望或薪资，他更在意快乐、纯粹和简单的生活。

        When referring to his passion about teaching, he says it is exciting to witness the increase in student confidence in public speaking. From nervous to calm, from not fluent to smooth, such progress sustains his passion. And in terms of Spanish, seeing students starting to use another foreign language is also exciting, as if they hold a new key to open the door of another colorful world.

      当谈到他如何维持对教学的热情时，他说，看到学生在公共演讲中的自信心日益增强，这让他成就感十足。慢慢从紧张到平静，从不流利到流畅，这样的日常训练进步激发了他的教学热情。在西班牙语课方面，看到学生们开始使用另一种外语也让他十分欣慰，就像看到学生找到了一把可以打开新世界大门的钥匙一样。

       Then we get to know how he prepares for class every week. Steven frankly says that it is extremely crazy to have the same materials or approaches for many different groups of students. Given that different classes have different personalities, it is important to know what works and what doesn’t work. He usually matches different classes with diverse materials and methodologies.

     然后询问到他每周是如何准备课程的？Steven坦率地说，对许多不同的学生群体使用相同的材料或方法有些疯狂。鉴于不同的班级的学生有不同的个性，他需要了解哪些方法有效、哪些无效。他通常会根据不同班级的特点，匹配不同的材料和教学方法。

       At last, he shares what he has learned from teaching at TKKC, and from life in general. He banters that “even lovers need a holiday… from each other” (a line from the song “Hard to say I’m sorry” by Chicago). So having downtime and unplugging are conducive to recharging ourselves. Human beings are not perpetual motion machines; we sometimes need to shift gears, to slow down, to take a break… to do something else.

      最后，他分享了他在TKKC教学以及从生活中学到的东西。他开玩笑说：“即使是恋人也需要假期……彼此之间”（来自芝加哥乐队的歌曲“Hard to say I’m sorry”中的一句歌词）。因此，休息和放松有助于我们重新充电。人类不是永不停歇的机器；我们有时需要放慢脚步稍作休憩，再去开始新的征程。

采写| 蔡沈彤 杨雯涵 程凯琪

责编| 何丹钰

审核丨Steven Gauntt 潘乐颜