今年十七岁的马修是福州西湖国际学校（FLIS）里的老面孔。与FLIS结缘多年，他曾活跃于校足球队、校内外各种赛事赛场，也担任过圣诞晚会主持，一口流利中文令在场观众印象深刻。作为今年的毕业生，马修收获了亚利桑那州立大学（ASU）的录取通知书，如今正在FLIS攻读ASU大学学分项目。

Seventeen-year-old Matthew is a familiar face at Fuzhou Lakeside International School (FLIS). He studied at FLIS for many years, and has been active on the soccer team, also at various events both inside and outside of school, and once as the host of the Christmas party, where he impressed the audience with his fluency in Chinese. As this year's graduate, Matthew received a letter of acceptance from Arizona State University (ASU) and is now enrolled in the ASU Universal Learner Courses Program at FLIS.

从西班牙到FLIS：

多文化背景的成长优势 

马修六岁随父母来到中国。彼时，他已能说西语及英文两种语言，父母觉得是时候让儿子学习第三种语言了。他们认为再掌握一门中文对马修的未来会有帮助，于是举家搬来中国，在此学习、工作、生活。当年马修未必能完全理解这一决定：他对离开西班牙前往中国并学习中文等一连串改变持怀疑态度。“这是一个翻天覆地的变化，尤其考虑到我当时年纪很小，”他说，“我当时没有完全准备好来这儿。”

Matthew came to China with his parents at the age of six. By that time, he was bilingual in Spanish and English, and his parents felt it was time for their son to learn a third language. They thought that another Chinese language would help Matthew's future, so the family moved to China to study, work and live. Back then, Matthew was a little bit skeptical at first about coming to China and learning Chinese: "It was such a huge change at that time, especially at such a young age," he says, "and I wasn't 100% ready to come here."

一家三口在中国安家后，马修入读父母工作的学校——福州西湖国际学校。对一个初来乍到的外国小孩而言，FLIS的全英文环境有助于他逐渐过渡、适应在异国的生活。毕竟是完全不同的文化环境，可以想见，马修也遇到了不少文化差异，比如饮食习惯，又如思维心态的不同。被问及适应性相关问题时，出乎意料地，马修本人及父母均表示，这并未对他造成太大影响。“我身边总有朋友相伴，他们让我有家的感觉，也帮助我适应了在中国的学习与生活。”马修的父母则表示，FLIS成为了马修的第二个家，这个大家庭为马修提供了温馨友爱的成长环境，且多文化成长背景让儿子变得更加包容、尊重他人：“他明白了做事并不总是有‘唯一正确的方法’，也愿意学习别人的想法、观点、习俗与传统。”

After the family settled in China, Matthew enrolled at the school where his parents worked, Fuzhou Lakeside International School. For a newly arrived foreign child, the English environment at FLIS helped him gradually transition and adapt to life in a foreign country. After all, it's a completely different cultural environment, and as one can imagine, Matthew has encountered a number of cultural differences, such as eating habits and a different mindset. When asked about his adjustment, surprisingly, both Matthew and his parents said it didn't affect him too much. “I always had friends around me which made me feel at home, and this helped me adapt to living and studying in China." Matthew's parents say that FLIS has become Matthew's second home, providing a nurturing and caring environment for him to grow up in, and that his multicultural upbringing has made him a more accepting and respectful person: "He understands that there is not always ‘one right way’ to do things and is open to learning about others’ thoughts, ideas, customs, and traditions."

在FLIS对外汉语课上，马修开始从听说读写、甚至书法层面学习中文。要说学起来最辛苦的？那当然是汉字了！马修坦言，因为汉字和世界上其他的字母都太不一样了！但掌握这门语言的好处显而易见。一个马修及父母均提过的小细节与日常生活有关，一家子出门用餐时，马修永远是负责点菜的那个，因为他是家里中文最好的那个。“我爸妈可能会看着菜单的图片说，我要这个，这个。”他笑着说。语言帮助他更好融入了当地的生活。甚至，离开中国，在欧洲、北美、亚洲旅行时，因为人口基数大，他也会遇到许多中国人，因此，这门语言也进一步促进了马修与他人的交流。

In the FLIS Mandarin class, Matthew began to learn speaking, listening, reading, and writing- even including calligraphy. What does he think is the biggest difficulty in learning Chinese? The characters, of course! Matthew admits that it's because Chinese characters are so different from all of the worldwide alphabets! But the benefits of learning Chinese are obvious. One small detail that both Matthew and his parents have mentioned relates to everyday life: when the family goes out to eat, Matthew is always the one who takes the order because he's the one with the best Chinese in the family. "My parents might look at the picture of the menu and say, wo yao zhe ge(I want this), zhe ge(this)." He smiles. The language helped him integrate better into the local life. Even when he leaves China and travels in Europe, North America, and Asia, he meets many Chinese because of the large population base, so the language further facilitates Matthew's communication with others.

语言与交流，文化与碰撞，在促使马修向内深深扎根自己所生活的社群之余，也推动他向外探索一个更广阔的世界。

Languages and exchanges, different cultures and encounters, while pushing Matthew inward to deepen his roots in the community he lives in, also pushed him outward to explore a wider world.

升学择校：

选名校光环，

还是选你所愿？

在升学问题上，马修咨询了周围亲朋好友、FLIS升学指导老师及同学，得到许多人的建议与帮助。这一切令他下定决心选择了亚利桑那州立大学，同时，也明确了做出如此选择的原因。马修尤其记得很多人给他的一条建议：选择有声誉的名校很重要，但也不能仅仅因为名气大就选择某所学校——必须得是你自己想去才行。

Matthew consulted with friends and family, FLIS guidance counselors, and classmates, and received advice and help from many people. All of this helped him make up his mind about choosing Arizona State University and his reasons for making such a choice. Matthew especially remembers one piece of advice that many people gave him: it's important to choose a reputable school, but you can't choose a school just because it's prestigious - it has to be somewhere you want to go.

于是，马修将目标锁定在一些富有声誉、能帮助自己在未来取得更大成就、且他想要去的学校。在他眼里，亚利桑那州立大学是一所非常有趣的学校，自己真心想要去那里学习，不仅如此，在了解了FLIS与ASU的合作项目后，马修发现自己的亲人、朋友恰好搬到了亚利桑那州，这一切促成了他的选择。目前，他的计划是上大学，接受通识课程教育后，再确定自己的专业。

So, Matthew targeted schools that were reputable, that would help him achieve more in the future, and that he wanted to go to. He thinks Arizona State University is a very interesting school and he really likes to learn everything there, not only that, but after learning about the FLIS ASU program, Matthew found out that his family members and friends happened to move to Arizona, which all contributed to his choice. Currently, his plan is to go to university, take general courses and then see from there what he would like to do.

对于专业，马修有自己的想法：他想选择那些侧重于交流的专业，比如教育学、新闻学和法学。他喜欢与人交流，也喜爱演讲、写作。考虑到马修的语言天赋，这一回答并不令人意外。马修对交流的兴趣的确与语言技能有关。能流利使用三种语言令他得以同更多人交流，而语言作为推力、交流中得到的收获，又令他更加想要与人交流，这样良性循环的结果是，他的交流技能也得到了提升。

Matthew has his own ideas about majors: he wants to choose those that are more in the form of communication, such as education, journalism and law. He enjoys communicating with people and loves speaking and writing. This answer is not surprising considering Matthew's gift for languages. Matthew's interest in communication does relate to language skills. Being fluent in three languages has allowed him to communicate with more people, and that really led him wanting to communicate more, and it also helps him communicate a lot more.

回望六岁那年前往中国的决定，如今看来，父母的期待似乎得到了兑现，此后发生的一切，不论是语言习得还是生活、学习的经历都形塑了马修，造就了如今的他——他极好消化了生活的变化，并将之转化为了未来的助力。“（现在）100%可以说，来中国是个好主意。”马修这样说道。

Looking back at the decision to go to China at the age of six, it seems today that his parents' expectations were fulfilled, and everything that has happened since then, whether it's the language acquisition or the living and learning experiences, has shaped Matthew into the person he is today - a person who has adapted to the changes in his life extremely well and turned them into a boost for the future. "[Now] for 100%, it was a good idea to come to China," Matthew says.

ASU项目：

自律极其关键 

眼下马修即将完成ASU项目第一学年的学习。ASU高中大学双学分课程为FLIS与美国公立名校亚利桑那州立大学的合作成果，参与该项目的学子在高中阶段即可开始大学学分课程的学习，直通世界名校，为将来本科的学习节约时间与费用。在马修看来，ASU项目对学子很有帮助，可以让大家了解国外的大学课堂及课程是什么样的，与此同时，这门课程也不乏难度。ASU项目提供自定进度的全球在线课程，在整个课程中定期进行测试，而不是在课程结束时进行大考，这一定程度上减轻了学子的压力，但也对学子的时间管理能力提出了挑战。因此，马修感叹道，学习ASU课程时，自律是非常重要的。

Matthew is now completing his first year in the ASU program. Participants in the program can begin taking university credit courses in high school, which will lead them to the world's most prestigious universities and save them time and money for future undergraduate studies. In Matthew's opinion, the ASU program is great for students to get a feel for what college classes and courses may be like overseas, but at the same time, it's not without challenges: the online global ASU program offers self-paced courses with tests periodically throughout the course instead of a big test at the end of the course, which reduces the pressure on students to a certain degree, but it also challenges them in terms of their time management. As a result, Matthew notes that self-discipline is very important when taking ASU courses.

恰好，在采访马修父母过程中，其父母表示，儿子最让他们骄傲的一点是他的毅力与韧性。”Although he has faced challenges in his academic studies, he did not let setbacks get the best of him. He kept working toward his goals and was determined to raise his GPA. （尽管他在学业上遇到了挑战，他也没有被挫折打倒。他一直朝着自己的目标努力前进，决心提高自己的GPA.）”

During an interview with Matthew's parents, his parents said that one of the things they were most proud of about their son was his perseverance and resilience. “Although he has faced challenges in his academic studies, he did not let setbacks get the best of him. He kept working toward his goals and was determined to raise his GPA.”

未来，马修将前往美国深造。因能说一口流利英文，旁人常常忘记，他其实从未长期在美国本土生活过。或许，去美国上大学，就像六岁搬来中国一样，是马修人生中又一全新契机。聊到对儿子的期许，马修父母说，”In the future, we expect Matthew to continue to pursue his interests in his university studies and hopefully choose a career where he can not only find his own happiness but also help people in the world to understand more about other cultures and ways of looking at life.（未来，我们期待马修在大学学习中继续追求自己的兴趣，并希望他选择的职业不仅能让他找到自己的幸福，还能帮助世上的人们多多了解其他文化和看待生活的方式。）” 我们也如此祝福喜爱与人交流的马修，愿多年来修炼的种种技能可以助他游走于各种文化之中，成为一个全面发展、具备国际视野的人。这也与FLIS的培养目标不谋而合：我们希望培养学生的自我意识与全球思维，让学生知道，他们可以对自己的生活和周围的世界产生积极影响。

In the future, Matthew will be traveling to the United States to further his education. Because of his fluency in English, people often forget that he has not lived in America for a long time. Perhaps going to university in the U.S., like moving to China when he was six years old, is another big opportunity in Matthew's life. Talking about their expectation for their son, Matthew's parents say, " In the future, we expect Matthew to continue to pursue his interests in his university studies and hopefully choose a career where he can not only find his own happiness but also help people in the world to understand more about other cultures and ways of looking at life.” We also wish the same for Matthew, who loves to communicate with people, and we hope that all the skills he has cultivated over the years will help him travel across cultures and become a well-rounded person with an international outlook. This is also in line with FLIS's goals: we want to develop an awareness of self and global-mindedness that allows our students to know that they can positively impact their own lives and the world around them.