At 50, I Have a Dream 50岁时的梦想

Over fifity years old, one is expected to resign from office and enjoy life with no cares. However, at 50, I have a dream, a dream coming from the phrase of “when it comes to applying book learning one wishes one had read more”.

Up till now, I have been learning English for more than thirty years since I started to learn English in junior middle school. But I don’t feel I have mastered English, especially my spoken English. My English is still poor for me to support my family as a skill and means.

Thus the dream is created, that is, to master English in four years, just like studying in university, trying to make up for what I lacked in failing to go to college.

According to an article, if you keep studying something for 10,000 hours you can become an expert in that field. At first thought, 10,000 hours is nothing serious, but it is not so simple after careful calculatiuon. Three hours a day, then 1000 hours a year. And to learn for 10,000 hours needs ten years. It still takes seven years to learn four hours a day. In this way, it's not easy to stick to 10,000 hours.

Anyway, with the experience of learning English for the past 30 years, I want to make a great progress in my English in four years. So how should I achieve it?

I will keep learning English four hours every day, and tuning in to CGTN (China Global Television Network) for two hours at noon and at night back in home, totalling 8,000 hours in the end.

Looking back on the course of my English learning, busy with work and housework, and taking care of my daughter, there is not much time for me to get down to learn English. But now my daughter has been working for one year. As retirement approaches, there is much time for me to study instead.

To learn English well, to become a master and then earn a living by it is perhaps my relatively simple and short-lived goal. After all, I must meet the need of survival first, and I believe that living is the first forever.

How to stick to it? Although over fifty years old, I don’t feel something much changed except that my memory has declined a bit.

Having a good hearing and sight and a set of English learning methods, I still have confidence in myself, after all, learning by rote is discouraged.

I plan to study English for two hours at noon, two hours in the afternoon, and watch CGTN for one hour at noon break, and at least one hour in the evening. This is my initial plan. The main efforts are paid on translation, especially on how to translate Chinese into idiomatic English. Zhang Peiji's Selected Modern Chinese Essays (volume 1-4) are the best textbook, and I have finished the fourth volume through intensive reading. As for the rest three books, I plan to finish them in two years. After that, I will pay more attention to reading books in this field such as Qian Gechuan's "Translation Skills", Zhuang Yizhuan's "On Translation", "The World of English" magazines and so on.

In short, I will make every effort to improve my English to a high level, letting down nobody including myself.

年过半百，已到了退职赋闲，甚至含饴弄孙的年龄了。可在50岁时，我却有了自己的一个梦想，而这个梦想的由来恰恰出自“书到用时方恨少”一语。

若自初中开始接触英语算起，时至今日，断断续续，我学习英语的时间已30多年了，可我总觉得自己还未把英语学精学透，尤其是口语方面。而真正要把英语当作一项技能，一种养家糊口的本领，却又有点胆怯，总觉得有种“方恨少”的感觉。

这便有了我的梦想，那就是把英语学精，再利用4年的时间，相当于上了一次大学，以填补自己未跨进大学校门的缺憾。

曾有文章称，凡事坚持学习10,000小时，就能够成为那方面的专家。乍一看，10,000小时并没有什么，可细细一算，并非那样简单。加入每天学习3小时，一年也就1,000小时，而10,000小时则需要十年。每天坚持学习4个小时，那也需要7年的时间了。如此看来，坚持10,000小时并非易事。

好歹我也有了这30年学习英语的基础，我想再用4年的时间，把自己的英语突飞猛进，使之上升到一个新的高度。那又如何做到呢？

每天坚持学习英语4个小时，中午休息时以及晚上回到家里时，再收看CGTN（中国环球电视网）至少2小时，这样下来，也超过8,000小时了。

回顾自己英语学习的历程，虽说30多年，但断断续续，忙于工作、孩子、家务，真正能够静下心来学习英语的时间并不多。可现在，女儿已经工作，自己的工作也即将退居二线，反倒是有了大量的时间。

把英语学通，能够成为自己的看家本领，然后又能凭此谋生，或许是我比较浅显而又短浅的目标了。毕竟，我要首先解决生存之需要，我要向生活低头。

如何坚持？年过半百，虽记忆力有所减退，但我自己却并未感到有多大的变化。耳不聋眼不花，还有了一套自学的方式方法，况且学习英语并非靠死记硬背。所以，我对自己还是有信心的。

计划中午学习2小时，下午2小时，中午休息时间收看CGTN1小时，晚上收看至少1小时，这是我的初步计划。学习内容主要是着重翻译的地道上，尤其是如何把汉语译成地地道道的英文。张培基的《英译中国现代散文选》（1-4册）是最好的教材，我采用精读的方法，已把第四册通读完毕。剩余的三册，我计划用2年的时间。还有就是阅读翻译方面的有关书籍，如钱歌川的《翻译的技巧》、庄绎传的《翻译漫谈》、《英语世界》杂志等，以后，我会注意多阅读这方面的书籍。

总之，那就是尽一切不努力，提高自己的英语水平，使之达到一个高度，既对得起别人，也对得起自己。

Author: @bring
Translator: @bring