二十五年的实验4
重返美国

陈碧华　执笔

虽然康乃尔经营的有声有色，但站在一个学术的立场，我很担心我自己闭门造车，更担心误人子弟。因为过去在研究所学的是企业管理，而非教育，虽然康乃尔佳评如潮，但我总觉得很难让家长知道我们所做的是最好的。渴望重返研究所的心是如此强烈，但我又无法放著学校与家庭一走了之，天天内心交战，夜夜暗自饮泣，觉得自己像是只没有翅膀的鸟，一心想一飞冲天，但却动弹不得。当年放弃一切，跟著锡东举家返台的那股心中的痛一再被撩起。1996年我再也忍不住不展翅高飞寻梦去，虽然没有了翅膀，但我相信心中那把熊熊的烈火足以让我遨翔天际。带著尔嘉我重返美国，留下锡东和康与一个菲佣，许多朋友想我头壳坏了，但我知道我已经失去一次机会，我无法再失去另一次，人生是如此短促。

到达美国，我改修教育，尔嘉则进入当地最负盛名的一所私立学校就读5年级。虽然经过这么多年辛苦的工作，我应该也可以喘一下气，享受一下这么得来不易的美国生活。不过我知道我身负更大的任务就是利用研究所的学习，验证我在康乃尔所作所为与理论相符，也希望利用尔嘉来评估在康乃尔制造的学生，英文到底道不道地。

在日夜苦读之下，很快的我发现研究所中所学各种教学理论，和我在康乃尔自行摸索设计的教学方式不谋而合，研究所教授也觉得康乃尔学生的表现不可思议。当时全世界有正式学术论文发表的例子只有加拿大全法语情境的学习，教授鼓励我将康乃尔的实验正式发表在学术期刊中供世人参考，也可以帮助外国学生学习英语。

我很开心尔嘉也没辜负期望，在全新的环境中念书如鱼得水，甚至还数度代表学校参加各种学科竞试，证明他的英语能力的确可以与美国孩子相较量，有趣的是尔嘉在康乃尔的表现还只算是中等的学生。

当我正兴奋的努力收割丰硕的成果，万万没想到一件令人惊恐的事件发生。1996年正值台湾总统大选，为了阻挡李登辉总统继续连任，中共展开军事恫吓，每天CNN有关报导铺天盖地，康乃尔的外籍老师惶惶不可终日，担心飞弹就在身旁爆炸，他们的父母强烈要求康乃尔将外籍老师撤至安全地区，也就是说离开台湾。在这种险恶的处境下，我一方面要应付研究所的功课，一方面要安抚人心，身心交瘁！记得一天的午夜，我终于拾起电话，悲伤地告诉康乃尔主管，如果外籍老师离去，康乃尔就宣布结束，当时电话两端我们泣不成声，但我别无选择！

这是一个恐怖的梦魇，事隔多年，至今回想起来，仍是令人一身寒颤。

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A Twenty-Five Year Experiment 4
Studying In The USA

By Bih-Hua Chen

My school kept growing bigger and bigger, but there had always been an urge for me to go back to school.  As a perfectionist, I couldn’t stand any flaws in my work.  My school was doing beautifully, but I had doubts whether I was doing right things for the students because my major was MBA but not Education.  I couldn’t explain to parents what I did was the best for their kids no matter how many compliments I received.  I wanted to go back to school so badly but I couldn’t just drop my family and school to fulfill my dream.  It was such a pain!  The same feelings I had when I dropped everything to move back with Shyi-Dong from the States many years ago.  I felt like a bird whose wings had been clipped.  The bright blue sky was calling, but I just couldn’t fly.  There were countless nights I sobbed in the dark and felt sorry for myself.  In 1996 I decided that I had to take off even without any wings to flap in the air.  I believed that my burning desire would keep me soaring.  I took Chia with me back to the States and left Kang with Shyi-Dong along with a Filipino maid.  People thought I was crazy, but I knew nothing could stop me because I already missed my chance once and I couldn’t afford to miss out twice.  Life is so short! 

After we arrived in Macon, Georgia, I enrolled Chia in a prestigious private school and I went back to the graduate school of Mercer University to study in Education.  It was such a precious opportunity for me to fulfill my dream and I believed I deserved a relaxing and enjoyable life after many years of hard work.  However, I knew something was much more important and I needed to use Chia as a specimen sample to see whether Cornel students were comparable with American students.  I also tried to use my studies to exam Cornel to see whether I was leading the school in the right direction.

After burying myself in the books, I found excitedly that the theories I learned from the books and journals proved what I did at Cornel was just right.  My professors were amazed with the achievement of Cornel and they encouraged me to publish a paper in a journal.  At that time, there was only one research paper published regarding second language learning in the world.  It was about research in a French immersion program implemented in Canada.

I was very happy that Chia didn’t fail me either.  He loved his new school and was selected by the school to participate in several academic competitions.  His outstanding performance proved that Cornel students were competitive with their American counterparts especially as Chia was just an average student at Cornel.

While I was happily reaping up the harvest in the States, something drastic happened.  It was the year of the presidential elections and the government in China launched many military maneuvers to threaten Taiwanese people who wanted to elect President. Lee for a second term.  Everyday the CNN news released all the frightening news and our foreign teachers were panicking that the missiles might hit them in Taiwan.  Their parents strongly demanded that the school evacuate the teachers to a safe place; in other words, to leave Taiwan.  It was such a horrible situation I was in.  On one hand, I had my unfulfilled mission, and on the other hand, I had the responsibility of keeping Cornel running safely.  I remember once at midnight, I finally made a phone call to the Cornel administrators to tell them to close up Cornel if the foreign teachers decided to leave. On both ends of the telephone line, we cried, but what could I do?

It was such a bitter ordeal that every time when I recall it, I get goose bumps all over my body.

 

儿童双语幼稚园：
康乃尔&康尔嘉英语【官方网站】http://www.ecornel.com.tw
康乃尔&康尔嘉英语【facebook粉丝团】http://www.facebook.com.tw/cornelfans
康乃尔&康尔嘉英语【Youtube影音网】http://www.youtube.com/user/corneltai

英文有声书杂志：
彩虹时间儿童英语故事有声月刊【部落格】http://www.wretch.cc/blog/CRainbowTime
彩虹时间儿童英语故事有声月刊【facebook粉丝团】http://www.facebook.com.tw/rtfans