睽違臺灣10年的劍橋大學出版社的全球總裁 Stephen Bourne,11月份為了參加華泰文化的高雄分公司開幕活動,與亞太區總裁 Chris Boughton 分別由英國劍橋及菲律賓馬尼拉搭機於台北會合。

(下圖左為全球總裁 Stephen Bourne,右為亞太總裁 Chris Boughton )

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在總裁們參加開幕酒會的前一天(11/14),劍橋部落格小編把握難得機會,特別企劃一篇總裁專訪。

(11/15華泰高雄分公司開幕之活動剪影:http://cambridge.pixnet.net/album/set/14346326

小編們希望藉由這次的特別專訪,讓大家與我們一起了解因商務走遍全球並曾長期旅居香港的兩位總裁,對於臺灣與亞洲印象、語言學習,以及對於工作與生活等種種面向,有著什麼樣的獨到想法與觀察。

現在,就讓我們來看看這次的專訪對談內容吧!


*時間∕地點:
2008年11月14日上午,劍橋大學出版社臺灣辦事處(台北)。

*參與人員:
劍橋大學出版社:全球總裁 Stephen Bourne & 亞太區總裁 Chris Boughton & 臺灣區經理 Catherine。
華泰文化:劍橋部落格小編 Alice & Jessica

*專訪人物小檔案
Mr Stephen Bourne(潘仕勛):
現任劍橋大學出版社總裁。出生於非洲,雙親為英國人,成長期間於英國求學。在愛丁堡大學和劍橋大學取得碩士學位後,進入全球知名之 Deloitte (德勤會計師事務所),擔任會計師,並調任至香港負責統整國際知名企業等高階客戶之業務。他於1994年加入知名的英國 St. Ives Financial Printing Group,任職常務董事,開始戮力於印刷出版事業。為深入紮根出版事業,自1997年,正式加入全球最悠久的出版社—劍橋大學出版社;2002年,出任全球總裁至今。

Mr Chris Boughton(包睿思):
現任劍橋大學出版社亞太總裁。出生於英國,幼年時隨父母旅居亞洲。返回英國求學期間,熱愛科技資訊工程科學,於劍橋大學進行研究並取得學位,擁有深厚的科技資訊的學術背景。曾任英國 Marconi Electronics 公司之研究人員、英國 Arbat System 銀行資訊顧問公司,並掌管亞洲金融訊息交換平台(SWIFT)之業務;為深耕亞洲,繼而擔任美國道瓊網絡科技公司 (Dow Jones Telerate Systems Inc.) 高階主管,管理全亞洲高科技資訊發展處;於2002年,加入劍橋大學出版社至今。


PART I 臺灣與亞洲印象
劍橋部落格小編 Alice(以下簡稱Q):請問您們到過臺灣幾次?上一次來臺灣是什麼時候?
Mr Stephen Bourne(以下簡稱S):我第一次來臺灣是在1977年的12月,到現在31年了,我想應該來過12次左右。但是最近較不常來台,上次來應該是10年前吧!這樣太糟糕了!所以Catherine就說她有個好點子-跟華泰合作,這樣我就會常來!
Q:那你呢,Chris?
Mr Chris Boughton(以下簡稱C):我在1995年第一次到台北,往後一年大概會來3到4次,來看看劍橋臺灣辦事處和華泰。
S:還有吃很多午餐和晚餐,因為這裡的食物真的很棒!

Q:很好,你們兩位都喜歡中華料理!那如果每天都得吃ㄧ道,會吃什麼呢?
S:噢,我的天!我會吃義大利料理!如果我被困在一座荒島,而只能吃ㄧ種食物的話,我會吃蕃茄口味的義大利麵。因為我是義大利料理迷!
Q:那 Chris你會吃什麼呢?
C:如果是中華料理,我會吃四川酸辣湯或是牛肉麵或者麻婆豆腐。
S:要配烏龍茶!很多很多的烏龍茶或普洱茶。

Q:Stephen,距離您上次來臺灣已經有一段時間了,對於這裡的感覺有什麼不同嗎?
S:昨天我們與臺灣同事一起吃晚餐,我真的覺得這裡的事業在成長。你知道十年能有很大的改變。我剛來的時候,臺灣所有的一切都是新的,現在真的覺得一切變得更專業了。另外就是Chris致力於區域行銷還有亞洲業務會議跟亞洲的夥伴接觸。透過非正式的環境熟悉彼此,除了更專業外,關係也更友善了,正確說法應該是更緊密!而這樣很好,當我到世界各地我發現每一處的劍橋辦公室我都很喜歡,大家不僅是同事更是朋友。

Q: Chris您來過許多次了,應該對於臺灣比較熟悉,有沒有什麼讓您比較印象深刻的呢?
C: 我真的很喜歡來臺灣。從我一下飛機,機場的人員就非常友善,我還跟年輕美麗的海關小姐聊了一下呢!來臺灣和與劍橋大學出版社有著相同理念的事業夥伴(指華泰)見面,我們彼此都能認同散佈教育及知識的理念、並希望藉由出版書籍做對社會有助益的事,這總是能讓我感到生氣勃勃。與臺灣辦公室的同事及臺灣客戶見面也是,我們真的可以感受到許多不同,很清楚的感覺到我們有很大的進步。

Q: 我們知道,您們兩位過去都在香港居住&工作過很長一段時間,而在劍橋大學出版社這樣全球化的出版社工作,也有很多機會需要到華人地區的國家(臺灣、香港、中國、新加坡)工作與旅行。您們覺得這幾個華人地區的人與食物各有什麼差異或特色嗎?誰要先回答?
S: 我想Catherine和Chris已經聽我說過很多次了,我一直認為台北是亞洲的美食之都,種類甚多也無比美味,我真的很喜歡!你想聽我說別的國家的壞話嗎?我不會說唷!至於文化層面,由於我住在香港,所以與日本、韓國、泰國或越南相比,我對中華文化一定比較熟悉。還有藝術,像是牆上的花畫、卷軸、書法、景色和玉等,對我來說都很有意義。
Q: 那你呢,Chris
C: 我同意Stephen說的飲食和文化的層面,但要再加一個就是亞太區域同事的職業道德和信念。我真的非常榮幸能領導劍橋大學出版社的亞太地區。
S: 沒錯,你應該要感到很榮幸。
C: 因為我們橫跨整個亞太地區,從日本到印度,我們有一個非常非常能幹的工作團隊。亞洲的同事們會努力不懈直到工作完成,他們不會事情沒有做完就急著走人。我常晚上在線上遇到Catherine,我們會聊聊公事。劍橋大學出版社的每個同事都有個人網頁寫著上班時間,而我的寫「黑苺機開著的時候」,這表示你隨時都能與我聯絡,而這是效法我的亞洲同事。

P1060411.JPG

PART II 語言學習
劍橋部落格小編Jessica(以下簡稱J):好吧!下個階段!你會說幾種語言呢?
S: 這個問題應該要改成「你擅長哪些語言?」我擅長說法語和斯瓦希里語,還有英文!我會說一點德語、一點廣東話、西班牙語和義大利語。我喜歡語言,它們很有趣。下個我應該要學的是中文、俄文和阿拉伯文。大致上來說,我會說六種語言。
J: 你對語言挺在行的耶!
S: 的確。我在大學主修法文和德文。
J: Chris那你呢?
C: 我常常說我會的語言足夠讓我惹上麻煩,但卻不夠讓我脫身。我在馬來西亞長大,所以我會說印尼語,當然還會說英文!會說一點法文,德文說得還不賴!會說Tougaloo,因為我住在那還有一點廣東話跟泰文。
Catherine(以下簡稱CA):你們會讓她們太震驚!

Q: 學習外語的時候,有沒有什麼痛苦的經驗?像是發音總是不標準、單字常常拼錯、文法搞不懂或是想要學哪種語言,很努力卻始終學不會呢?
S: 有的。因為我主修語言,所以對於語言我會希望很精準。如果我不知道某個字或文法,我會覺得很糗,對我來說,單字較常出現困難。另外,我認為最難的語言是廣東話。因為它實在有太多音調了,很容易讓人搞混,說錯的話可能會被人笑或是冒犯到他人。對我們這些英語為母語人士來說,需要花很多時間聽香港人講話才會聽得懂。但當你聽懂之後,真的會很有成就感。如果你願意,痛苦也能轉變成享受唷!
Q: Chris那你呢?
C: 我有一次跟我太太去參加一個晚宴。晚宴上大家就問我我的Tougaloo現在學得怎麼樣了。我說我學得不錯,接著我就說了一個最近新學的單字,沒想到那卻是個很粗魯的字。我朋友們大笑,我太太還問我是誰教我那個單字!我說:「我想應該是妳吧!」因此,我也覺得是單字重要。要多練習才不會讓自己出糗。
S: 過去我曾在法國教書,同時我也在學習法文。有一次我對一位女士說:「夠不夠吃?有沒有吃飽?」,沒想到那句話在法文中的意思是「妳懷孕了嗎?」,所有人聽到都笑翻了。還有一個很好笑的例子,但不是關於我,是有個英國人被邀請去華盛頓參加一場派對,派對要求盛裝打扮(fancy),結果他穿了一套猩猩裝,到了門口有位穿燕尾服的男士用怪異的眼神看他,他才發現原來fancy在美國的意思是要穿燕尾服,但在英國那叫做black tie,而fancy則是變裝!
C: 其實我認為學語言最好的一件事就是當你和母語人士說話時,他們會很感謝你努力嘗試,他們也會幫助並且能接受你的錯誤,因此說錯了也不會覺得很尷尬。

Q: 那Chris,您能不能和我們分享一些學習語言的小技巧呢?
C: 去住在那個國家!如果沒有辦法,那就找好朋友不斷練習。早上我們才和教育部政務次長聊到他擔心學生在學校學英文,放學後卻沒有機會說英文,所以他有個設立英語村的想法。你知道,當你剛開始學習某項事物,你會很怕在朋友面前出糗。而我的建議就是不斷練習,不要害怕錯誤,因為別人會願意幫助你!

http://cambridge.pixnet.net/album/photo/105185443 早上拜會教育部的相簿連結)

J: 那你呢,Stephen?
S: 我的想法跟Chris一樣,去住在那個國家!如果真的沒辦法那就不斷地聽,收聽廣播或看電視。如果你能看錄影帶那更好,因為你可以觀察說話的人的嘴巴。其實看說話的人的嘴型能幫助你更加了解對方在說什麼。想像一下如果眼睛閉著,只聽得到對方說話的聲音,這樣真的會比較難聽懂!
Q: 現今在臺灣,學習英語的方式與管道相當多元化,大家可以利用網路線上學習、互動光碟CD-ROM,甚至是互動式的白板軟體,學習語言不再只有過去的紙本課本了。那像Cambridge這樣世界上最古老的出版社,能夠歷經四個世紀依舊於領先學術出版領域,面對語言學習的方式的多元化趨勢,Cambridge未來會如何因應呢?
C: iPhone!現在CALD3已經能在iPhone上使用了,而其他文法書和單字書也計畫跟進中。如此一來,大家就可以隨時隨地的練習,他們可以從Apple或是iStore上下載軟體,並透過iPhone做練習。透過行動裝置來學習是現在青少年的生活趨勢,而我認為將來只會更多。
S: 現在的孩子不愛書本,他們喜歡電子產品。因此我認為什麼是孩子喜歡,老師又能接受是很重要的。因此,我們的短期策略是將這些書本e化。我想,讓孩子學好英文的方法是讓他們感到輕鬆愉快,讓他們不會介意在朋友面前說英文。

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Q: 接著,請對臺灣想要學好英文的朋友們說說話。
C: 要認真!要努力!英文確實是重要的語言,是國際商用語言!
S: 如果你真的很想學好英文,那就好好下定決心!從你的決定做起,例如,上網時你可以選擇網頁瀏覽的語言,那就選擇英語,那可以讓你學得更多更快!如果你對攝影有興趣,那就去瀏覽攝影相關的英文網站,你可以從中學到許多專業用語,而這對學習語言真的很有助益。

PART III 工作與生活
Q: 接下來進行下一個部份。
CA: 有趣的部份!
S: 工作很有趣呀!只要是從事對的職業的話!
Q: 身為像劍橋大學出版社這樣一個全世界的領導學術出版社的全球總裁/亞太總裁,您需要掌管出版社的發展與這麼多國家的業務工作,您們在工作中處理哪個部分的事務,讓感到壓力最大呢?
S: 其實我從來沒有想過這個問題呢!我的工作大部分是與人交際,滿足他們、讓他們開心。不過對我來說,這沒有什麼生產力,我比較喜歡做有生產力的事情!這部份可能會讓我有一點煩躁,但不至於到覺得壓力大。

Q: 如果壓力指數是1到10,10是壓力極大,那您的是多少呢?
S: 噢,我不相信壓力。說壓力實在壓力太大了!因此,我不會覺得有壓力,只會煩燥。我想我的壓力指數不會超過五,要是太常超過,我應該會換工作。因為那表示我無法樂在其中,無法享受工作或是私人生活。我認為如果不快樂,那就不該去做,Chris你同意嗎?
C: 噢,我完全同意!
S: 那告訴我,什麼會讓你覺得壓力很大!?
C: 我的老闆非常體貼,他並不會給我太多壓力。其實我不常感到壓力,但我想我會給我員工壓力!跟Stephen一樣,我會因為沒有生產力而感到有些煩躁。如果要我花很多時間去做對出版社沒有意義的事情,我會有些不開心。

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Q: 那面對沉重工作壓力時,您們如何紓解壓力,是:運動、看書、聽音樂、看電影嗎?
C: 浮潛、帆船運動、打回力球、慢跑還有回家陪我的家人。我有兩個年紀很小的小孩和一位漂亮的太太,是一個很親密的家庭。還會一起看電影放鬆。
Q: 你喜歡浮潛啊,那你去過墾丁嗎?
C: 沒有,我都在菲律賓浮潛。
Q: Stephen那你呢?
S: 滑雪、品酒、聽音樂、看有趣的書還有跟我的貓玩,我有三隻貓,牠們真的能幫助我紓壓。但我最喜歡的是聽音樂和品酒。
CA: 還有玩貓。
S: 噢,其實我是牠們的嗜好。

Q: 那您們在全世界最古老的出版社工作,平日喜歡看什麼書報雜誌來了解世界脈動呢?
S: 恐怕只有兩項。我不常看國外的新聞,所以看英文的報紙對我來說很重要。我認為Time很不錯,至於雜誌就是The Economist,我還會收看BBC。
C: 我不常看報紙,較常上BBC網站看國際新聞,還有每個禮拜固定看The Economist。

Q: 我們知道您們兩位都是英國人,但兒童時期都隨父母居住國外,在非洲與亞洲成長。小時候有沒有夢想成為什麼人呢?像有些人小時候會想當老師、太空人、醫生、律師呀,或是總統,那您們呢?
C: 工程師!我爸是一位工程師,我從小就想當工程師!
Q: 那您會覺得很可惜現在不是一位工程師嗎?
C: 不會。我一點也不後悔,因為我ㄧ開始是資訊研究人員。大學時我主修工程學,他們教我電腦,最後我反而走電腦這行,現在我在全球最棒的組織工作!

Q: Stephen那你小時候想當什麼呢?
S: Chris這個連你也不知道吧!真是個不錯的問題!我小時候想當船長。我的父親在非洲的公司有多項代理業務,其中一項就是船舶。我們住在肯亞的蒙巴薩,當有大船進港時,我們就會被邀請上船,有時候會和船長共進晚餐,而我總是幻想可以當船長。我也很愛出海,真的很渴望可以當船長然後環遊世界。我很習慣一個人旅行,只要最後有人跟我會合就好。但不知道是什麼原因,到我十三歲左右開始忘了這個夢想,然後我進了大學,畢業後覺得要做些嚴肅的事業,接著就再也沒想過當船長了。回答你下個問題,我非常後悔!我還是想很想當船長!

Q: 最後,如果您不是在Cambridge工作的話,您想在哪裡做什麼工作呢?
S: 在很大的船上!好吧,先說說國家,我最喜歡的地方是香港,第二是雪梨。
Q: 噢,我小時候曾住在哪裡耶!
S: 我真的覺得那邊很不錯!香港和雪梨都是港口,而我愛海!但我才和Catherine聊到法國,我非常樂意將劍橋大學出版社的辦公室搬到普羅旺斯。至於工作的話,如果我不能當船長,我想在大學裡當一位學者。但我不夠聰明,他們實在太聰明了,完全是不同的腦袋!
Q: 那Chris你呢?
C: 我跟Stephen一樣也非常的喜愛香港。對我來說,最理想的退休生活是六個月住亞洲,六個月住英國,冬天待在香港,夏天回去英國。至於工作的話,我想去慈善機構。劍橋大學出版社就像教育界的慈善機構,我退休後希望能夠協助慈善事業。


部落格小編採訪後記:
事實上,採訪當天小編們的心情是既興奮又緊張的(當然緊張還是比較多~哈哈),因為畢竟是第一次要近距離與總裁們面對面用英文採訪啊。不過兩位總裁都相當溫暖親切,在訪談開始之前,很親切地與我們寒喧,著實我們讓原本緊張的心情立即放鬆了起來,之後整個採訪過程就在愉快輕鬆的氣氛中順利完成。
首先,我們對於來自英國的兩位總裁熱愛臺灣美食與好茶,並且讚賞台北為「亞洲美食首都」這點感到非常印象深刻。在他們走訪世界各地之後仍認為台北為亞洲美食首都,這讓臺灣人的我們大感驕傲阿。另外一個讓人印象深刻的是總裁們精通多國外語,但對於學習外語時遇上的困難,和在臺灣學英文的大家,並沒有什麼不同。總裁們與大家分享的學習外語祕技,也就是最傳統的辦法:「練習再練習、多背單字」,所以想要學好英文的朋友,我們還是一起多背單字、努力再努力吧。
最後,總裁們「樂於工作」的工作哲學,也在訪談中充分展現,似乎抱著這樣的正向的工作哲學於工作中,遇到困難與瓶頸都可迎刃而解。小編祝福大家都找到適合自己的工作與產業,然後實踐的「樂於工作」工作哲學,並且英文進步再進步!

(以下為英文專訪原稿,想要加強英文的朋友們可以繼續往下練習看看唷)

P1060445.JPG

Cambridg ELT Blog Interview with Stephen and Chris

PART I Impression

Q: How many times have you been to Taiwan? When was the last time?
S: I’ve been coming here since December 1977, so that’s been 31 years that I’ve been coming here, I think I had been here about 12 times. Recently I hadn’t been very often, the last time I came was 10 years ago, which is terrible. Then Catherine said that I got this great idea, this outfit Hwa Tai, that will make you come here more often, so here I am !
Q: How about you, Chris.
C: I first came to Taipei in 1995, and now I come 3 or 4 times every year to see Catherine and Hwa Tai.
S: And have lunch and dinner.
C: Yes, many many lunches and dinners, because the food here is terrific.

Q: Ok, so both of you enjoy Chinese food, if you have to eat a dish everyday, what will that be?
S: Oh, dear! Italian food! If I was on a desert island and I could only have one type of food, actually it would be Italian. I'm afraid I’m a big Italian fan. I would have some kind of pasta with tomato-based sauce I guess.
Q: Ok, and you, Chris?
C: For me, if it is Chinese food, I think it would be Sichuan hot and sour soup or beef noodles and Mapo Tofu.
S: With Oolong tea, lots and lots of Oolong tea or Puer tea.

Q: Stephen, it’s been quite a long time since your last visit, did you feel any differences about people,
such as your colleagues?
S: You know the thing that really struck me here was at dinner last night, we have an office dinner, it’s just a sense that the office here, the business has grown up, you know 10 years make a huge difference. Because, when I first came, Catherine had not being with the Press for very long, so she was new and the whole concept here in Taiwan is new for us, so you do feel this after a while everything become more professional and that’s great. Another answer to your question is that Chris does these regional sales and marketing meetings where people get together from all around Asia, and Jessica has been there. People get to know each other in an informal environment, so the other thing I got out of our dinner the other night was that it was more professional also more friendly, more intimate is the word. And that’s lovely, because as I go around the world, the thing that is really nice for me is that there isn’t a single office anywhere that I don’t like to go, people are all not just colleagues also friends and that’s really nice.

Q: So, Chris, You been here many times, must be more familiar with Taiwan, is there any thing that you
are really impressed with?
C: I really enjoy coming to Taiwan. From the moment when I landed at the airport, the immigration people are very friendly. I had a lovely chat today with a beautiful young immigration lady. The general business environment, meeting Hwa Tai our partners in Taiwan who have the same business ethic as Cambridge University Press, the things about spreading educations, spreading knowledge, trying to do good through the books and it makes me always invigorated. Like visiting the Taiwan office, and meet our customers, we actually makes a difference, that come across very clearly here.

Q: We’ve know that both of you had stayed in Hong Kong for a long time, and working in Cambridge this kind of world-known press, you must have many chance to work and travel to Asia. Could you share the differences in food or culture between Asia countries, who want to go first?
S: I think Catherine and Chris heard me saying this many times that I thing the food capital in Asia is Taipei. I think you can get a fantastic variety of food, and yes I do like Chinese food, we eat a lot of Chinese food, and I love it here. So, the food here is terrific, do you want me to say bad things about other countries? I am not going to. Culturally, because we lived in Hong Kong, I guess, certainly I am more attune to Chinese culture that anything, that Japanese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese, I just don’t know them so much, so I enjoy being here, and the things are culture in terms of art, like the flower painting you have on your wall, the scroll, calligraphy things like that, and Chinese science, jades they all mean a lot to me in a way that other countries don’t. I like Chinese culture.
Q: And you, Chris?
C: I think the same as Stephen certainly on the food and culture aspect, but I also think about other things about Asia, for me is the work ethic and the commitment of the whole region, I am very very privileged to have the honor of leading the press in Asia Pacific.
S: Yes you are!
C: But it is because we have everywhere around the region from Japan across India, we have a tremendously bright talented and very, very, hard working group of people, very creative people. And that to me is really refreshing, People in Asia work till they get the job done, there’s no concept to the 9 to 5, I see Catherine on line late at night, and we chat about business, and we all have on our intranet, there’s a profile page for everyone, and it says what your hours of work are, my page says “anytime my blackberry is switched on”, that means you can contact me, and that’s an example that I learn from my Asian colleagues.

PART II Language Learning

J: Okay, the next section? How many languages do you speak?
S: Ok, the question is how well I speak them, so the languages that I speak well are French, Kiswahili, so I speak those 2 well and then I speak not so well German, and I speak English quite well, I speak a little bit of Cantonese and Spanish and Italian. I like languages, they are fun. The next languages that I have to learn are Mandarin, Russia and Arabic. In different degrees I speak about 6 different languages.
J: You are quite good at languages.
S: Yeah, that’s what I do. I did a languages degree, I did French and German at university.
J: How about you? Chris.
C: I often say I know enough in several languages to get into trouble but not enough to get out of trouble. I grew up in Malaysia so I speak Bahasa, which is the language of Malaysia and Indonesia, English obviously and some French, not bad in German still, and then Tougaloo, because I live there, a little bit of Cantonese, a little bit of Thai.
CA: They’re a bit shock, too impressed.

Q: Is there any bad memory about learning foreign languages? Like pronunciation, spelling or can’t get the grammar. That you feel really difficult to learn.
S: Yes, you see, because I am a languages person, I like to get it right. And so for me, it’s always embarrassing still when I don’t know the words or grammar or it just won’t come out. And for the biggest problem actually is about vocabulary, it’s getting the right word, and of course the most difficult language to learn is Cantonese. Because of all the different tones; what we think of as the same word, which can mean different things depends on the tones, so it’s easy to make mistakes and people can laugh at you or be offended. For us, English speakers, it takes a long time just listening to Cantonese speakers to get the tones right. When you do, actually it is really satisfying. If you like, you can turn pain into pleasure in a long term.
Q: And you? Chris.
C: Well, I had an experience once, it at a dinner party with my wife. They ask how’s my Tagalog lessons were going? I said they’re going great, I had this new word now, and I went to use the word, and use the wrong word, which is very rude. My friend burst out laughing, my wife said “who taught you that words!?” and I said “You did!” So again, it’s vocabulary. It’s practicing. Make sure you don’t embarrass yourself.
S: I give you a good example that I remember when I was used to teach in France. At the same time I was learning French, one of those thing is when you have a meal, and you can say it to someone “have you had enough to eat?’ or in English you’ll say “are you full?”, in French you can translate that to a woman “French”, unfortunately, if you say that it actually means “are you pregnant?” I made this mistake, and everyone laughed. But the other good story is one that wasn’t me, it’s the difference between British English and American English. Someone who was invited to a party in Washington, and it was described as a fancy dress party. He was English, so he went along to this party, dress up in a gorilla suite. When he arrived at the door, there’s a guy wearing tuxedo looking at him. What he discovered was that fancy dress in America means tuxedo which we British call at black tie, something quite different. And fancy dress to us means costume.
C: I think one of the great things about learning languages is while speaking to native speakers, they really appreciated when you try to speak the language, they’ll be very tolerant, they’ll help you, and it doesn’t matter if you make mistakes.

Q: So, Chris, could you share some tips with us about learning foreign languages?
C: Go and live in the country. If you can’t do that, get a lot of friends, practice, practice and practice. We are just talking to the minister today, he said he is concerned that English is taught in school, but there is no opportunity for students once they leave the school, so he has the concept of setting up English corners or English villages where they can go. You know when you’re young and learning something, you don’t want to embarrass yourself in front of your friends. My advice is just practice, don’t be afraid to make mistakes, because people will help you.
J: How about Stephen?
S: Of course I will say the same thing, if you can’t go to the country and live there, then listen, listen to a lot of radio and watch TV. If you have the benefit of a film or video to watch, then that’s even better than a radio. Because early on, what you can do is to watch people’s mouth. If you watch someone’s mouth when they’re speaking, you can actually understand what they’re saying better. If you just imagine you just shut your eyes and just listen to someone talking it’ll be more difficult than look at their mouth.

Q: Yes, so, let’s go to the next question. There are many ways to learn English in Taiwan now, people can use the internet, interactive CD-ROM, even whiteboard software, learning language is no longer only about paper textbook. So, what will Cambridge, the oldest press in the world and the leader of publishing business for over four centuries, do to deal with this kind of diversification in the future?
C: iPhone! We already have dictionary (CALD3) on the iPhone, and other mobile phone. I have a pilot project going to convert some of our grammar’s book and vocabulary books for delivery on the iPhone. So that people can practice where ever they are. They can download from the Apple iStore their purchases, they can do the grammar exercise on the iPhone. The teenagers these days live, work and learn on these, I think the future has to be on the mobile devices.
S: What we know is kids nowadays don’t really do books, they do electronic materials. So, my view is somewhere between the two, what kids want and what the teachers. And therefore, our short term policy is to produce books but also other materials that go with the books on this or other handheld devices or on-lines or CD-ROMs for use in classrooms. I thing that probably is a good way for kids to use English in a way that is not threatening, they don’t mind making mistakes when they’re talking to other kids.

Q: Alright. So please say a few words to people in Taiwan who wants to improve their English.
C: Try hard. It’s an important language to learn still. It’s the global business language.
S: I guess the thing I’ll say if you are serious about learning English, when you make that choice, when you go on-line, for example, you’re googling something and you have the choice between choosing English or Chinese, choose English! Then you’ll learn more and lot faster. For example you are interested in photography, you’ll go into photography sites and learn a lot of specialist languages which is relevant to you but maybe not relevant to the rest of the world and it’s a great way of learning.

PART III Work&Life

Q: Now, let’s go to the next section.
CA: The fun part!
S: Business is fun! But it is not if you are in the wrong business.
Q: Ok, being the CEO/Managing Director of Asia Pacific of a world-leading press, you must have to manage a great deal of work. Which part of your work makes you feel very stressful?
S: Oh, interesting! I didn’t really think about that. A lot of my stuff is just about relationships with people that maybe going to be helpful to us who also require us to keep them happy and satisfy. And I find that stressful, because it is irritating, because it is not productive. I was like to doing things that are useful.

Q: If it’s from 1 to 10, 10 is extremely stressful, yours will be..10?
S: No, I don’t believe in stress. Being stress is too stressful. So, actually I don’t get stressed, I get irritated, my stress level is never more than 5. I think if it regularly got above 5, I would think that I need to change job. It will tell me that I am not enjoying what I do, and that’s again with business or private life. If you are not enjoying it you should not do it. Do you agree, Chris?
C: Oh, I absolutely agree.
S: What stresses you, Chris, tell me? I stress Chris.
C: My boss is extremely understanding, he doesn’t give me that much stress. I don’t usually have a lot of stress, I am kind of laid back. I think I stress my staff sometimes, but that’s my job. I actually stretch them. Like Stephen, I get irritated by non-productive stuff. If I have to spend a lot of time doing thing that can’t really move the Press forward, that annoys me.

Q: When you feel very annoying, what do you do to relax? Is it exercising, reading, listening music or go to a movie?
C: Scuba diving, sailing, playing squash, jogging, going home to my family. I have 2 young kids, a very lovely wife, a very close family, watching movies with them, chilling out.
Q: You enjoy scuba diving, have you been to Kenting?
C: No, I dive in the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.
Q: And you, Stephen?
S: Snow skiing, drinking wine, listening to music, reading silly books, stroking my cats, I have 3 cats, that is really good for removing stress. My hobbies are really music and wine.
CA: And cats.
S: No, I am their hobby.

Q: Since you are working in the oldest press in the world, what magazine or newspaper do you read to catch up the latest news of the world?
S: Honestly probably only 2. I don’t regularly read foreign newspapers, so it’s important to me to read an English newspaper that carries a lot of foreign news, and their only one that I think is really good, which is the Times. And my magazine is The Economist, which is excellent and I watch and listen to BBC.
C: I very rarely read newspapers, I get most of my international news on the internet, the BBC website and I read The Economist every week.

Q: Ok, we know that both of you are from England, but live in foreign countries, like Africa and Asia with your parent when you were kids. What do you want to become when you were a child? Some people want to be a teacher, astronaut, doctor, lawyer or president.
C: Engineer. My father is an engineer and I always wanted to be an engineer.
Q: Do you feel really pity that you are not an engineer now?
C: No. I started my career as an IT specialist. So I went to collage and study engineering, they taught me about computers. I went into computers instead and never regretted of it. And now I work for one of the best organizations in the world.

Q: And you, Stephen?
S: You don’t know this do you (say it to Chris). It’s a great question. I wanted to be a ship’s captain. My father’s company in Africa had a number of agency businesses and one of the businesses we had was shipping agency. When we lived in Mombasa, Kenya, when big ships came we will be welcome aboard and sometimes we would have dinner with the captain and I’ve always fancied being a captain. And I love going on the sea. I have this urge to become a ship captain, keep traveling around the world. I am very good at traveling alone and just being myself as long as there is someone to meet up with. For some reason, when I was about 13 or 14, I forgot about that, I don’t know why. Then I went off to university and I came out of university and though about doing a serious job in business, and I didn’t think about being a ship’s captain and so I never did. And to answer your next question, yes, I really regretted. I would still love to be a ship captain.

Q: So, if you’re not working in Cambridge University Press, where do you want to work?
S: On a very big ship! Ok, let’s talk about countries, in practical terms, my favorite place is Hong Kong. And number 2 is Sydney.
Q: Oh, I lived there before when I was a kid.
S: Fantastic! Do you like it? It’s wonderful. Hong Kong is a harbor and Sydney is a harbor, I love the sea. Funny enough is we’re just talking about France with Catherine. I would love to move the Cambridge office to Provence. So, really, these are my countries preferences. If I were doing a different kind of work, if I can’t be a sea captain, I would probably be an Academic in the university, but I am not clever enough. I respect academic so much, they are much cleverer than I am, different kind of brain.
Q: Chris, how about you?
C: Like Stephen, I had a tremendous love for Hong Kong. I think my ideal life after retired will be 6 months in Asia and 6 months is the UK. Winters in Hong Kong and summers back to the UK. And the work, I think I like to work with a charity. The Press is an educational charity. I would like to work for a charity when I retire to help people.

 

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