第六届希望之星大学组决赛选手方圆：演讲稿

　　比赛演讲稿

　　Has Our Generation Been Westernized

　　To Chinese teenagers, learning English is very important. Listening to English music and watching American movies are common things in our daily lives. What’s more, Adidas sports wear and iPod players are popular on campus. So many people are concerned about this: has our generation been westernized?

　　Well, there’s no doubt that we teenagers in China today share some common interests with teenagers in western countries. We learn their language and accept some of the values which reflect on their language. So sometimes our parents have trouble understanding us. And my grandpa often complained that I only enjoy listening to English songs not Peking Opera, which is his favorite. But have we really been westernized?

　　Partly, I think. We’ve now learned to be more confident and more open to others, to take challenges, to pursue what we want and to share team spirit. I don’t think “being westernized” is a bad thing. Traditions are important, but that does not mean we have to remain the same generation after generation. We need to improve ourselves by learning from others. There’s a famous saying in Chinese,“Among the three persons walking, there must be a teacher of mine.”I believe we can take the knowledge of other cultures and still maintain our more valuable traditions. You know, while we are being westernized, other parts of the world are being easternized!

　　Now I sometimes listen to Peking Opera with my grandpa. And you know what, my grandpa, who is nearly 90 years old , has started learning English!

　　我们这一代被西化了吗

　　对我们中国的青少年来说，学英语很重要，听英文歌曲、看美国电影是我们生活中的常事。此外，

　　毋庸置疑，今天我们中国的青少年与西方国家的青少年有着一些相同的兴趣。我们学习他们的语言也接受了一些反映在他们语言上的价值观念，正因为如此，我们的父母有时难以理解我们，我爷爷就经常抱怨，说我只喜欢听英文歌而不听他最喜欢的京剧。然而，我们真的被西化了吗？

　　我认为，有那么一点儿。我们现在变得更自信率直地面对他人，敢于迎接挑战，去追逐我们想要的，也学会相互合作，我认为“被西化”不是件坏事。传统的确重要，但那不代表我们世世代代都得维持原样。我们需要向他国学习来提高自己。中国有句古话：“三人行，必有我师焉”。我相信我们可以吸取别国文化的精华，同时保留我们宝贵的传统。你知道，当我们被“西化”的时候，世界上有些地方正在被“东化”呢！

　　现在，我常同爷爷一起听京剧。你猜还发生了什么——我那快90岁的爷爷竟开始学英语了！