2006年11月1日，浙江《溫州晚報》刊出一幅新聞圖片：“21歲洋小伙插班讀小學(xué)”。圖片上被一群天真活潑的小學(xué)生圍著的那位洋青年，正手持粉筆學(xué)寫著漢字：“老師，您好！”這張圖片引起了讀者的熱烈關(guān)注，它仿佛向我們傳遞了一個信息，改革騰飛的中國在國外有著何等的吸引力！

“床前明月光”牽動中國夢

洋小伙是荷蘭人，名叫霍頓·布蘭迪（Huton·BLant）。他金發(fā)、碧眼、寬額、隆鼻，一看便知是典型的西方人。他父親是位油畫家，母親任一所中學(xué)的校長，家境優(yōu)裕，與中國本無淵源。然而自改革開放后，到荷蘭創(chuàng)業(yè)的中國人日益增多，距他家鄉(xiāng)不遠(yuǎn)的港口城市鹿特丹，更是匯集了溫州人開辦的數(shù)十家中餐飯館以及幾百家服裝、皮鞋商店。遠(yuǎn)在異國的華人無不眷戀鄉(xiāng)土母語，華僑子弟學(xué)校也應(yīng)運而生，有一位樂清籍的林女士更是熱心于教育事業(yè)。林女士由于和布蘭迪的母親同行，兩人成了好朋友，每逢中秋或春節(jié)，華人們都要集會歡慶，林女士就邀請他母親帶著小布蘭迪參加。布蘭迪說，我從小就看過中國的滾龍、舞獅，還有五彩斑斕的京劇，特別是武打戲很讓我入迷，尤其是神通廣大的孫猴子更是豐富我童年的幻想。大約是8歲那年，華僑們舉行中秋吟詩會，在古樂聲中吟誦李白《思鄉(xiāng)》：“床前明月光，疑是地上霜。舉頭望明月，低頭思故鄉(xiāng)?！蹦鞘茁暻椴⒚脑?，引得全場掌聲如雷，似懂非懂的布蘭迪也很受感動。經(jīng)老華僑點撥和母親的解釋，他感到十分神奇：大詩人李白僅用了20個漢字，就能描寫出如此動人的境界，這時他閃動了一個念頭，我要學(xué)中文！

從此他流連于中國的音樂、電影、餐飲之間，關(guān)注來自中國的多種消息。高中畢業(yè)時他說服父母，放棄讀大學(xué)，經(jīng)一位中餐館朋友的介紹來到中國成都，在一家餐館邊練廚藝邊學(xué)漢語。半年多他學(xué)會了基本對話，但只能說不會寫，尤其令他苦惱的是四川方言與標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的普通話還有距離。他和母親商量，要請林女士牽線，索性到林女士的原籍樂清市翁鎮(zhèn)小學(xué)讀書。他下定一個決心：不怕起點低，甘從小學(xué)起步！2006年8月，經(jīng)樂清市教育部門批準(zhǔn)，布蘭迪拖著箱包乘車搭船到樂清翁鎮(zhèn)，插入翁鎮(zhèn)第五小學(xué)二年級(1)班，跟班選修語文和音樂兩門課。

點橫豎撇捺筆筆認(rèn)真

翁五小地處偏僻海邊，人們少見多怪。一下子來了個遠(yuǎn)隔萬里的洋青年插班讀小學(xué)，全鄉(xiāng)都轟動了！一時間男女老少都來圍觀，嘰嘰喳喳，熱鬧極了。布蘭迪事先就有準(zhǔn)備，整天笑吟吟地“您好！您好！”招呼著，一點也不煩，甚至樂滋滋地說：“有這么多的人圍著我，交談的機(jī)會就更多了，這是好事啊！”校長王彩樂更是把布蘭迪的到來看作是中外文化交流的平臺，在開學(xué)第一周就召開全校師生歡迎會，既向師生提出文明待客的具體要求，又請布蘭迪上臺作自我介紹。布蘭迪大大方方登上講臺，一字一頓地說：“尊敬的老師們、親愛的同學(xué)們，我名叫布蘭迪，是從歐羅巴洲荷蘭來的，是你們的新同學(xué)，我想認(rèn)真學(xué)好漢語，希望你們幫助我，我要和大家做好朋友！”同學(xué)聽見都樂了，起勁地鼓掌歡迎他。

進(jìn)班上課了，布蘭迪身高坐最后一排，他聽得忒仔細(xì)，記筆記也勤，點橫豎撇捺一筆一劃，端端正正。下課后，他和同學(xué)們一起唱歌做游戲，還充當(dāng)“老母雞”，和一群七八歲的孩子玩“老鷹抓小雞”。幾天的時間就與同學(xué)融為一體，還“趙錢孫李”的叫出男女同學(xué)的姓名。同學(xué)們也喜歡給他講中國故事，介紹樂清的生猛海鮮、風(fēng)味小吃，并且好奇地問他，為什么要來樂清，為什么學(xué)中文，荷蘭有什么特點，大風(fēng)車有多大等等。這一問一答，布蘭迪感到中文知識擴(kuò)充了，對話多了，書寫漢字也順當(dāng)了。他為了感謝全班同學(xué)，特地叫母親從荷蘭快遞52本精美的筆記本贈送給每一位同學(xué)，上面寫著：“拜您做老師，請幫助我學(xué)好中文！”同學(xué)們好感動。

布蘭迪進(jìn)班后，班風(fēng)也變文明了。他和藹待人輕聲說話，碰到老師、同學(xué)先說“您好！”離別時都道聲“再見”。生活上他不隨地吐痰，不往地上丟紙屑，體育課他都非常禮讓，且熱心幫別人。同學(xué)們才七八歲，有的很頑皮，跟他才兩個多月都學(xué)乖了，文明了。

兩個月里，語文有兩次“月考”。語文老師張正義說，布蘭迪中文進(jìn)步快，現(xiàn)在已能端正寫出漢字800來個，這要歸因于他的“三個認(rèn)真”：一是上課認(rèn)真。兩節(jié)語文課他豎著耳朵聽，一絲不茍地練習(xí)寫、練造句；二是不懂就問，問教師，問同學(xué)。問完后都要說一聲“謝謝”或“多謝您”；三是學(xué)風(fēng)正、誠實，不作弊。兩次月考，第一次他得62分，全班最低。有幾位熱心的同學(xué)同情他，在第二次“月考”時有的丟給他紙條，有的挪過考卷讓他看，示意讓他抄，他都笑著一概回絕?？己?，他解釋：“我來中國要學(xué)真本事，不是來考分?jǐn)?shù)?！苯Y(jié)果第二次考試得了75分，全班同學(xué)鼓掌給他胸前戴上了大紅花！

決心在中國生根開花

張正義老師說，布蘭迪中文學(xué)得好，得益于他每天寫日記，而且逐篇送教師批改。教師劃上紅筆的錯別字、不當(dāng)用詞或不通的句子，他每處都要改寫三四遍，直到正確為止。說起布蘭迪的日記，張老師忍俊不禁，說他是個好學(xué)的青年，有時又充滿童心與童趣。他在成都學(xué)廚藝的一篇日記中寫道：“四川人真喜歡吃辣，菜辣湯辣，滿間屋子氣味全是辣的。兄弟叫辣哥，姑娘叫辣妹子。湖南人說不怕辣，成都人更說怕不辣?！辈继m迪在溫州住過幾天，市場很繁華，他很喜歡。于是在日記中寫道：“叫人奇怪，溫州人那么多。街道不大，擠得像筷筒子，呼吸都門（悶）住了。”

布蘭迪還寫到：“荷蘭低于海面，是大海堤攔住的低凹地。我看過海浪，看過大風(fēng)車，大海灘，從來沒見過山。樂清也在東海邊，卻有漂亮的群山，高高的，綠綠的，樹木很多。特別是雁蕩山，山峰柱挺，太有力量了！我21歲，從未看到過?！?/p>

有一次，張老師發(fā)現(xiàn)布蘭迪一篇日記已寫到300來字，盡管有錯字也不通順，但立意與表述挺新鮮的，畢竟是成人的思維，老外的好奇，張老師好好地表揚他一番。有一次放學(xué)他交來日記與造句本，不想半個小時后布蘭迪又滿臉通紅地跑回來找張老師：“我寫漏了兩個詞語，必須補(bǔ)進(jìn)去。真對不起！”張老師翻出日記本作業(yè)本讓他補(bǔ)寫，只見他恭敬地補(bǔ)一個“決心”，一個“開花”。他那認(rèn)真勁兒感動了張正義老師，張老師一遍又一遍地讀了他寫的一段文字：“常有同學(xué)問我，荷蘭多發(fā)達(dá)，你來學(xué)中文干什么？我說心里話回答他們：中國歷史長久，文化光芒。我決心把中文學(xué)熟練，以后有機(jī)會再讀中文大學(xué)。學(xué)好了，能在中國生根開花。至少，我可以為荷蘭青年來華旅行當(dāng)導(dǎo)游吧？中國是一個很大很大的未打開的百寶箱！”

張老師深有感觸地說，自從布蘭迪插班來讀小學(xué)，把整個校風(fēng)、教風(fēng)都激活了。

（本文攝影：夏子昂 杜小芬）

21-Year-Old Dutch Goes to Chinese Primary School

By Gong Ming

On November 1， 2006， Wenzhou Evening News in Zhejiang Province published a photograph with a caption that “the 21-year-old Foreigner Studies in Primary School”. The photograph shows a young man writing “Hello， my teacher” in Chinese on a blackboard with a piece of white chalk. He was surrounded by his classmates， a large group of 8-year-olds. The photograph story caused a sensation across the city.

The young man in the photograph is Huton Blant from the Netherlands. The blond young man looks a typical westerner at a glance. His father is an oil painter and his mother a middle school principal. The family had no relations whatever with China. But since the 1980s the Chinese population in the Netherlands has grown rapidly， many people being from Wenzhou. In the city of Rotterdam， there have appeared dozens of Chinese restaurants and hundreds of shoe and fashion shops， all operated by business people from Wenzhou in southern Zhejiang Province. With the growing Chinese population， schools have appeared for the Chinese children. A lady surnamed Lin from Yueqing， Wenzhou was particularly passionate for education for Chinese children in the Netherlands. Since she was in education， she made friends with Huton Blant’s mother. The mother and the son were often invited to attend Chinese gatherings in celebration of Chinese festivals. This was when young Huton Blant was exposed to the Chinese culture. He decided to learn the Chinese language.

After graduation from high school， Huton Blant persuaded his parents to let him come to China to learn the language. A friend in the Netherlands introduced him to work in a restaurant in Chengdu， capital of southwestern China’s Sichuan Province. After half a year， the young Dutch managed to speak elementary Chinese with some Sichuan accent. But he could neither read nor write and he worried his accent was far from standard Mandarin.

So Huton Blant asked his mother to ask Lin if it was possible for him to attend a Chinese school at the woman’s hometown in Yueqing， Wenzhou. With some strings pulled here and there， the proposal was approved by the education authorities in Yueqing. So in August， 2006， Huton Blant arrived in Wengyang Town and got himself ready to start at the second grade. He would study Chinese and music at the No.5 Wengyang Town Primary School.

His appearance in the school attracted local residents across the remote seaside villages in the rural town. Huton was pleased， for he knew the more the people， the more opportunities he got for learning Chinese. He blended quite well with his classmates just in a few days. They asked him questions about his purpose in Yueqing， his interest in learning the Chinese language， and the size of windmills in his homeland， etc. and they told him Chinese stories， seafood and local cuisine， etc. Such a full exposure to Chinese enabled Huton to absorb the language fast. He asked his mother to send 52 notebooks from home by express delivery， which he distributed as gifts to each of his classmates.

His classmates have attributed his fast progress to his earnestness. He is most attentive in listening to the teacher; he writes Chinese characters with greatest care and keeps asking questions if running into any problem. He never cheats in examinations. He scored 62 in his first monthly Chinese test， rather poor in the eyes of his classmates. In the second examination， some friends passed some tips to him， trying to help him out. He declined. He scored 75 this time， showing a great progress. The class clapped their hands when he was given a little red paper flower as an award for his achievement.

His teacher thinks one of the great contributing factors for his fast progress is that Huton Blant keeps a diary in Chinese and submits it to his language teacher for comments and corrections regularly. The teacher red-pencils misspelt words and corrects mistakes in syntax and diction. The teacher sometimes is amazed by the way Huton Blant writes about his life experience in Yueqing and his comments. One day， the teacher found that Blant wrote more than 300 words in an interesting piece of diary and praised Blant.

The gentle， polite， courteous， and warm-hearted Huton Blant behaves himself well， setting a fine example to his younger classmates. His presence in the school has brought about some subtle and positive changes in the school spirit. They learn from him.

(Translated by David)