我一直有用英文写朋友圈的习惯,也是从中获得灵感,在 2020 年现象级英语社群中设置了“迷你写作训练营”,希望学生能够放下“写作文”的包袱,从一个个句子开始化整为零解决写作问题。

对我自己来说,写英文朋友圈已经成为我记录自己点滴想法的一种生活方式了,总能引起不少朋友的共鸣。

下面和大家分享我最近的 6 条英文朋友圈,关于科比、肺炎疫情、泰国。每条后面的 P.S. 部分为整理过程中的感想和补充。

1. 写在第一时间得知科比意外身亡之后:

I am not even a basketball fan, and I am saddened by his sudden death. His work ethic, creativity, and integrity were evident in his play, and I aspire to be better, just a bit closer to him. RIP. Kobe.

2. 一直在蔓延的武汉肺炎疫情和科比的过世让我感慨,也让我对生活多了更多敬畏和勇气:

2020 is off to a bumpy start. All the more reason to live more bravely and fully.

P.S. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger.

3. 在曼谷机场看到翻译版泰语畅销书:

One fine example of the beauty of globalization: the spread of ideas in local languages.

P.S. Thomas Friedman may observe, "The world is flat." Indeed. 

4. 从曼谷回国的飞机上拿到了一份《曼谷邮报》:

Thais are understandably concerned too. On the homebound flight I finally got hold of a local newspaper. Thailand has treated us well on this week-long trip. I will be back. 

P.S. The world is more interconnected and interdependent than ever, sometimes in ways beyond our awareness.

5. 在广州转机时想到的:

This is the worst of times, for obvious reasons; this is the best of times, because we can go ahead and do the things that we have long been wanting to do yet have found ourselves finding excuses for not doing them. Read a book, take an online course, write your first blog post, learn some basic phrases of the language of your next travel destination, hand write letters to friends that have been out of contact for years. If you are part of Phenomenal English community, study the materials that you “didn’t get around working on” or review them. This is almost a God-given period in a sense. Don’t squander it. 

6 看到安替的微博有感而发:

For all its defense, the idea of weiwen (维稳, or stability maintenance) is intrinsically and dangerously flawed, for it unnecessarily emphasizes stability, which is naturally at odds with grievances, injustices, and even well-intentioned suggestions. The indoctrination of weiwen can downplay the urgency, seriousness, and scale of social problems, rendering the society unready, unfit, and unable to deal with problems in a timely fashion, if at all. The coronavirus outbreak proves to be an expensive lesson and should be a wake-up call to those in office. A robust and confident society is one that encourages civil conversation, is unafraid of tackling challenges head-on, and has the required wisdom to address demonstrations, epidemics, and everything in between.

P.S. History repeats itself. It doesn't have to. 

孟庆伟 Justin

个人微信 ID:justinqmeng

现象级英语联合创始人

《经济学人》11 年研究者

雅思写作 8 分,口语 8 分


题图:Mark Rothko

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