ALLEX 第二階段 - 面試/ Step 2: Interview

過了幾週的等待，終於收到了面試通知！面試通知裡詳細說明了一些注意事項以及需要準備拼音考試，面試採預約制，因此確認完面試時間後就等著面試的這天到來！

面試這天由於是大家都約好各自的時間所以沒有遇到很多的申請者，而且沒有很長的等待時間，先做了拼音的測試後就被帶進面試的小辦公室裡。

面試分為兩階段：
１． 英文面試15分鐘，總共有三位主考官，我碰到的是 David Patt, Eriko Akamatsu 以及OH!STUDY的負責人。 這部分除了基本的自我介紹和背景瞭解外，主要著重在對ALLEX的期望以及希望ALLEX能夠給予什麼樣的協助，並且需要將自己的希望講清楚，比如說希望的科系以及希望可以到哪一州等等的，算是讓主考官更清楚若是通過面試後能夠如何幫你做學校配對，不能百分之百期望會照自己的希望走但ALLEX也會盡量考量到你的想法來做決定。這個階段ALLEX也會盡可能將他們的情況解釋清楚，當時就有問到說是否可以接受被分發到較偏遠的地區，譬如說是中西部或是像緬因州之類的地方，這個問題希望各位參加者可以先思考清楚，畢竟這些地區是台灣人較不熟悉的，也絕對不如洛杉磯或是紐約這些大城市繁華熱鬧，是不是符合你對美國生活的期待並且可以生活兩年是絕對需要深思的課題。若是你／妳同意了ALLEX提供給你的機會，也希望你／妳可以放開心胸的去體驗你所到之處，相信會是非常不同的經驗。當然如果有任何不清楚想問的都可以趁這個時候多多問問題！

2.  中文面試15分鐘，共有兩位主考官，我遇到的是ALLEX的負責人Tom Mason先生以及資深華語教學權威廖老師。雖然說ALLEX強調參與者不需要中文教學經驗，但是你／妳的臨場反應是非常重要的，尤其是不要有自己是母語者就可以教中文的觀念和態度。另外要提醒的是雖然Tom Mason先生是個美國人，他的中文是絕對沒有問題的，因此，請絕對注意自己的中文發音以及正確性。簡單說，儘量避免臺灣國語並且以北京腔發音為主是會為你的面試加分的。這關面試你會遭遇到一些教學情景的問題，看你如何應對。廖老師會以較為嚴肅的態度對你提出問題，也會很直接的提出你的缺點，一時之間會讓你覺得尷尬，但是請虛心接受。這位老師在之後的訓練過程中會給你相當大的幫助。
魚子醬的面試過程第一階段還算順利，但是當時廖老師對發音有不小的意見幾乎讓魚子醬覺得自己愧為中文母語者也覺得上榜無望了。但也因此，讓魚子醬很認真地回家練習了很久，也無心插柳的為日後的暑期課程奠下了一點基礎。這點很感謝廖老師的提點。

After a couple weeks of waiting, Caviar finally received the interview invitation.

The interview was by appointment so Caviar didn't get to meet all the participants at that time. After a brief Pinyin test the interview was conducted in 2 parts.

1. English Interview: This part I met with Mr. David Patt and Ms. Akamatsu as my main interviewers. It was mainly focusing on understanding your expectations and your motivation of participating in the program. It also laid out the basic knowledge of what ALLEX can do for you in terms of matching you with ideal schools. You may express your expectation in the areas that you wish to go and the subjects you wish to study in the US. ALLEX will try to find the closet option but please do not expect 100% match. This is also the time you will be asked if you are willing to go to places that are rural or not so familiar to most Taiwanese such as the mid west or Maine. Be sure to think about this before your interview as this is rather difficult for most of us to understand and they are not exactly metropolitans like LA or NY. However, if you decided to take ALLEX's offer, please do honor that decision no matter where you are assigned and be open-minded. You might find it a very unique experience comparing to the big cities. For sure this is also the time you can ask whatever question you have and get answered face to face.

2. Chinese Interview: This part I met with Mr. Tom Mason, the director of ALLEX foundation as well as Dr. Liao, one of the most influential Chinese teacher in the US. Please take this part very seriously. Even though ALLEX does not require prior Chinese teaching experience,  your attitude as a Chinese teacher potential is very important. Do not think that you can teach Chinese because you are somewhat a native speaker. And be careful with your pronunciation and speak correct Chinese. Do not think Mr. Tom Mason is an American and he won't understand what you say, his Chinese is awesome. Simply put, avoid Taiwanese accent and try to produce the best and standard pronunciation you can will definitely help. In this part, Dr. Liao will ask you questions seriously and will not hesitate to point out your problems directly, whether it's linguistic or attitude. It may seem awkward and hard to take in at that moment, but please show your best manner and try to understand  the reason why he say something so directly.

Overall Caviar did well in the first interview but the second part was frustrating after being pointed out some pronunciation problems.  Yet it also motivated Caviar to practice harder afterwards and somehow helped a lot in the later summer training course.

*related posts 相關文章*

ALLEX 第一階段 - 申請/ Step 1: Application 

ALLEX 第三階段 - 學校配對 (上)/ Step 3 School Matching Part 1
ALLEX 第三階段 - 學校配對 (中)/ Step 3 School Matching Part 2
ALLEX 第三階段 - 學校配對 (下)/ Step 3 School Matching Part 3 
ALLEX life in Wichita, Kansas