剑桥大学英语考评部以英语测评领域逾百年的专业积淀，多年来一直秉承初心，致力于帮助人们学习英语并向世界证明他们的能力。在全球化的浪潮下，通过掌握英语技能，提升自我能力与核心素养，许多英语学习者也开启了人生的“另一扇大门”。

“Cambridge English Journeys”系列邀请到多位嘉宾，为我们分享他们与剑桥英语结缘并改变人生的故事。以素质教育为初衷，在英语学习的过程中，大家发现人生的更多可能。我们也诚挚招募有故事的你，与我们分享你与剑桥英语共同成长的经历，在文章结尾处即可参与。

Elisabet is a psychotherapist who has spent most of her career in the UK including working for the UK National Health Service. She’s always had a passion for supporting others and learning and connecting with people from other cultures, which was triggered by growing up in the busy city of Valencia. Travel has been at the heart of her English journey, as going to other countries has given her the exposure to native English speakers that she needed to constantly improve. Staying in Toronto with a host family was a huge turning point for her, and she has never forgotten the strong work ethic that she got from her family back in Spain.

Elisabet是一名心理治疗师，她职业生涯大部分时间都在英国度过，包括为NHS（英国国家健康体系）工作。她在西班牙繁忙的城市瓦伦西亚长大，受城市文化影响，她一直都热衷于帮助他人、学习以及与来自其他文化的人交流。旅行一直是她英语之旅的核心，因为去其他国家让她接触到许多英语母语者，因此她需要不断提高英语能力。在多伦多的寄宿家庭居住，对她而言是一个巨大的转折点，她也永远忘不了从西班牙的家人那里得到的强烈的职业道德感。

I was born and bred in Valencia, which is a lovely sunny and warm city on the east coast of Spain. It’s a big destination for tourists, which gave me the contact I needed with international people. I started to learn languages when I was 8, which was the start of my English journey. I was always interested in learning languages, exploring foreign cultures and real-life interactions with people. I’m an empathetic person and I realised early on in life that if I can work supporting people, to make them feel better, that would be very rewarding.

我在瓦伦西亚出生长大，这是西班牙东海岸一座阳光明媚、气候宜人的城市。这里也是游客们的旅游胜地，所以我一直有机会接触到来自世界各地的人。我8岁开始学习语言，那是我英语之旅的开始。我一直对学习语言和外国文化以及在现实生活中与人交流很感兴趣。我是一个富有同理心的人，我很早就意识到，如果我能够帮助别人并且让他们感觉更好，那会是非常有意义的事情。

Growing up I was always topping up my English skills with lessons funded by the government. I come from a blue-collar family, so I’ve always had to find ways of getting funding for lessons to help improve my skills. I also carried out a lot of different jobs to help me along the way and I even worked as a postal worker for a while, which was great because you always got to talk to lots of people. Around this time I started taking advantage of government-funded English language trips to other parts of Spain and further abroad. This made a huge difference to me because I finally got the exposure to native speakers, which is so important when learning languages.

在成长过程中，我经常通过政府资助的课程来提高我的英语技能。我出生于一个蓝领家庭，为了提高各种技能，我不得不想办法为我所学的课程筹集资金。我还做过很多不同类型的工作，甚至有一段时间当过邮递员。我觉得这是一件很棒的事情，因为可以跟很多人交流。大概也是在这个时候，我开始利用政府的资助，去西班牙其他地方和国外旅行。这对我产生了巨大的影响，因为我终于接触到了母语使用者，这对语言学习是非常重要的。

One trip that was a turning point for me was when I went to Toronto in Canada in my early twenties. I stayed with a lovely inspiring woman in her mid-fifties. She helped me to feel comfortable and we shared meals together and had lots of conversations. It was these little interactions that allowed me to settle and I’d strongly recommend to other people to take the risk and go on these types of trips.

在我二十来岁的时候，我去到加拿大多伦多，这趟旅程对我来说是一个转折点。我和一位可爱且富有感染力的女士住在一起，她已经五十多岁了。我们一起吃饭、一起聊天，这让我感觉很舒适。正是这些小小的互动让我感到平静，我也强烈建议其他人去尝试进行这种类型的旅行。

However, learning English wasn’t always easy and going abroad often made me realise that my English level wasn’t that good. So I continued to put lots of effort into taking extra-curricular activities.

然而，学习英语并不总是那么容易，出国经常让我意识到自己的英语水平并没有很好，所以我依然会投入大量精力去参加课外活动。

I first came to the UK when I finished my degree in Psychology at the University of Valencia. I applied for a grant that allows you to spend six months in a foreign country in Europe, and I got an offer to become an intern as a Community Service Volunteer at a small mental health charity in Preston in Lancashire that supports young people in areas such as stress management. I thought I’d only stay six months, but I never came back! Working at the charity was a great opportunity to work on what I’d studied, but my wages were limited and looking back it wasn’t easy.

当我在瓦伦西亚大学拿到心理学学位后，我第一次来到了英国。我申请了一项补助金，能够帮助我在欧洲的其他国家度过6个月的时间。我还得到了一个实习机会，在兰开夏郡普雷斯顿的一家小型心理健康慈善机构担任社区服务志愿者，在压力管理等方面为年轻人提供帮助与支持。我以为我只会在英国呆上6个月的时间，但我的心再也没有离开过这里。在慈善机构工作对我来说是一个很好的机会，我可以将我学到的知识应用到工作中，但我的工资并没有很高，所以回想起那段日子过得也并不容易。

At first, I found the English language barrier a struggle at times and sometimes I wouldn’t understand fully. The first couple of years I was definitely missing out on information, and little by little, I started to understand things like sayings and idioms. It can really make you feel like an outsider at first, but when you get immersed into the culture such as understanding what’s on television and radio, I guess that’s when you feel settled.

起初，我发现有时候很难跨越英语语言障碍，有些话我不能完全理解。刚开始的几年里，我确实会在交流中错过很多信息。但渐渐地，我开始理解一些东西，比如谚语、方言。一开始真的会觉得自己像个局外人，但当融入到文化中，比如理解了电视和广播上的内容时，那时候就会觉得自己适应这里了。

After my first year living in the UK, I decided to take an IELTS test out of curiosity, to get a sense of how my level of English had improved. At that time, I was still thinking I would go back to Spain soon, so I was hoping to go back better equipped and with a certificate in my hands that would help me get better jobs or further education opportunities. I started preparing for the test by studying and watching videos online – I found YouTube particularly useful – and then took the test, which showed a good level of English. My life changed once again, as following the IELTS results I decided to apply for a master’s degree. I got a place at the University of Cumbria in Lancaster to study a Master of Science in Psychotherapy CBT and then remained in the UK for a little longer.

在英国生活一年后，出于好奇，我决定参加雅思考试，看看我的英语水平是如何提高的。当时，我还在想着自己会很快回到西班牙，所以我希望回国时能有更好的能力和证书，帮助我获得更好的工作或者继续深造的机会。我开始通过学习和观看在线视频来备考，顺带一提，我发现YouTube特别有用。之后我参加了考试，结果显示我的英语水平不错。我的人生又一次发生了改变，雅思考试的成绩让我决定申请硕士学位。我在兰开斯特的坎布里亚大学获得了攻读Psychotherapy CBT理学硕士学位的机会，然后在英国待了一段时间。

Once my master’s degree finished, I started working as a psychotherapist for the NHS. I like to keep on learning and did another master’s degree in Intercultural Communication in Cambridge, whilst I was working full time in the NHS. The beauty of doing the master's was learning about how cultures interact, and how certain languages interact. This encapsulated all my passions, but don’t get me wrong, it was tough balancing work and study.

硕士毕业后，我开始在NHS（英国国家医疗服务体系）做心理治疗师。我喜欢不断地学习，所以我在剑桥修完了另一个跨文化交流硕士学位，同时还在NHS全职工作。攻读硕士学位的美妙之处，在于了解不同文化之间及特定语言之间的相互作用。虽然这段旅程让我充满热情，但不要误会，实际上平衡工作和学习是很困难的。

I’m back in Spain now but I’m still working for two UK-based companies as a CBT psychotherapist. I’m looking forward to going back to the UK as the positive side of being abroad is that you’re constantly learning and interacting, which is intrinsic with me.

虽然现在回到了西班牙，但我仍然在两家英国公司做CBT心理治疗师。我很期待回到英国，因为在国外生活有积极的一面，我可以不断地学习与交流，这也是我的本质。

I’ve never had a mentor, but looking back I do have my parents to thank as they are my inspiration and they’ve always worked hard to provide for us. My mum moved from a small village in the east of Spain to the city as a single mum in the 1970s, which wasn’t easy. She did that in her early twenties, and interestingly I went abroad at the same age. She took a risk, an opportunity and it paid off as she met my hard-working dad and they formed this lovely family of five that we now have. I can see why I have always been persistent, despite the struggles at times.

我没有导师，但回首往事，我真的要感谢我的父母，因为他们激励了我。他们也一直努力工作，为我们提供支持。我的母亲在1970年代从西班牙东部的一个小村庄搬到城市，对一个单身母亲来说这件事并不容易。她是在20岁出头的时候做出这个决定的，有趣的是，我在和她一样年龄的时候也选择了出国。她的冒险也伴随着机会，当她遇到我努力工作的父亲时，一切都得到了回报，他们组成了我们现在拥有的美好的五口之家。所以我也明白自己这种性格的原因，尽管有时候会遇到困难，但我仍然会坚持不懈地走下去。

When you’re living abroad you do miss your family but every single day you learn something new about that culture, which brightens my day. That’s what kept me in the UK for so many years and that’s why I’m going back.

在国外生活时，确实会很想念家人。但是每天都能学到一些关于当地文化的新东西，这也让我的生活变得更加美好。这也是我在英国生活了那么多年还依然想回去的原因。

And thanks to a sense of adventure and the work ethic from my parents, I know I’ll be OK on the next leg of my journey.

多亏了我父母影响到我的冒险精神和职业道德感，我知道我的下一段旅程也会很顺利。