我来到中国以前， 一直想了解英国公司怎么进入中国市场。获得了John Speak 的奖学金以后，让我对这个问题更感兴趣找到答案。因此，一个朋友问我是否我想帮助英园公司(英文的名字是‘The British House’ ) 的时候，我一定抓住这个机会。英园是一个中国公司，帮助英国公司在中国卖产品。为了达到这个目标，使用不同的方法；譬如，英园网站上可以找到各种各样的英国来的产品。第二个办法是英园
View from my table whilst the presentations are performed
的商店，离天安门广场不远。在这儿，客户能亲眼看一看英国精美的产品或吃哈洛德的下午茶等等。英国公司允许英园卖自己的独特产品因为英园了解中国顾客、怎么做有效的广告因此跟独自进入中国市场相比，这种合作是更有效的。
另外， 英园举办有特殊的活动。这些活动打算推广在英国高档的产品而且潜在的英国公司找到从别的中国城市来的投资者的机会。公司没有足够的口译，所以在这儿工作的朋友应该找口译。我从来没当过口译，所以很盼望！活动的第一部分是英国公司老板都给大家介绍一下自己的产品。房间充满了桌子；口译，包括我，都坐在每张桌子的旁边。因此老板说话同时我应该给投资者翻译。产品都非常贵： 比方说，默克罗夫特陶器与摩根辆车！我最喜欢的是一千英镑的限量版金色的铅笔, 铅笔上刻着‘徐志摩与剑桥大学’！
第二部分是每个老板站在自己的产品旁边以便中国投资者可以接近他们商量投资机会 (可是我之所以不能告诉大家详细是因为都是保密的)。我先帮助Purdey 的老板。Purdey 是一个枪支制造和‘打猎式’服装商，可是在中国当然枪是违法的，所以他们只想推广高档、身量定做的服装。然后，我帮EBO的老板。EBO是创造香精油的公司；材料只有天然的、对环境非常好。EBO的公司想推动伦理消费。这个机会非常好玩，测试我的思维敏捷和中文能力。到目前为止尽管我觉得我的中文能力很快地提高，我还遇到了有些问题。最难的说法，比如‘浮雕感皮革’、‘保险承保人’与‘芳香疗法’。不过，其中最难的句子之一是：‘这些香精油的分子组成与天然皮脂最接近’。虽然这些问题可是在未来，我希望能抓住同样的机会！
The Morgan car!
Before coming to China, I had always been interested in how British companies had entered the Chinese market. Having been granted the John Speak scholarship, this made me even more interested in finding out the answer. Therefore, when a friend asked me if I wanted to help out at the British House, I immediately said yes! The British House is a Chinese company that helps British companies sell their products. In order to achieve this, they have adopted many different methods. For example, on The British House’s website, you can buy all sorts of British products. The second way is their shop, not far from Tiananmen Square, where customers can browse the exquisite British products and have Harrod’s afternoon tea! British companies let The British House sell their products because The British House understand Chinese customers and know how to advertise the products. In comparison with going it alone, cooperation is much more effective.
In addition, The British House hosts special events. This event aimed to promote high quality goods and give British companies the opportunity to find investors form other Chinese cities. There weren’t enough interpreters so my friend who works there asked me to help out. I’d never been an interpreter before, so I was really looking forward to it! The first part of the event was where all of the British companies’ bosses gave presentations about their goods. The room was full of tables and all of the interpreters, including me, had to sit at the side of a table, and whilst the boss was speaking we would have to translate for the investors. All the products were very expensive – such as Moorcroft China, Morgan cars and my personal favourite was the £1000 limited edition gold pen, engraved with Xu Zhimo and Cambridge!
The Purdey stall and apparel
The second part was where every boss stood beside their products so that investors could approach them and discuss investment opportunities (although I can’t say the details since it’s confidential). I first helped the boss for Purdey, a gun manufacturer and producer of hunting-style apparel. In China since guns are banned, they were here to promote their high quality, made-to-measure clothing. Later, I helped EBO’s boss, a company that produces essential oils: its ingredients are all natural and great for the environment. EBO is trying to encourage ethical consumption. This opportunity was really good fun, and really tested my mental agility and Chinese sills. Until now, despite my Chinese skills improving a lot, I still encountered a few problematic expressions. For example, ‘embossed leather,’ ‘insurance underwriting’ and ‘aromatherapy’. But out of all them, my favourite was ‘’the molecular composition of these essential oils is closest to that of natural sebum’! Despite these difficulties, in the future, I hope to be able to take advantage of similar opportunities!