学校放暑假，父母焦虑：“没有自由的暑假”引发热议（双语）

　　暑假时节，又到了家长叫苦不迭的时候。兴趣班、夏令营、国内研学、海外游学……账单动辄上万的并不少见。到底是为了投资孩子教育，还是减轻自己的焦虑，各位家长真的想好了吗?

　　As children in China look forward to their six-week summer holiday, parents are finding themselves suffering from higher levels of stress and financial strain than they do during the rest of the school year.

　　就在中国的孩子们期盼时长六周的暑假之际，家长们发现自己的精神和经济压力比一学年中任何时候都大。

　　“No freedom summer holiday” became a trending topic on Weibo, China’s Twitter, in May, as parents began spending much time and money planning their children’s holiday schedule. It was a similar tale last year, when “Having 30,000 yuan monthly salary cannot afford the summer holiday” also went viral online.

　　当父母们开始花大量时间和金钱规划孩子的暑假时，“没有自由的暑假”在今年5月就已成为微博热门话题。这与去年情形类似。当时，《月薪三万，还是撑不起孩子的一个暑假!》在网上引发热议。

　　Both trends reflect the anxiety and fear of parents that their children will lag behind other classmates during the summer break. To keep their offspring in study mode, parents try to fill the holiday with different classes and tours, at ever-increasing expense.

　　这两种趋势反映出家长的焦虑和担心：怕孩子暑假期间落后于其他同学。为了让孩子始终处于学习模式，家长试图用不同课程和出游填满假期，花费自然不断增加。

　　According to online media platform Sohu News, parents in cities such as Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing, are most willing to spend on their children’s education during the break.

　　据搜狐新闻调查，广州、上海、北京等城市的父母最愿意在假期为孩子的教育花钱。

　　“I feel much more pressure during the summer holiday than on normal school days since I need to arrange different activities for them [her children],” said Chan Lee, a 40-year-old Guangzhou mother of two primary schoolchildren.

　　40岁的陈丽(音)来自广州，有两个在上小学的子女。她说：“我觉得暑假的压力比平时上学大得多，因为我需要为孩子们安排不同的活动。”

　　“A study tour costs 35,000 yuan and there are also classes and tutorials which are necessary to apply for,” she said, explaining that, since schools did not assign much summer homework, she sent her children to holiday classes to better prepare them for the next academic year.

　　“游学花费3.5万元，还必须得上辅导班。”她解释说，学校没布置太多暑假作业，她把孩子送到补习班，为下学年做好更充分的准备。

　　Sending children on overseas tours has also become an indispensable part of the break, with nearly everyone in Chan’s children’s class joining a summer study tour to experience an overseas educational environment, culture, and language through meeting people, visiting famous universities and sightseeing.

　　让孩子到海外游学，也成为假期不可或缺的一部分，陈丽孩子所在班级几乎所有学生都参加了暑假海外游学，通过与人交流、参观著名大学和观光，来体验国外的教育环境、文化和语言。

　　indispensable [ɪndɪ'spensəb(ə)l]：adj.不可缺少的;绝对必要的

　　“You could feel that he had changed a lot after the tour. He was more organised and confident when communicating with others, as he knew more and had more things to share,” she said.

　　她说：“你可以感觉到他在游学之后改变了很多。他在与人交流时更有条理，也更自信，因为他知道的更多，有更多的东西可以分享。”