返台讀研究所 | Returning to Taiwan for Graduate School

                                                                               　National Taiwan Normal University

小時候
常常在台灣師範大學裡面玩

那時
操場跑道舖的還是紅土
下大雨後總會出現許多浮腫的蚯蚓
操場底下也還沒有停車場

在國外待了十多年後
帶著眾人的祝福與期許
我又回到了這裡

一草一木
悠揚鐘聲
依然熟悉
蔣先生也依舊站立在那裡

似乎
沒有什麼改變
變的是
我成了這學校美研所的學生
這是小時候的我
從沒想過的事
心情很複雜

而
日本人留下來的老建築
該有七 八十年了吧
仍歷久彌新
舊的很好看

十多年了
但榕樹感覺沒長大多少

When I was a child,
I often played on the campus of National Taiwan Normal University.

Back then,
the running track was still paved with red clay.
After heavy rain, swollen earthworms would appear everywhere.
There was no parking garage beneath the field yet.

After spending more than a decade abroad,
carrying the blessings and expectations of many,
I found myself returning to this place once again.

Every tree and blade of grass,
the resonant chime of the bells—
all still felt familiar.
Even the statue of Chiang stood exactly where it had always been.

It seemed
that nothing had really changed.
What had changed
was me—
I had become a graduate student in the Fine Arts program here,
something my childhood self
had never imagined.
The feeling is… complicated.

And those old buildings left behind from the Japanese era—
they must be seventy or eighty years old by now—
still stand with quiet dignity.
Aged, yet enduringly beautiful.
Old can be beautiful.

More than a decade has passed,
yet the banyan trees don’t seem to have grown much.

-


為什麼師範大學英文要叫"Normal University"呢
"normal"聽起來好像有點遜耶
跟我的新加坡朋友談到
她們也說沒聽過"Normal University"

(好像覺得是有點不怎麼樣的學校但沒有明講 哈哈)
似乎只有台灣和中國有所謂的"師範大學"這個詞
(中國也是翻譯為"normal university")
是不是該改一個比較好聽的翻譯呢

後來我才知道：

「師範大學」被翻成 Normal University，其實不是在說「普通」，而是來自一個歷史用語。

這個「Normal」源自法文 école normale，意思是「制定標準（norm）」的學校，也就是培養教師、建立教學典範的地方。這個概念可以追溯到法國大革命時期的 École Normale Supérieure，當時的目標是訓練老師，讓他們把「標準化的教學方法」帶到各地。

後來這個制度傳到日本（翻成「師範學校」），再影響到台灣與華人世界，因此像 國立臺灣師範大學 這類學校，就沿用了這個翻譯傳統。

—

Why is “師範大學” translated as Normal University?
“Normal” sounds a bit… underwhelming.

When I mentioned it to my friends in Singapore,
they said they had never heard of a “Normal University” either.

(It almost sounds like a not-so-impressive school—though no one said it outright, haha.)
It seems that only Taiwan and China use this term “師範大學”
(and in China, it’s also translated as “Normal University”).
Maybe it should be given a better-sounding translation?

Later, I came to understand:

“Normal University” doesn’t mean “ordinary” at all—
it comes from a historical term.

The word “Normal” originates from the French école normale,
referring to a school that establishes norms or standards—
a place for training teachers and setting models for education.
This idea can be traced back to the École Normale Supérieure during the French Revolution,
where the goal was to train teachers to disseminate standardized methods of instruction.

This system was later introduced to Japan (translated as “師範學校”),
and from there influenced Taiwan and the broader Chinese-speaking world.
That is why institutions such as National Taiwan Normal University
have continued to use this traditional translation.

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國立台灣師範大學/National Taiwan Normal University: http://www.ntnu.edu.tw/
藝術學院/institute of Fine Arts: http://140.122.88.193/eng/index.html