At first thought, the task of preparing to begin life away from home can seem daunting, if not overwhelming. Being surrounded by an unfamiliar culture, environment and social norms, while being away from family and friends, is something which more and more Chinese students experience in the quest to gain a western education.

　　很多中国学生一想到自己要出去接受西方教育，要远离家人和朋友，要投入到一个陌生的文化、社会环境和社会规范中去，总会觉得无所适从，很茫然。

　　With school courses drawing to a close, many students find themselves in the midst of preparing for further study abroad. As a foreign teacher, I often found myself being turned to for answers to help demystify the process and add moral support in many student decisions to journey overseas. Therefore, based on my experience, the following five steps may prove useful in assisting prospectiveoverseas students in their preparations to study overseas.

　　随着学校课程的逐渐结束，那些将要出国深造的学生们的准备工作也进行得如火如荼。我作为一名外国教师，经常有学生来问我关于留学程序上的问题，并希望我可以给予他们精神上的支持。因此，基于我的经验，我总结出以下五个步骤，并希望对有留学志向的学生有所裨益，能帮助他们更好地准备留学。

　　1. Get to know your new home before you land in it.

　　1、到达新家前先了解它

　　There is no substitute for good preparation. Arm yourself with background knowledge by researching information about the country you are going to. Learning about the history, culture, tradition, language and even details such as food, music, transport, weather and social activities of your new host country are all important. Thanks to the Internet, most of this can be found at the click of a button.

　　充分的准备是必不可少的。通过寻找你所要去国家的背景知识，将自己"武装"起来。学习东道国的历史、文化、传统、语言甚至如食物、音乐、交通、天气、社会活动等细节都是非常重要的。由于有了国际互联网，现在我们要找这些知识只需按一下鼠标就行了。

　　If you are fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of a foreign native (from the country you wish to study in), be sure to ask them as many questions as possible on things such as good places to live, the cost of transport or important celebrations during the year. The information they provide would most likely not be published in any textbooks or tourist magazines.

　　如果你有幸认识一个外国人(一个你想要去留学的国家的人)，请一定要向他请教你的所有疑问，例如适合居住的地方、交通费用或一年里的重要庆典等。他们提供的信息很有可能是教科书或旅游杂志里没有提到的。