3月22日上午，美国第一夫人造访北京大学，并接受北大校长赠书。之后，在北大斯坦福中心以“读万卷书不如行万里路”为主题的演讲。在的演讲中，“留学”成为关键词。她化用中国古语“读万卷书，不如行万里路”，并结合自身经历现身说法，希望让更多青年人拥有留学的机会。以下为演讲的双语全文：
MRS. OBAMA: (Applause.) Thank you. Well, ni-hao. (Laughter.) It is such a pleasure and an honor to be here with all of you at this great university, so thank you so much for having me.
谢谢。你好。很高兴也很荣幸来到这里，在这所伟大的大学和你们共聚一堂。非常感谢你们邀请我。
Now, before I get started today, on behalf of myself and my husband, I just want to say a few very brief words about Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. As my husband has said, the United States is offering as many resources as possible to assist in the search. And please know that we are keeping all of the families and loved ones of those on this flight in our thoughts and prayers at this very difficult time.
在我今天开始之前，代表我自己和我的丈夫，我想就马来西亚航空公司的MH370航班简短说两句。如我丈夫所说，美国正提供尽可能多的资源协助搜寻工作。请相信，在这个非常艰难的时刻，我们的心和航班上人员的家属和亲人在一起，我们为他们祈祷。
Now with that, I want to start by recognizing our new Ambassador to China, Ambassador Baucus. President Wang; Chairman Zhu; Vice President Li; Director Cueller; Professor Oi, and the Stanford Center; President Sexton from New York University, which is an excellent study abroad program in Shanghai; and John Thornton, Director of the Global Leadership Program at Tsinghua University. Thank you all for joining us.
现在，我们首先来认识一下美国新任驻华大使——博卡斯大使。王校长、朱主席、李副校长、 Cuelluer主任、Jean Oi教授和斯坦福中心，纽约大学的塞克顿斯校长（该校在上海开设了一个优秀的海外留学项目），以及清华大学全球领袖项目主任约翰·桑顿 ，由衷地感谢大家的到来。
But most of all, I want to thank all of the students who are here today. And I particularly want to thank Eric Schaefer and Zhu Xuanhao for that extraordinary English and Chinese introduction. That was a powerful symbol of everything that I want to talk with you about today.
最重要的是，我要感谢今天所有到场的学生们......我要特别感谢埃里克·谢弗和朱宣皓的精彩英文和中文介绍。这绝佳地诠释了我今天要和大家聊的全部话题。
See, by learning each other’s languages, and by showing such curiosity and respect for each other’s cultures, Mr. Schafer and Ms. Zhu and all of you are building bridges of understanding that will lead to so much more. And I’m here today because I know that our future depends on connections like these among young people like you across the globe.
你们看，通过学习彼此的语言，通过展现对彼此文化的好奇心和尊重，谢弗先生、朱女士以及你们大家正在搭建理解的桥梁，这些桥梁带来更多的丰硕成果。我今天来到你们这里是因为我知道，我们的未来取决于全球像你们这样年轻人间的这样的联系。
That’s why when my husband and I travel abroad, we don’t just visit palaces and parliaments and meet with heads of state. We also come to schools like this one to meet with students like you, because we believe that relationships between nations aren’t just about relationships between governments or leaders -- they’re about relationships between people, particularly young people. So we view study abroad programs not just as an educational opportunity for students, but also as a vital part of America’s foreign policy.
这也是为什么我们夫妇在国外访问时，不只参观宫殿、议会和会晤国家元首。我们也来到学校，与像你们一样的学生见面。因为我们相信，国与国之间的关系不只是政府或领导人之间的关系，它们是人民间―特别是年轻人之间的关系。因此，我们认为海外留学项目不只是为学生提供的教育机会，还是美国外交政策至关重要的组成部分。
Through the wonders of modern technology, our world is more connected than ever before. Ideas can cross oceans with the click of a button. Companies can do business and compete with companies across the globe. And we can text, email, Skype with people on every continent.
通过现代技术奇迹，我们的世界比以往任何时候都更多地联系在一起。思想可以通过点击按钮跨越海洋。全球各地的公司可以进行业务往来和相互竟争。我们可以与各大洲的人们通过短信、电子邮件和Skype进行沟通。
So studying abroad isn’t just a fun way to spend a semester; it is quickly becoming the key to success in our global economy. Because getting ahead in today’s workplaces isn’t just about getting good grades or test scores in school, which are important. It’s also about having real experience with the world beyond your borders –- experience with languages, cultures and societies very different from your own. Or, as the Chinese saying goes: “It is better to travel ten thousand miles than to read ten thousand books.”
因此，出国留学不只是以开心的方式度过一个学期——它正迅速成为全球化经济中取得成功的关键。因为要走在当今职场的前沿，只在学校里取得好成绩是不够的，还应拥有国境外的真实体验：体验完全不同的语言、文化和社会。正如中国的一句古话所说：“读万卷书，不如行万里路。”
But let’s be clear, studying abroad is about so much more than improving your own future. It’s also about shaping the future of your countries and of the world we all share. Because when it comes to the defining challenges of our time -– whether it’s climate change or economic opportunity or the spread of nuclear weapons -- these are shared challenges. And no one country can confront them alone. The only way forward is together.
我想要说的是，出国留学绝不仅是改善你们自己的未来，它也关乎塑造你们的国家、关乎我们共有的世界的未来。因为我们这个时代的决定性挑战一一无论是气侯变化、经济机遇，还是扩散一一这些都是我们共同的挑战。没有任何一个国家能够单独应对它们……唯一的出路就是共同携手。
That’s why it is so important for young people like you to live and study in each other’s countries, because that’s how you develop that habit of cooperation. You do it by immersing yourself in one another’s culture, by learning each other’s stories, by getting past the stereotypes and misconceptions that too often divide us.
这就是为什么年轻人到彼此国家学习和生活是如此重要。因为这是你们培养合作习惯的途径一一你们通过融入不同的文化，通过了解彼此的故事，通过跨越常常隔膜我们的成见和误解，来做到这一点。
That’s how you come to understand how much we all share. That’s how you realize that we all have a stake in each other’s success -- that cures discovered here in Beijing could save lives in America, that clean energy technologies from Silicon Valley in California could improve the environment here in China, that the architecture of an ancient temple in Xi’an could inspire the design of new buildings in Dallas or Detroit.
这是你们了解到我们共享多少东西的途径。这是你们认识到我们的成功惠及彼此的途径。在北京发现的治序方法可以挽救在美国的生命，来自加州硅谷的清洁能源技术可以改善中国的环境，西安一座古老寺庙的架构可激发达拉斯或者底特律新建筑设计的灵感。