Language for Life (1)

Just after graduating from the Institute of Education, we were asked to opt for the schools we would prefer to teach in. At that time, I was a hostelite at the YWCA Hostel, and hence opted for a school which was within walking distance. I was asked to teach at River Valley High School at River Valley Road.

On the first day of meeting the principal, Madam Leong, she told me that she had asked the Ministry to send her the best English teacher to help boost the standard of English in her school. I suddenly thought that the Ministry must have made a mistake for many of my classmates were more outstanding than me.

I remember that night I had to kneel and ask God to help me to help my students!! "How do I sell my subjects to students who are very strong in Chinese but weak in English? How do I make my lessons interesting and motivating?"

It was also frightening to have seven classes with 35 students in each class. "How am I to know them all? How can I help them?" These were thoughts running through my mind. I was inspired by Catherine Lim's "Little Ironies of Singapore". The short story, "The Teacher" caught my attention. It was imperative for me to understand the students' needs and to help them not only to improve in their language but to also improve their perspectives and attitude towards life.

Hence my idea of "Language for Life" and not "Language just to pass the O levels".
The students were asked to write a minimum of one article a week. However they could also write more if they could on any topic that stirred their hearts and minds. I promised to reply with helpful comments, and if they should write in poetry form, I would also reply in poems. I understand that writing is not easy and often shared my haiku with them :-

The Pain of Writing
Like a mother in labour,
Proud delivery!

Once a witty student wrote in his journal, "Sorry, Ms. Kam, I did not deliver a baby today. Had a miscarriage last night!" and another student wrote, "An invisible piece of writing is written here" and I replied "Invisible 8 stars are given for your wittiness!" 8 stars were the maximum I gave for excellent articles.

One day I was quite alarmed by a student's title, "I hate my brother!" He continued to rant about his anger with his mother for always scolding him and blaming him when things went wrong. How he wished the little brother was never born; how he wished he could tear him into pieces and even cooked him in curry!" After pouring out his anger into four pages of writing, he suddenly wrote, "Mm... maybe I'm to be blamed. I'm not a good older brother myself. I did not show good examples. I did not earn his respect. (Ms. Kam said respect must be earned and not entitled to just because one is older)." His final sentence was quite touching, "Yes, I think I love my little brother after all". I gave him the maximum 8 stars. Language for life!
Language for reflection! Language for creativity!

As a man thinks so will he be! Hence, it is somewhat disturbing to me to read about students feeling embarrassed to get "just" 4As in the top Junior Colleges. Have these youngsters become such great perfectionists that they do not allow room for some little setbacks. They must remember that the it is human beings that are sitting for exams and not mechanical robots. As such there are elements like health, emotional and spiritual state of being and hence room should be allowed for less than perfect performance. We could not always expect everyone to be in top form all the time. Even as one of the top agents, I cannot always expect to clinch every deal. Sometimes I recognise I have to lose out to the faster competitive agent! If I do lose, I am not going to pull my hairs in frustration. I will try to be better the next time and learn from my errors. I will count my blessings and name them one by one.

I must thank papa for his wisdom. He had instilled in me the love for language and reading not by pressuring me but by making me realise how interesting life could be when one learns by reading. Papa himself was a great story teller and his stories were not only gripping but were also very educational. His Chinese language classes were always interesting as he encouraged students to think and to reflect. I had taken papa as my role model.

I was very happy one day when a student said to me, "Madam, we all did well in our Literature and English exams, yet we did not feel as if we had to slog at it." Learning becomes a pleasure when one enjoys it, and is not obsessed with results!

It was very fulfilling when I met my ex-student, Sharon, while I was having dinner at a cafe one evening. I almost could not recognise her as she had bloomed into a beautiful young lady. Sharon shared with me how her father became a bankrupt and the family struggled. I was touched when she told me that she remembered my lessons and was determined not to let circumstances deter her from her dreams. She worked and studied simultaneously and carved a successful career in Human Resources. "I told myself that happiness must come from within me and not from circumstances and often I poured my thoughts into writing just as you had taught us."

Writing for mental health. Writing for reflection! Language for problem solving! Language for life!

Gan Chau