Memorable Moments in Primary School

Apart from the story of being tricked by my sister to holler "I love you" to my detestable cousin, Ah Pong, I guess many of my readers will be interested to know of other similarly embarrassing yet memorable moments. I had to make so many mistakes in the process of attempting to learn English.!

One day, I asked my Primary Three teacher, Mrs. Khoo, why a man was jailed for laughter. "Jailed for laughing?" my teacher frowned, somewhat puzzled. Thereupon I showed her a piece of newspaper cutting. The headline read, "Jailed for manslaughter". My teacher laughed, and explained that manslaughter meant killing without pre-planning.

When I was in Primary Five, my form teacher, Mrs. Lim, pointed out that I had used a word wrongly in my essay, and advised that I must learn to use simple words. In my composition, I had written, "The butterfly was flirting from flower to flower!"

With arms akimbo, Mrs. Lim who was somewhat rotund, roared, "And what does a young girl like you know about flirting?" The class laughed. I felt my cheeks burning. Docile as I was, I dared not suggest to the teacher that probably my letter "l" looked like "r". Hence it should be "The butterfly was flitting from flower to flower!" After this incident, the dictionary became my constant companion and best friend.

Ah! The complexities and charm of the English tongue.! Today at 54 years and 36 days old, I am still enthralled with this beautiful language, and am still trying to master it!!

Gan Chau