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My husband made a comment about my junior high article after he had read my blog. He thought that the way I described my past may give people the wrong impressions that I was a rebellious student. (See post note) Well, I wasn’t. I might be rebellious in spirit, but in fact, I was a good student with just a touch of free spirit of my own.
As a student, I was always polite and respectful to my teachers. I conformed to the school authority and the expectations of others’. I worked hard, but I also struggled to keep up with others. It was not easy to keep my free spirit high in that environment. I was always helpful and energetic at school. I had my group of good friends and certainly didn’t fall into any “wrong crowds”. Seriously, I might have terrible memories of how I struggled to fit in academically in my class, but overall, I did all right at school. I just had my doubts and questions about the education. At that age, we could not do anything about it!
I think I was frustrated with the learning environment and the educational framework that confined students in such a pressured environment to the point that I simply wanted to escape. The education structure did not allow us to learn interesting topics, nor to be inspired to learn in a positive setting. If I did not have high enough grades in academics, I was not considered as a good student. That was so wrong! Now I always try my best to relate my personal experiences to make learning fun. If I do not have fun teaching a lesson, that means my students are not having fun learning it from me either. Learning should be fun and we should have fun learning! (Ha.ha.ha, too many “funs" and too much fun! Having fun is the key.)
I had my most memorable experiences with the marching band in junior high, which fostered my passion for instrumental music. I had a great opportunity to learn different musical instruments and to expose myself in a music appreciation environment. I played a trumpet in the school marching band. Our band performed at so many events and formal occasions. I sang and conducted in a few choir performances. I was also involved in many other extra curricular activities. I entered countless speech competitions and poetry recitals, and won many as well. Another important thing was that I entered the world of English songs and started to develop my love for learning a new language during my junior high years. (See Post Note 2)
One thing about my learning a language is that I am pretty good at “imitating” (or pronouncing) sounds. My university professor gave me 96% for my Spanish Conversation Level 1. (If I am not mistaken, I skipped quite a few Spanish classes. Maybe that's why I don't remember much of my Espanol.) I remember people used to think that I was probably raised in a family from Beijing because my pronunciation of Chinese Mandarin was so perfect. Whenever people make comments like that, I would usually show off my “imitating talent” again to prove to them that I can speak perfect Taiwanese-style Mandarin as well. (Hahahahaha) Well, maybe 500 hundred years ago my ancestors did come from somewhere in southern Mainland China, but my gene pools were pretty much developed from the country side of southern Taiwan, the City of Chia Yi.
Anyway, comparing to some of my friends at junior high, I think I was pretty good at English pronunciations. I was excellent at interpreting expressions when speaking in this foreign language. I applied all the skills I learned from the formal speech presentation to speak in English. Thanks to my Grade 8 homeroom English teacher who also taught us well. I was not the highest achiever on all the paper-and-pencil tests, but I sure enjoyed reading and learning this new foreign language.
Now you might ask me, if I had so much fun involving myself in these interesting activities in Junior High, then why on earth did I recount my past memories in such a negative way? Don’t get me wrong. I love and cherish all these experiences which I was fortunate enough to get involved. The education system in the past, however, was very different from the system in the Western culture. Although all the experiences I had accomplished seemed to be exciting and would be considered as great learning experiences in many people’s views, those experiences were not really valued as much importance in my junior high then. Extra-curricular activities were often equated with extra-distractions from the daily academic routine. I was constantly caught between my passionate yearning for these activities and my guilty involvement in them, and I surely felt suffocated and wanted to break free.
Anyway, any experience I learned, good or bad, has helped me shape my path for the future and grow older and wiser as an individual. I don’t blindly believe that all the educational principles and philosophies in the West are the golden rules for a perfect educational system. Frankly, I don’t see that at all. After seeing the evils of the two educational systems from the East and the West, I certainly learned to use a lot of my past experiences to help me form my own judgment and become a better teacher. Let’s just say that I always cherry pick the better of the two systems in hope that I will make a difference to inspire a few young minds.
Post Note:
1. My husband complained that he would like to ask my mom for his money back because he is very disappointed that I was such a rebellious child. (This is our family joke. My da-pong husband always claimed that he paid my Mom and Dad 15 Canadian dollars years ago to import me from Taiwan. He told our friends that that he even had the receipt to prove it, and he also claimed that I have a postmark on my back stamped Made in Taiwan. Whenever he says that, I simply reply, “Sorry, no refund after 30 days.” Don’t be alarmed. We both have very twisted sense of humour.
2. My sisters and I used to follow Donny and Marie Show. We even started to write our own English songs just for fun. We were young and foolish once! (Sorry, Sis!)
As a student, I was always polite and respectful to my teachers. I conformed to the school authority and the expectations of others’. I worked hard, but I also struggled to keep up with others. It was not easy to keep my free spirit high in that environment. I was always helpful and energetic at school. I had my group of good friends and certainly didn’t fall into any “wrong crowds”. Seriously, I might have terrible memories of how I struggled to fit in academically in my class, but overall, I did all right at school. I just had my doubts and questions about the education. At that age, we could not do anything about it!
I think I was frustrated with the learning environment and the educational framework that confined students in such a pressured environment to the point that I simply wanted to escape. The education structure did not allow us to learn interesting topics, nor to be inspired to learn in a positive setting. If I did not have high enough grades in academics, I was not considered as a good student. That was so wrong! Now I always try my best to relate my personal experiences to make learning fun. If I do not have fun teaching a lesson, that means my students are not having fun learning it from me either. Learning should be fun and we should have fun learning! (Ha.ha.ha, too many “funs" and too much fun! Having fun is the key.)
I had my most memorable experiences with the marching band in junior high, which fostered my passion for instrumental music. I had a great opportunity to learn different musical instruments and to expose myself in a music appreciation environment. I played a trumpet in the school marching band. Our band performed at so many events and formal occasions. I sang and conducted in a few choir performances. I was also involved in many other extra curricular activities. I entered countless speech competitions and poetry recitals, and won many as well. Another important thing was that I entered the world of English songs and started to develop my love for learning a new language during my junior high years. (See Post Note 2)
One thing about my learning a language is that I am pretty good at “imitating” (or pronouncing) sounds. My university professor gave me 96% for my Spanish Conversation Level 1. (If I am not mistaken, I skipped quite a few Spanish classes. Maybe that's why I don't remember much of my Espanol.) I remember people used to think that I was probably raised in a family from Beijing because my pronunciation of Chinese Mandarin was so perfect. Whenever people make comments like that, I would usually show off my “imitating talent” again to prove to them that I can speak perfect Taiwanese-style Mandarin as well. (Hahahahaha) Well, maybe 500 hundred years ago my ancestors did come from somewhere in southern Mainland China, but my gene pools were pretty much developed from the country side of southern Taiwan, the City of Chia Yi.
Anyway, comparing to some of my friends at junior high, I think I was pretty good at English pronunciations. I was excellent at interpreting expressions when speaking in this foreign language. I applied all the skills I learned from the formal speech presentation to speak in English. Thanks to my Grade 8 homeroom English teacher who also taught us well. I was not the highest achiever on all the paper-and-pencil tests, but I sure enjoyed reading and learning this new foreign language.
Now you might ask me, if I had so much fun involving myself in these interesting activities in Junior High, then why on earth did I recount my past memories in such a negative way? Don’t get me wrong. I love and cherish all these experiences which I was fortunate enough to get involved. The education system in the past, however, was very different from the system in the Western culture. Although all the experiences I had accomplished seemed to be exciting and would be considered as great learning experiences in many people’s views, those experiences were not really valued as much importance in my junior high then. Extra-curricular activities were often equated with extra-distractions from the daily academic routine. I was constantly caught between my passionate yearning for these activities and my guilty involvement in them, and I surely felt suffocated and wanted to break free.
Anyway, any experience I learned, good or bad, has helped me shape my path for the future and grow older and wiser as an individual. I don’t blindly believe that all the educational principles and philosophies in the West are the golden rules for a perfect educational system. Frankly, I don’t see that at all. After seeing the evils of the two educational systems from the East and the West, I certainly learned to use a lot of my past experiences to help me form my own judgment and become a better teacher. Let’s just say that I always cherry pick the better of the two systems in hope that I will make a difference to inspire a few young minds.
Post Note:
1. My husband complained that he would like to ask my mom for his money back because he is very disappointed that I was such a rebellious child. (This is our family joke. My da-pong husband always claimed that he paid my Mom and Dad 15 Canadian dollars years ago to import me from Taiwan. He told our friends that that he even had the receipt to prove it, and he also claimed that I have a postmark on my back stamped Made in Taiwan. Whenever he says that, I simply reply, “Sorry, no refund after 30 days.” Don’t be alarmed. We both have very twisted sense of humour.
2. My sisters and I used to follow Donny and Marie Show. We even started to write our own English songs just for fun. We were young and foolish once! (Sorry, Sis!)
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