The Sparkle in Your Eyes
I gave talks at two colleges in Hualien today. Most of the students there for various reasons did not receive the best English education they could get and find learning English a laborious, meaningless task. I went there in the hope that I might provide a little bit of inspiration and encouragement to some of the young people there.
As a (former) World of Warcraft player (who still gets flashbacks of Azeroth), I described learning English as playing an online game, shared with them how I leveled up in the game, and why I find it so fascinating.
During my talks, I caught a fleeting look of interest on their faces, young faces, some shy and timid, some tanned and sculptured. I thought I saw sparkle in their eyes, but I wasn’t sure. Then I read the comments they wrote in the feedback forms.
“Learning English is not as difficult as I thought.”
“I want to start again from the basics.”
“I want to meet people from around the world as well.”
On the long train ride back to Taipei, I kept thinking about what I said and what they wrote. A tremendous sense of satisfaction welled up. I was deeply grateful for the opportunity offered to me. I felt I achieved what I had wanted to do when I accepted the invitations. I was happy that the students didn’t come to take photographs with a face they had seen on TV. Instead they listened, and allowed me to kindle a little bit of sparkle.
It was such a privilege for me.
Dear boys and girls, I wish you all the best. And remember to …
Now you know why I’ve been hanging around the band for 9 years! I only see sparkling eyes there.
The semester is about to come to an end. I seriously doubt whether I have the perseverance to hang on.
And I seriously doubt that you have the heart to quit.
「教練不要走~~~~」 （逃）
認真地說，沒有老畢的世界裡，也許我們可以期待老范的出現。
老師~
我有寄一封很重要的信給你，是關於我的resume，可以麻煩你查收一下嗎？
謝謝你。
Hi Clare
how about coming to my classes to inspire my students (Freshmen English at NTU)?
您好！我是一名國中老師，目前要製作一份多媒體教材參加競賽。我想以”自我介紹”為教學主題，找到您參加澳洲島主甄選所製作的自我介紹影片，相當精彩！希望可以做為教學的範例！不知如何聯繫您！只好冒昧地在您的部落格留言了！不知道您同不同意？(我再上來看回覆，或者麻煩您E-Mail回覆我，謝謝！)