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How many teachers are there in your life? Did they make you more confident or make you feel like a loser? Did they ignite your passion in learning, or make you feel abandoned by the study? I have learned from over 100 teachers since I was a student. I’ll share my stories with three of them.
Hope that my story with my 3 different teachers can remind you about your admirable teachers or encourage you to find such great teachers. Those great teachers have given us an illumination of the world beyond the horizon— beyond the knowledge itself.
“Paul, you’re beating around the bushes again. Please…please…please answer my questions directly!!! If you keep acting this way, I bet you can’t get 5.5 if you take the IELTS.” My Philippine English teacher, Brenei, constantly complained this to me. One day, I retorted, “I don’t think you can do any better than me, for I was always the top student in English subject back in middle schools and college.”
Brenei ignored my pride, and replied, “My IELTS score is 8.5. I’ll show you the certificate.’” I was totally shocked by this unbelievably high score, for the most professional translator I know in China got only 8, and many English postgraduates didn’t get 7.5. Brenei continued, “And my writing is also 8.5. Let’s look at your writing. Yours has inaccurate words and erroneous grammar. Your lack of clarity detracts from your competent communication”
I got the treasured part from Brenei: the clarity.
“Arthur, these speakers are really boring. All they talk about is chicken soup.” I whispered to Arthur, my English teacher in Guangzhou, in an English speech contest. Arthur replied to me in Wechat immediately, “Their speeches are not well organized, with no reasoning process in it. Maybe that is why you felt bored.”
With the speeches as an example, I understood what Arthur used to say in his classes,“The TOEFL and SAT exams aim at evaluating the students’ reasoning ability. If the students can talk about the topic in a logical way, then usually they have unique ideas on it. This may also attract the evaluator’s attention. Who would feel bored in the face of an organized mind?”
A higher level of clarity— more than just express myself clearly, but also organize my thoughts in a logical way, that is reasoning ability.
“Yes, Laurence, I love the words and sentence structures very much. That is also why I like literature. They are fun.” I exclaimed this to my English teacher from Britain, Laurence. Hearing this, Laurence put forward a question: “Paul, what is the difference between literature language and that of textbooks and newspapers?”
“Literature words can be funnier… Hmm… this question is a bit hard for me…” I seemed frustrated, and Laurence informed me, “Literature language is creative. It reflects the writer’s imaginations. The literature interests you because of the fabulous imaginations—the intriguing plots, the vivid metaphor, and the diverse personality.”
With reasoning ability, I can organize my thoughts. To let my imaginations soar up, I need creativity.
Clarity, reasoning ability, and creativity, I am lucky to discover these with my teachers. My teachers taught me things beyond the knowledge itself. Do you have such great teachers that help you know the world beyond the horizon? If you have, please value them. If not, please keep searching, don’t settle.
