Life Is Full Of Surprises
An introduction for my new friend from America, Tina.
Having been learning English for all these years without anybody to talk with
in this language, my hope of having a free conversation or two with some native
English speaker has grown stronger and stronger. It had remained a pipe dream,
though, until a week ago when I learned that one of my local friends had been transferred into the No. 1 Middle School in Jinhua, which actually has a bunch of
foreign teachers.
“I am not about to let such an opportunity slip through my fingers,” I said
to myself.
I had tried calling David a few times, but not only was it pricy and inconvenient, it was also very odd to have talks through some kind of telephone line, especially when your English’s not that good.
A few days later, I managed to get a day off from my grunt work of physical checkups, and hit the road, even without calling my friend first. Thanks to my friend, I soon met an English teacher, who was a Chinese as well but spoke very good English. After lunch we met with a young lady, Tina, an Indian American looking healthy and vigorous. Tina was learning Chinese, and I found it very interesting that she seemed to have difficulties with what we Chinese thought were simplest Chinese tones. Teaching others teaches yourself; the old saying is especially true when you, as a Chinese, teach a native English speaker Chinese!
We certainly had a very good time. Despite the fact that it was nearly the first time for me to have a free talk with someone from an English-speaking background, I didn’t feel much nervous. Well, I did have butterflies in my stomach for a while, but as an English teacher, Tina was sure experienced in handling people who spoke English as their second language, and before long my heart stopped
pounding and got back to normality. Time passed all too quickly. I tried to cut in and talk as much as I could, only soon to find it was already time to get
back to the salt mines.
Two days after I returned, to my delight, wanting to have a better idea about
me and my way of studying English, and the local custom, Tina suggested a visit
to me and the small town in which my family and I live. Talk about a golden opportunity to practice my spoken English! I gladly accepted the suggestion, and insisted on picking her up though she insisted she was able to take the trip alone by bus. A friend in need is a friend indeed; :P I asked Cao, a friend of mine
, who’s been very supportive for my English study and been interested in English himself, to drive his small van and have the trip together. Cao gladly agreed
.
It was drizzling, but it didn’t stop us from having the enthusiasm to talk about almost everything. I learned that Tina was a vegetarian, which was really beyond our imagination, and that she was majored in journalism. True! I later found she could read aloud the lessons in the textbook I have been using, Lai shixiong’s Advanced American English, extremely well. I was sure swept off my feet, :P knowing that not every native speaker could read as fluent and professional. I introduced Tina to my family, and we, except Tina, first had a special lunch without any meat or fish. :） I was glad Tina enjoyed the lunch, saying the
eggplants was the most delicious she’d ever had. It was also amazing to see how well Tina was able to wield her chopsticks! She’s indeed a friendly and easy-going person. Having been listening to American English for so long, and hardly having such an opportunity before, I just tried to speak to her as much as possible, as well as to make Tina speak as much as possible. :D Sometimes I acted
as an interpreter for Tina and Cao. To my surprise and delight, I found I was
able to do most of the translation without any question. You know something, folks, speaking English does differ a lot from writing it! When chatting with others face to face, you’ve got to be responsive, (you have little time for chewing the cud) and be quick on the uptake. For those learners who glue their faces
to English problems and exercises day in and day out, though, I can assure you that few, actually no, native speakers would give you four or five answers to choose from – as all those exercises do - when you shoot the breeze with them.
Not only could Tina read very well, she proved to be an inspiring and patient
teacher as well. We talked about whatever that came to our minds, topics ranging from English study to lifestyle, from the weather to her students in China. I
was encouraged that our conversation went very smoothly though at times I did have to think for a while before I could reply, or sometimes I’d have to request
her to repeat. And…between you and me, guys, I registered an ID for her on this forum and hopefully she’s willing to join us as well because as a dedicated teacher, she sure spends most of her time on her students. I hope she’d stay in
China longer.
Let’s welcome my (and our as well) new friend, Tina, from Chicago!
Sincerely,
Panpanpan.