<font color='black' size='2' face='arial'><font size="2">Number two.</font><br>
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From: Jaime R Vergara <pinoypanda2031@aol.com><br>
To: editor <editor@saipantribune.com><br>
Sent: Fri, Aug 22, 2014 2:54 pm<br>
Subject: August 26 for ST<br>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><b>Shou Wang</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">"Hang on to hope" is the name of the school where
I last taught children how to handle their oral English. They were thought to be too young to learn on
their own. I remember parents anxious to
get their children ahead of the curve so they rammed English lessons down their
throats so they can qualify to enter the bilingual schools like <i>Yu Chai</i>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">At first, the parents were belligerent about the no-textbook
approach their child's new teacher followed.
After all, they invested heavily on many aids provided by the
Cambridge/Oxford/Princeton Press related publications that might have been
hastily copied by enterprising shops in Shanghai and Beijing. Besides, learning meant suffering. Parents came prepared to sit through the hour
session to make sure their child paid attention. The children were so fear stricken with stern
Mom's look in the class that their brain shriveled under the pressure of sessions. One mother even interjected herself in a class
when her child did not answer fast enough, and responded as a matter of pride
to a question for her "baby".</div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">I allowed parents to remain in the classroom, ever looking
for the opportunity to hit "two birds with one stone" (an unfortunate
metaphor) until I reminded myself that my priority were the kids; the parents, only
a distant second. Not surprisingly, when
the children were left to themselves with the teacher, the learning process
accelerated. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">Our method was simple.
Students listened to what was uttered, and repeated them so they can
hear their own vocal chords making sounds.
We shunned reading; the focus was on hearing, so I got them to listen <i>(ting) </i>and repeat <i>(chungfu)</i>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">For a start, we focused on what they heard publicly. We had ample materials. They listened to English songs but they did
not repeat the words since mimicking is a gift and a talent. Not many claimed the ability to sing, the
first balloon to be punctured since everyone can utter a sound.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">One song used was familiar, about butterflies <i>(hudie)</i>, sang first in Chinese and
later, in English. There were three such
songs. The translations were not
standard Oxford, but a Chinese singer sang them with "Chinese
characteristics"! That's when I
came up with the Deutsch <i>englisCHe </i>word
to denote the British Isles' mixed Celt, Norman, and Angle tongues, now getting
global massaging including that of the Chinese (CH) with its own characteristics.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">The trick is to get the students to pronounce words, letting
them hear themselves do so. They needed
to hear themselves repeat the word. This
seemed to be a step skipped in the classroom as the intent was usually to
"understand" meaning; they were taught how to use the dictionary,
write and recognize words, but for all practical purposes, retained the Chinese
characters, and forgot the English word save when it was memorized before
taking tests. We unearthed other songs in
the popular media, particularly from animated movies. I will get a lot of mileage from <i>Frozen </i>in the coming months to come.<u></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">A recitation that I used with motion patterned after the <i>tai-chi </i>without bothering with meaning,
is about a watermelon, <i>Yi ge da xi gua</i>,
familiar to local audiences. We start with
breathing, deeply and continuously, <i>sans</i>
stress or strain. The same goes with the
movement of muscles and bones, where the stressed chop and jab, usually associated
with martial arts, takes gracious form in fluid body muscle and bone movement,
and heavy soul (breathing). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i>I have one big watermelon.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i>I slice it in half.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i>One for you, and one for me.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i> </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">The motions are simple. We stand with feet slightly apart, children
facing teacher, beginning with a sustained deep inhaling through the nose and
exhaling of breath through the mouth while arms are down; palms facing inward
are then lifted to the middle of the body trunk, palms now crossed and turned down
and out to the top of the stretch and swinging outward to make the form of a
big "O" ending with palms resting together in front below the stomach. This was done while loudly reciting the first
two lines above.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">The "slice" part began where the big "O"
ended, the palms facing up, the right atop the left were raised just to the
level of the chest, turning it so both faced in and then out until both palms reached
the top of the stretch and with palms together like the universal gesture of
prayer were brought down to cut the front air straight down in half, palms
pointing to the ground together.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">The "belonging" part had the hands with limp
wrists raised back, the left above the right and shoving a cloud to the side,
and doing the reverse on the right side.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">It was an uncomplicated exercise, with the students mouthing
their English words to gestures they already knew on a ritual they already
understood. They listened and repeated,
a lesson we wanted them to internalize for learning to learn on their own. Lessons
advanced to describe sense experiences, express feelings, articulate thoughts,
and declare acts. It followed a natural
process. That simple!</div>
<br>
<div style="clear:both"><i>j'aime la vie</i><br>
<a href="mailto:pinoypanda2031@aol.com">pinoypanda2031@aol.com</a><br>
<div><i>yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today. participate. In all, celebrate!</i></div>
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