Inspiration Words: Trying and Potential
September 6th
Well, here we are, about ready to start another semester! I love the beginning of the semester. Having a long summer holiday is always fun, but going back to school with all those new books and new classes is the best. I’m also so happy to be with my roommates again! We had a big dinner together the day we all came back, and we talked for such a long time! It was great.
Claire (I’m going to use our English names so I can practice them) got a boyfriend over the summer, and we are all so jealous, but we are also excited for her. I guess we won’t see her as much on the weekends, because she will be going out to see him. They are from the same hometown, but he goes to another college, and since we can’t leave our campus during the week, she can only see him on the weekend.
Tomorrow is my first class with my new foreign teacher. I’m so sad we don’t get to have Samantha again. We had so much fun in her class, and she was really nice. Our new teacher’s name is Anne. I think it’s a little easier to say (but I also think that my English is better than before). I asked Samantha if she knows her, and Samantha said they just met. I think it will be great, except this class is reading instead of speaking. It seems like we might not have a speaking teacher this year.
September 7th
Wow, Anne’s class is so hard. She didn’t smile as much as Samantha does, and she uses a lot of big words. Some of them I couldn’t understand, and she talks fast, so I didn’t have time to look them up in the dictionary.
At the beginning of the class, she told us she had talked to Samantha about us. Of course, I want to know what Samantha said. I really, really hope it was good things. Anne only told us that Samantha said we worked hard, and she thought we have a lot of potential. (I had to ask Anne about that word after class.) I wanted to know so much what Samantha thinks of us, so I tried really hard to write down the sounds, but I also ended up missing the next several sentences Anne said. I hope it wasn’t too important. Anne explained that potential means that we have the ability to do lots of great things. I still didn’t understand, so she had to explain it again and change some of the words, but I finally got it. Her pronunciation is really hard to understand! But I also remember how hard it was to understand Samantha at the beginning. I think it will get easier with Anne too. At least, I hope it does. As my Chinese teacher taught us last semester, “No pain, no gains.”
We didn’t play any games today, and Anne had us use our books, even on the first day of class. Most of the students didn’t have books yet, because they didn’t know which book to bring. I had checked the schedule, so I had my book, and I had to share with the people next to me. It was complicated and took a while for everyone to find someone with a book who would share with them. Then we were supposed to read an article about windmills. It was not very interesting, and there were a lot of words I didn’t know. I’m glad I had my book though, so I could write the translations for the new words. After we read the passage, we had to answer some questions. I got all of them wrong except for one! It was terrible! I felt so ashamed. Anne also seemed disappointed that most of us couldn’t answer the questions correctly. I feel like I’m letting Samantha down. I thought my English was so much better, but I can’t even answer these questions!
After class, I heard several of the boys saying they were probably going to skip the next class. It’s too hard for them. Not me. I never skip class. I am going to learn this. Remember, Becky, “No pains, no gains.”
~Becky
November 29th
We had Anne’s class today. I’m almost ready to give up. It’s still so hard. The passage today was about a weird fish I’d never heard of before. There are still so many new words. I feel like no matter how many new words I learn, I never learn enough. I’m trying; I really am, but it just doesn’t seem possible.
Today, there were only four students in class. I think Anne was mad, so I tried really hard to read the passage and understand, but I just couldn’t do it. I think Anne was trying to be nice to us, but I’m having such a hard time understanding what she says. I miss Samantha. I miss our spoken English class.
I’m not even sure how I’m going to use these English words. I wanted to take the IELTS exam so maybe one day I can study abroad, but I don’t think I will ever learn enough words to be able to pass it. Maybe I should just do business here in China, but then what’s the point of learning all these English words? Is it even worth it to keep trying?
~Becky
December 3rd
I saw Samantha yesterday, and we decided to eat lunch together. I used to eat with her sometimes, but since she’s not my teacher anymore, it’s harder to see her and make plans. When she saw me, she said, “Hi, Becky!” and I was so happy she remembered my name! I was able to talk to her about so many things, and now I remember how much I love learning English.
She told me this class is more difficult than her spoken English one. Anne told her about how hard the book is, and when I showed the book to Samantha, she agreed that it was difficult. She flipped open the book to a passage about climate change and read it for a moment. Then she pointed to the word, geoengineering. “Do you know what this word means?” she asked. I looked at the Chinese definition I had scribbled in the margin last week. “Yeah, it’s talking about a big way to solve the problem of global warming.” She said, “Wow, I don’t even know what that means. I don’t think I’ve ever even heard that word before!” That made me feel so much better!
I told Samantha about my motto “No pain, no gains,” but then Samantha said I’m not even saying it right. It should be “No pain, no gain.” I laughed for a long time. I will have to remember the correct way to say that.
Samantha also said Anne is really happy to have me in class every week. That made me feel good. Sometimes I also want to skip the class like most of my classmates, but if it makes Anne happy to have me there, I can keep going. And now Samantha and I are going to have lunch again tomorrow so I can keep practicing my spoken English! We also talked about my other classes and some things about America. I love learning about America, and I really hope I can go there one day!
Ok, I am going to go study now! I am going to remember those words Anne gave us for homework, so I will be able to understand the next passage. I can do this! No pain, no gain!
~Becky