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Students in Hong Kong always find English learning difficult and tremendously boring. A few years ago, I was one of those students, too. Nevertheless, my Form Two English teacher, Mrs. Chan Wong King Shan, changed my attitude towards English, and now I find it joyful.
From Primary One to Form One, English was one of the subjects I disliked most. Although the vocabulary taught was easy enough, it drove me mad when I was asked to spell the words. Grammar was also my biggest enemy. Tenses – always mixed up. Prepositions – used correctly by chance! I was definitely desperate.
Not until Form Two did the miracle come. When Mrs. Chan first entered the class, I could already feel that she was professional. I was quite nervous. Later, I discovered that her lessons were very light-hearted. Unlike other teachers, she did not just ask us to recite the textbook every day and have regular quizzes. Instead, she encouraged us to read a book every week, according to our standard or ability. We could choose whatever types of readers. At first, she suggested I read the books that only have 20 to 30 pages. But as time passed, I could switch to higher levels, reading some detective stories. Through this process, I learnt a lot of vocabulary and expressions. I found that learning English is no longer difficult.
Giving interesting lessons is also a criterion of a good teacher, and she fulfilled that. I remember that when she taught ‘reported speech’, she played a game with us. She passed a secret message to a student, and then he told his neighbour what Mrs. Chan had said. The one next to the ‘neighbour’ passed the message on to the designed person. Although we were naughty, and always changed the ‘message’, we benefited a lot and could use reported speech confidently.
Mrs. Chan was also a very caring teacher, who didn’t mind answering questions outside class. As I mentioned previously, I lacked confidence in my grammar usage. One day after school, when I asked her the uses of several tenses, she gave me detailed explanation and even taught me something additional. Besides, she also taught me how to deal with interpersonal relationships and pressure.
With English improved day by day, I also had more confidence in other subjects, and will not fail due to misinterpretation of questions and even not understanding the questions.
She really had a significant role in my academic pursuit. What I can do to thank her is to obtain a distinction in the HKCEE English Language.