In my practicum year in a junior high school in Taiwan, I met a student. Her mother was Vietnamese and she attended a few years of primary school in Vietnam. She was able to speak Vietnamese and Mandarin Chinese. However, she appeared lacking confidence, feeling inferior because of her family background.
When I was working with her in the counselling room, she told me “Teacher, I cannot read Chinese because my mother is Vietnamese.” She lowered her voice and seemed afraid of being overheard by others. I felt for her so I said: “Really! I have been wanting to visit Vietnam! Do you know how to speak Vietnamese?” She was a bit timid and said “I can speak a little but I can’t write much.” I put on my best happy face and said: “Really! You CAN speak Vietnamese! Awesome! You speak more languages than your classmates!”
Hearing the admiration and surprise in my exclamation, her eyes lit up instantly. As we continued to chat, I sensed she was gradually gaining confidence in her abilities. She volunteered to teach me to speak Vietnamese. She looked very happy despite my unsuccessful attempts to imitate her and her repeated correction of my mistakes.
It was so heart-warming witnessing such a change in how she carried herself. During student teaching, I experienced all sorts of exhaustion, frustration, and disappointment but I was easily heartened by tiny changes I saw in students. I already decided to quit teaching a while ago but now, again, I thought teaching might work for me.
An email from a student
