Moon Festival

Mother called me the other day, asking me whether I wanted to go back to Taitung for the Moon Festival. I said no because I didn’t plan to do that but will probably go back the week after.

Since this traditional holiday is one of the three most important festivals for Taiwanese, I sure would like to spend it with my family. But time has changed; it is no longer a must-do-it thing for many people nowadays.

I went to an interview this afternoon at a college. They were looking for English teachers that could help their students to improve English learning. In the interview, I felt sad because our English education is totally a flop! Many college students can’t even write a decent sentence, let alone a good essay. It always makes me wonder what went wrong in our educational system and language pedagogy.

Is it really that hard for people to acquire a second language? Chinese is regarded one of the most difficult languages in the world. If a person is capable to learn this language, it is, to me, not supposed to be that hard to learn another language. What do Chinese speakers’ brain activity look like when they are learning English? Is it the same as other non-native speakers? What about comparison to native speakers?

I am not saying what kind of mission I’m taking up myself; at least it is my goal to find out a better way to help Asian students to learn English with more ease and efficiency. I believe there must be a way or two to delve into this seemingly mysterious phenomenon and do some research.

In the end, I hope learning is to reach a “full circle”, a perfect symbolic representation of the Moon and a reunion of family. Learning should make people become better and smarter and happier, just as spending a relaxing holiday with your close ones…