When I was teaching remedial English, I normally keep mum about my 6 years of elementary Chinese education. Once I built the rapport and earned the students' respect, I would choose the right time to reveal my background.
Usually when one student complaint that he was sent to a Chinese medium school while all his sisters were sent to National schools, I would tell them it was so with me too. All my brothers were sent for English medium education because they would have better prospects in getting well paying jobs. It was very hard to break into the English speaking world, especially when all my neighbors and close friends then were dedicated Mandarin speakers.
To all the incredulity displayed on my students' faces and their claim that I was talented in languages, I would reveal my failures in English and the National language in Grade 5 and 6. I admit I was talented in Chinese essay writing. But until today I have not picked it up since I dropped that in college. My command in English came from close to 40 years of sheer hard work.
Since I was 12 years old I started a discipline of doing something every day to improve my English. For instance on Monday I would write an English letter to one of my pen friends. On Tuesday I would read aloud the newspaper article I chose and worked on understanding on Sunday. On Wednesday I would make use of my Interact Club (a school affiliation of Rotary Club) friends' good language skills by saying out sentences made with new words I learned that week, their laughed their heads off more often than not. But usually among three of them they corrected my few sentences for conversational use. On Thursday I would visit my neighbor and watch an English TV program, probably a movie or a serial. On Friday I would read a simplified classic not more than 100 pages. On Saturday I would keep my transistor radio on throughout the afternoon and night listening to Australia Broadcasting, BBC or the Voice of America. Finally on Sunday I would force myself to read the two pages of New Straits Times where the editorial was printed. It would take hours as I need to check the dictionary many times.
The rationale behind all that goal setting is:-
Monday -- writing
Tuesday -- oral (reading aloud)
Wednesday-- Verbal (using words in the correct context)
Thursday -- video (image and audio)
Friday -- reading
Saturday -- audio (exposing myself to accents of foreigners)
Sunday -- increasing vocabulary from a serious publication
To this program of improvement I studiously stuck to for at least 8 years. Of course there were days that I could not do what I was supposed to do because of scheduling. I would make a note and cover the shortfall on a public holiday if possible. Otherwise I added what I neglected to my time-table during school vacation. Through these years I was active in the library, the literary and debating club as well as the student government.
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