奇速英语

飞进深山的“燕子”

Chen Yanzi has spent almost all her time at a primary school in a village in Shanxi province over the past three years.

She spent three hours getting to the village the first time on rural(农村的) roads from her home in downtown Jincheng, 100 kilometers away. Before leaving for the village, she was a little nervous about it, which she knew nothing about.

“I had never been there and I didn’t know what it was like. I didn’t know what my students would be like,” she said. “However, when I walked into the classroom and saw the Chinese words ‘Welcome, Miss Chen’ written by students, I felt quite warm.”

She started with six students, all in different grades. She taught math and English, as well as music, art and physical education. She tried to understand the needs of each student.

At the beginning, when she started an English lesson for Grade 6, she found the students were too timid to speak up. So when she prepared for the English class, she began adding some interesting activities to make the students more outgoing. After class, Chen would share information about health and daily life to help improve their ability(能力) to care for themselves.

She also told them interesting stories about what was happening outside the village to help them learn about the country and the wider world. “I will never regret spending my early teaching years with children in the village,” she said. “I got a lot of love and happiness here.”