Dear 老師,
You may have not heard this but ever since college have started, we miss having our Chinese classes just to learn and be able to speak in Chinese. We miss having to bring mopit and submit our tai kai’s even if our handwriting is a total mess. We miss trying to speak in Chinese and end up laughing as our intonations are wrong and our sentences have probably sounded weird. Although it is often not said enough, it truly hits differently when a Chinese teacher says words that inspires you to do better and to keep striving harder. The way they talk to us with a motherly feel, just like the ones we feel from our ahma when we sit beside her while she talks to us in Chinese.
Thank you for always being patient with us. We know it is already hard enough to teach over 30+ kids in a classroom, especially with a foreign language that most of us are not as fluent with. Thank you for coming up with new ways in order for us to learn the language more efficiently such as when you conduct games in the classroom or give us prizes whenever we are able to answer the recitation questions. I just wanna say, those have truly let us remember and learn more than sitting through a lecture that had half of us lost in the words we don’t understand.
Sure enough, I was lucky to have such great Chinese teachers throughout my grade school and high school days. They were all very patient and had taught me more than what was required in our course outlines such as their life experiences. I know sometimes we find it surprising that a teacher would share something about their lives but for me, hearing them speak passionately about something means that she trusts her students and that there is always a lesson behind her stories. One teacher I will never forget was my third grade teacher. We had the same character in our name and she always showed us how much she cared about us. I consider her as the most unforgettable Chinese teacher I had because not only did she teach well during our class, she also once defended me from another teacher that was screaming at me for misunderstanding my actions. This has happened over 10 years, but that is something that I will forever carry with me.
So to all 老師 reading this, I want you to know that we appreciate you. We thank you for your hard work and patience to teach us. We know it isn’t easy yet you took this path just to be able to teach the youth. We wouldn’t be the people we are today without you. Thank you for being our pillars to our growth. Your teachings and hard work will forever be engraved in our hearts.
谢谢.
