1990s: Spring Water Family

Chapter 237 So you found an apprentice for your uncle?

"Uh-huh."

Grandma Gu found it agreeable and nodded in satisfaction.

"We were being presumptuous, and we won't do it again."

Wang Meng and his wife were extremely embarrassed and kept apologizing.

"You two should go out first."

Lin Xiyu waved her hand, signaling the two to leave: "Leave the child here. I'll give him a test first. Come back in an hour."

Okay, okay.

"We won't go far; we'll wait outside. Just call us if you need anything."

The couple didn't dare to delay, gave their son a thumbs-up, and quickly turned and left.

"Wang Bo, is that right?"

Seeing the two leave through the gate, Lin Xiyu turned around and waved to the chubby boy: "Come here, come to the teacher."

Wang Bo glanced back at the gate and, seeing that his parents had really left, revealed a restrained and uneasy expression.

"Don't be nervous, come here."

Lin Xiyu had worked as a teacher in a vocational school and was used to dealing with all kinds of students; she was very approachable.

Guided by her kind words, Wang Bo unconsciously moved closer to the pomegranate tree.

"Come, sit down."

When he came closer, Lin Xiyu took a small stool from beside her and handed it to him.

Wang Bo kept a distance from her and then sat down about a meter in front of her.

Lin Xiyu smiled and looked him over. She noticed that he sat upright and looked respectful. Although he didn't dare to meet her gaze, his trembling eyes betrayed his nervousness. Overall, he gave her a good first impression.

"Could you tell your teacher what it feels like when you're learning English?"

Having made a good impression, she was in a good mood to continue the conversation: "For example, what are your thoughts on the English language? Do you like it? Do you find memorizing vocabulary difficult? What difficulties do you encounter in using words and constructing sentences?"

"Uh."

Wang Bo looked nervous and hesitated to speak.

"How about this"

Lin Xiyu gently guided her: "Teacher, if you feel that any of these points applies to your situation, just nod? Okay?"

"Ah."

Wang Bo's eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously.

Lin Xiyu rationally analyzed: "Based on teachers' daily teaching experience, there are usually several reasons why students do not learn English well."

"The first obstacle is psychological. People think they are not talented enough to learn English and they have a negative self-image."

"Secondly, there is a lack of environment. There is a lack of immersive language environment and daily communication. English is only learned from textbooks."

"Another issue is cultural alienation. People feel that English is not their native language and they won't have many opportunities to use it in the future, so they lack the motivation to learn it."

-

"Uh-huh."

When Wang Bo heard the third point, his eyes lit up, and he nodded involuntarily.

Lin Xiyu smiled gently and continued to probe: "The above is an analysis from a psychological perspective. Now let's talk about the difficulties encountered in actual learning."

"In the teacher's experience, the most common problem is rote memorization of words, ignoring their actual usage in sentences, which leads to low memorization efficiency."

"Another problem is fragmented learning. When memorizing vocabulary, you jump around in your thinking, without integration or coherence. The most typical example is that you memorize the word 'television' one day and then jump to 'pork' the next. There is no connection between the two words. Memorizing the first word does not help you remember the next one at all."

-

"hey-hey."

When Wang Bo heard the word "pork," he gave an awkward laugh, clearly recalling a real-life experience he had gone through.

"It seems the teacher was right; she hit the nail on the head."

Lin Xiyu continued to communicate with him: "So next, can you tell the teacher what practical difficulties you have encountered in the learning process? What are your real feelings? Or can you take out your test paper so that the teacher can understand your actual mastery of the subject of English?"

"Oh"

Wang Bo hesitated for a long time, but still didn't say it himself. Instead, he took out the test paper.

"72 points?"

Lin Xiyu unfolded the test paper, glanced at the score, and smiled knowingly: "Not bad, better than I expected."

Wang Bo glanced at her, and seeing that her expression didn't seem to be lying and she didn't show any disdain for him, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your grades remind me of my little cousin."

To alleviate his academic pressure, Lin Xiyu deliberately mentioned her relatives: "During the summer vacation, when I first started tutoring Nana, her grades were worse than yours. Her English score was barely passing, only 61 points."

"When I first saw her test paper, to be honest, I was a little stunned. I didn't understand why she did so poorly."

"Through a detailed analysis of the test papers, I discovered that the difficulty of the current English exams is not commensurate with the amount of knowledge students learn in school every day."

"In other words, the exam is too difficult. There is a big gap between the knowledge taught in the textbooks and the difficulty of the actual exam questions. It is difficult to get ideal results by relying solely on the knowledge learned in school."

-

"Uh-huh."

Wang Bo's eyes lit up again, and he nodded repeatedly.

"This is also the direct reason why your English grades plummeted after you transferred from the countryside to the city."

Lin Xiyu expressed her opinion tactfully: "So, you don't need to be hard on yourself. It's not your fault. Have confidence in yourself. My little cousin was able to improve her English grades in one summer vacation, and so can you."

"Junior high school English is not difficult. As long as you master the right learning methods, no subject can become your stumbling block. Once you get over this hurdle, your grades will improve by leaps and bounds, and you will return to the top of the class."

-

"Teacher, can I really do it?"

Inspired by her words, Wang Bo finally uttered his first complete sentence after the teacher and student met.

Nothing is impossible.

Lin Xiyu continued to stir emotions: "If you want to, you can do it."

"I think!"

Wang Bo looked very excited.

"What are you thinking about?"

Lin Xiyu deliberately guided him to express his thoughts: "Could you be more specific? The teacher doesn't quite understand?"

"think"

Wang Bo nervously rubbed his hands and stammered, "I want the teacher to teach me English."

"It's not impossible for you to have a teacher."

Lin Xiyu didn't answer him immediately, but continued to probe: "Answer me first, do you like learning English? What motivates you to learn English?"

"Uh?"

Wang Bo became dejected again, hanging his head and remaining silent for a long time.

"This child is so quiet."

Grandma Gu watched anxiously from the side, wishing she could answer for him herself.

"I don't believe that someone who doesn't love the subject can learn English well."

Lin Xiyu shook her head with feigned regret, deliberately provoking him: "Since you can't answer this question, then forget it. Let your parents come in and take you home."

No, I won't leave.

In desperation, Wang Bo blurted out, "Please, teacher, don't send me away."

"Answer the questions if you want to stay."

Grandma Gu, worried for him, couldn't help but interject, "I don't like English, but I'll study it hard."

Seeing Lin Xiyu's serious expression, Wang Bo feared she might really kick him out, and gave a trembling promise.

Why don't you like it?

A look of inquiry flashed in Lin Xiyu's eyes, and she intuitively felt that the real reason was not simple.

"When I first transferred here."

Sure enough, the next second, Wang Bo lowered his head again, a hint of dejection flashing in his eyes: "My Mandarin isn't standard, it has a regional accent, and my classmates always laugh at me."

"I knew it!"

Grandma Gu suddenly realized: "His parents are such eloquent people, their child shouldn't be so dull. So that's the problem."

"Some students are like that."

After learning the details, Lin Xiyu tried to comfort her: "They may not have meant any harm and were just having fun, but it can have unpredictable consequences for the people involved."

Have you told your parents about these things?

Grandma Gu also changed her mind and felt quite sympathetic towards Wang Bo's plight.

"No."

Wang Bo shook his head.

"No wonder they were so anxious and helpless."

Grandma Gu sighed sadly, and a few more complaints about his parents arose: "This couple is too careless. They are only concerned with making money in business and do not care much about their child. If it weren't for your keen sense, Xiyu, and finding out the reason, they would still be in the dark."

"Once you understand what's going on, things will be easier to explain."

Lin Xiyu understood the situation and smiled with relief: "Actually, this is not difficult to solve. As long as we treat our hometown dialect as our unique characteristic, we can turn a disadvantage into an advantage."

"How will this transformation proceed?"

Upon hearing this, not only did Wang Bo's eyes light up, but even Grandma Gu perked up and looked over with great interest.

Have you ever heard of Shandong Kuaishu (a type of storytelling performance)?

Lin Xiyu did not disappoint them, giving an unexpected answer.

"Absolutely."

Grandma Gu quickly answered, "Who from Shandong hasn't heard of it!"

"Not always."

Lin Xiyu smiled and shook her head, then looked at Wang Bo: "Shandong Kuaishu is not as popular as it was a few years ago, so children probably don't know much about it."

When Wang Bo saw her looking at him, he indeed looked somewhat bewildered.

"No way, kid."

Grandma Gu looked surprised: "You've never even heard of Shandong Kuaishu?"

"No."

Wang Bo was embarrassed and blushed deeply.

"Pity."

Grandma Gu sighed with regret: "Such a wonderful art form is almost extinct."

"It's not that they've completely disappeared."

Lin Xiyu rationally analyzed: "It's just that people's entertainment methods are different now than before. Teenagers are more addicted to online games and romance dramas, and many artistic traditions are facing the dilemma of being lost."

"That's true."

Grandma Gu swallowed back the words she was about to utter, "Games are misleading young people," because her grandson owned a game company.

"You were talking about studying, how did the conversation turn to Shandong storytelling?"

Gu Bin was working in his study, but he could still hear everything that was happening in the courtyard through the window.

"I'm thinking, should I take Wang Bo to meet my aunt's husband?"

Lin Xiyu smiled with some hesitation when she saw him come out of the study.

Why would you want to see him?

Grandma Gu looked surprised.

"What Wang Bo needs most right now is not to memorize vocabulary, but to practice his oral expression skills."

Lin Xiyu frankly expressed her thoughts: "The main reason he doesn't like to talk is that he lacks self-confidence and is afraid that his classmates will laugh at him. If he wants to improve, he needs to start by changing his mindset."

"You want your uncle to teach him Shandong fast-paced storytelling?"

Gu Bin reacted quickly and immediately understood her intentions.

"Guessed it right."

Lin Xiyu smiled and gave him an approving look.

Is Shandong Kuaishu (a type of storytelling performance) useful for learning English?

Grandma Gu still couldn't understand.

"The worst thing you can do when learning English is to be a 'mute' (instant English)."

Lin Xiyu patiently explained to them using her own teaching experience: "To achieve a qualitative breakthrough, you must combine listening and reading. Listen and read for half an hour every day, strengthen your memorization of English texts, and continue for half a year. You will see significant results. Your sense of language, vocabulary, and fixed collocations of grammar will all be integrated through memorization. These knowledge points are the key points of the exam. Mastering these key points will be more than enough for junior high school students to cope with the exam."

"Are listening and reading exercises that important?"

Grandma Gu understood, and looked at her granddaughter-in-law with admiration: "I must say, our Xiyu is quite the expert when it comes to teaching English. No wonder she is a top student from East China Normal University."

"Grandma, you flatter me."

Lin Xiyu smiled modestly, then looked at Gu Bin: "What do you think of my idea? Is it feasible?"

"Ask me, and I'll just say one word: Yes!"

Gu Bin enthusiastically supported her, saying, "It has to work. My wife is right. We support her unconditionally."

"Since you also think it's feasible, then it's decided."

Lin Xiyu's confidence soared: "Let's go to Aunt's house now and talk to Uncle about this."

"Going right now?"

Gu Bin raised an eyebrow and glanced at Wang Bo: "Aren't you going to ask this student's opinion?"

"I want to learn."

Unexpectedly, Wang Bo answered very quickly, almost without thinking.

"Ah."

Gu Bin chuckled and joked, "So you've been wasting your whole afternoon here trying to find an apprentice for your uncle."

"This is what they call a story full of coincidences."

Lin Xiyu was pleasantly surprised: "I hope my uncle will not refuse me because of my status as his niece."

"He's overjoyed to have apprentices come to him."

Gu Bin was quite certain: "Anyway, he's retired and has nothing better to do at home. Having a young apprentice to train is one thing, but whether he succeeds or not is another matter. Just treat it as a bit of fun."

"Let me call my uncle first to see if he's home."

Lin Xiyu acted swiftly, immediately picking up her phone and dialing her aunt's number.

-

It's better to be lucky than early. My uncle went fishing in the southern mountains with his old colleagues early in the morning. When the phone rang, he had just walked in with a bucket of small fish.

"You went out all day and only caught this kind of thing?"

The aunt glanced at the tiny fish, which were no bigger than the palm of her hand, curled her lip in disdain, and reached out to take the fish bucket from her.

Uncle chuckled, not taking Aunt's words to heart. Hearing the phone ring, and seeing Aunt had gone to the kitchen, he didn't even bother to change his shoes before coming to the living room to answer it himself.

"Uncle, are you home? I need your help with something."

Lin Xiyu was very happy to see her uncle at home and directly expressed her purpose.