(Written by a former resident of Shanghai)

          Among the crowd of students rushing to get off the streetcar and onto the university campus each weekday morning there is a woman much older than the rest. She blends in, however, as she walks as fast as everyone else, and doesn’t appear that much older until one notices her gray hair. Though others are headed for classrooms, she has come early so that she’ll be in her place at a table in an alcove of the Student Union when her tutor arrives.

          Twenty years ago, she was a physics teacher in Shanghai.  Until her retirement, she’d taught for 40 years.  Her study of English before that had taken a back seat.  She hadn’t liked it.  Her interest was everything in the scientific world.

          After moving to the United States in the 90’s, she found it necessary to improve her English to be able to communicate. She was admitted to a class advertised in a local community center, but discovered that it was too easy for her, and she was referred to Pergy, a nice old lady who specialized in one-on-one tutoring.

          She kept the appointment, and was asked to write a few simple sentences so her English level could be determined.  Though not perfect, her work must have been acceptable for they worked together for four or five weeks. After the summer holiday, they began classes again but then Pergy developed glaucoma, had to have surgery, and decided to give up teaching. Our former physics teacher would have to find another way to learn English.

          When she had attended the class at the community center, she had met a Vietnamese woman who became her friend and suggested that a class at Portland Community College (PCC) should be tried next.

          One evening the two of them went to PCC where she learned about their program.  This time she was asked to take an examination to determine the level of class to which they’d be assigned. There were three levels - A, B, and C – and Mary, the instructor, told her that if a student finished the C level, they’d be able to speak English just like an American.

          She took the test that night, and as a result was assigned to a C level class. Though she was pleased to have done well, she was disappointed that her name had to go on a waiting list.  It wasn’t until the fall semester that she was able to start classes. She thought it was good luck that Mary, who had explained the program, would be her teacher.

          When classes began, she was already working as a volunteer at a bookstore operated by a library in Beaverton.  She was also babysitting her grandchildren from time to time. With the time that was available, however, she studied very hard. Grammar was one of the first things worked on, and she completed all the exercises including many that required sentence construction.

          She still has the note that her teacher wrote on the back of one of the exercises when it was returned to her. It read, “You write very good English!  Please tell me how you learned.  Did you study at a university?  I am very curious!”  It was very encouraging to receive those comments.

          Eight weeks into the 10-week semester, she had to leave Portland to take care of her granddaughter in Texas.  Mary had promised, however, that she could return to classes so she took her grammar book with her and studied by herself.

          About half a year later, she returned to Portland and immediately went to the class again where she found they were taking the final test.  Mary asked her to take it, and when the results were announced, many of the students had passed and were therefore finished with their ESL lessons.  Our former physics teacher was one of them.  She was told that she had a high score, especially in the grammar section.  It was 100%, but the bad news was that she couldn’t take ESL classes anymore.  She begged the teacher to let her study one more semester, but the teacher said that was a promise she couldn’t make, as it broke one of the school’s rules.  She suggested taking the ENL test, as that course provided credits.

          Investigation of the ENL course revealed that there were three parts - listening, reading, and writing -  and each session was two hours.  If she had been able to take the class, she would have been assigned to the second level and would have missed the instruction on listing and speaking, but it was impossible to sign up as she couldn’t afford the tuition.

          No longer having an English class made her very unhappy, and she went to Shanghai, a place she considered her homeland, and stayed there four months. When she returned to Portland, she moved into an apartment house for seniors and lived there all alone.

          The next year was a turning point as she was able to get a one-on-one tutor from the Learning Center at the Multnomah Public Library. For five years, he has taught her at the Smith Center on the PSU campus, the place where she was hurrying when this story began. She has met with him there for an hour and a half three times a week without interruption all that time even though she also took two semesters of English and worked with another teacher for a short time.

          During the first year he taught her grammar, but then she was asked to write about her life in China. She would provide drafts and he’d ask her for detailed information to help in editing the text.  Sometimes she wasn’t satisfied with his interpretations of what she’d written, and after clarifying things, he’d do a second version. After working for about a year, she finished the book.  It included many footnotes written by her tutor.

          Completing that major project inspired her to work toward greater fluency in spoken English. That was a difficult undertaking that is ongoing today. During the years that she has tried to communicate in English, there have been many amusing incidents.

          While shopping one day for a folding cart that she could use in taking groceries home she looked everywhere in the store for one without success.  She didn’t know what to call it and tried to explain what she wanted to several clerks. No one could understand her, but one of the clerks finally brought out a toy-like shopping cart like the kind used in grocery stores, and asked if that was what she wanted.  It wasn’t, and she couldn’t explain what she wanted so she left the store. When she told her friends the story, everyone laughed, but the incident made her very sad.

          At another market, she asked where to go for the flour and the clerk brought her flowers.  It was another instance in which her English wasn’t good enough, and again it provided laughter when she got home.

          Many times during those years, she became discouraged thinking it wasn’t appropriate to try to master English at her age and wanting to give up. Every time this occurred, her tutor understood her frustrations and introduced new techniques to help improve her English. Through his encouragement, she made a little progress, and she continued to study hard.

          Many Chinese people in America don’t understand English. They have problems reading letters, applying for Medicaid, and making appointments with doctors or repairmen. Their children don’t visit them frequently because they’re busy with their own lives, and so they need help.  It occurred to her that she’d had many of the same experiences, and perhaps she could help others even though her English wasn’t the best.

          A few days after that, a neighbor received a telephone bill and saw that the cost had increased.  It appeared that a long distance charge had been added to the local phone bill even though he had used a phone card when he called long distance.  She reviewed the bill and agreed with the neighbor so she called the telephone company.  They agreed to cancel the long distance call, but said he would have to pay the service charge.

          A few months later, the neighbor appeared again and said that he shouldn’t have had to pay the service charge so another call was placed to the telephone company and when the circumstances were explained, all of the additional charge was refunded.

          Another neighbor’s telephone was disconnected, as the telephone company claimed that he owed them a lot of money. The company was in error and the daughter had called several times without success.  So another call was made.  It took almost an hour to explain how the mistake had been made, but the problem was resolved with the company agreeing that he had not been liable for the extra charges.  They reconnected his phone immediately.

          She accompanied other neighbors to an agency for seniors to help translate for them and later became friends with one of the workers.  From then on every time her neighbors needed an appointment, it was given promptly.  She was able to help so much that the worker told her that when she died he was sure that she would go to heaven.  Though she thanked him for the compliment, she said her neighbors were very appreciative of all he did for them.  It was her wish that all of her friends could improve their English so they could be more independent.

          The Chinese people in her apartment building found a tutor who began an English class, and she began attending so that she could translate and explain problems the students were having.  She also typed lists for the class and provided grammar exercises.  It gave her great pleasure to help her friends improve their English, and in the process she also benefited, for the teacher corrected any errors she made in pronunciation.

          During the years she has studied English, many of her friends have advised her to quit, as they feel that it isn’t good for her health to study so much.  She disagrees. English, to her, is her second major, and she likes to think that she’s getting better.

          While I was writing about her, my phone rang. It was my neighbor who asked me to help an American woman who had just knocked on his door. He didn’t understand what she wanted. It was 9:30 p.m.

          I was worried that something terrible might have happened and rushed to his floor. He and the lady were standing beside the door to her apartment, and she said she urgently needed help. She had knocked on the doors of three Americans, but there had been no response so she’d had no choice but to knock on the door of a Chinese man.

          The problem was that she couldn’t set her alarm clock. She wanted it set at 6 a.m., as she was scheduled to be at the hospital for surgery, but she didn’t have the strength in her right hand to do it.

          As I entered her room to set the alarm, I looked around and the thought occurred that she might not have any relatives to help her at such a difficult time. When I said that I could help if she wanted me to, she said that everything was arranged; there would be a car to take her to the hospital the next morning and a housekeeper would take care of her.

          Before I left, she asked for my name and apartment number, as she was grateful for my help.  I told her that I could do anything she needed if she would just ask.  I had set her alarm, but that was such a very small, simple thing to do.  Sometimes we forget the dozens of ways we can help each other.

          I guess I’ve blown my cover; it’s obvious that I’m the gray-haired lady from the bus.  Studying with my tutor all  these years has obviously helped me improve my English, but it has also increased my interesst in helping others - both the Chinese and the Americans.

          Science has always been my first love, but now I like language, too, and have had a little success with it.  There is an old Chinese saying that when drinking water we should consider its source.  My success has come from my teacher’s patient, earnest, enthusiastic instruction.  He has encouraged me again and again, and always advised me to continue when I was disappointed.  I’ve appreciated his painstaking instruction and the giving of his precious time.

          Learning English is very important when living in America.  Although it is difficult, it is very helpful.  I’ve resolved no longer to talk about quitting with the excuse that I regret that I hadn’t learned it in my youth.  Yes, I’m much older now and sometimes forgetful, but I’m going to work hard to learn this second language. 

          Friends in China have written that there was an earthquake of 7.2 magnitude in the Taiwan Straits on December 26th.

          The internet cables on the floor of the sea bed were mangled and communication disrupted between Japan, China, Korea, and Taiwan.

          Many people found that they couldn't use the internet.

          One friend wrote that she tried to sign in to MSN last Thursday and was unable to do so.  All of her colleagues had the same difficulty.  Many websites could not be opened.

          They thought that perhaps their company's LAN was the source of the problem, but when they called, they learned of the earthquake.

          China Telecom said that internet services would not be back to normal until January 15th.

          My correspondent said that when the internet is operational, we tend to think it's not absolutely necessary.  However, when troubles with it loom, our lives become chaotic.  We can't send nor receive email.  We can't keep in touch with colleagues at work.  We lose our main source of information.  For some of us, it's impossible to get any work done.

          She was somewhat philosophical in commenting that the internet makes our lives easier and more convenient, but we're at risk of becoming dependent on it.