There are several teachers in my life whom I regarded previous and important. However, my middle school English teacher is definitely my most influential one.
Growing up in a small town, I was not exposed to English until my middle school time. As we know, when you learn a new language, the basics counts a lot, among which speaking and pronunciation is especially important. Once you got used to certain way of speaking, it is hard to change later. I really appreciate my English teacher then. She is a Chinese. She paid so much attention to my pronunciation and speaking. I still remember vividly how much she stressed on differentiating the pronunciation of “/e/” and “/æ/”. For the latter one, she stretched her mouth horizontally so much that I felt like it was going to tear. She made me do the same. She helped me through every way in speaking, which is often considered the hardest for Chinese English learners.
It did pay off. My speaking has always been among the best among my classmates as I continue my journey learning English. I eventually ended up attending a Foreign Language Studies University and studying abroad afterwards. My American friends would often appraise me for my relatively authentic speaking. I would tell them that I had a great first English teacher. And she is a Chinese. I am lucky to have met my middle school English teacher in my life.
Bridging cultural differences 