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Great coach

Nothing much fazes me. But my eyebrows involuntarily shot to my hairline when I saw Day’s Chinese spelling list. (Yes it has to be Chinese) 

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I mean. Come on. The boy is 6. He has not officially started school and I, who have undergone 12 years of Chinese education, cannot read some of the words in his spelling list . (Admittedly I am crap but still.) I would have let him sink or swim. 

I saw it as the teacher trying to give the kids some exposure, and while I might have spent some time going through the words, I thought it was more important to get him to speak and like the language. 

However, KK rose to the challenge. In true problem-fixing man style, he strode into Popular and purchased a Besta electronic dictionary. The sort with a stylus which allows you to trace the correct order of strokes, and which very helpfully vocalizes words you write in in case you don’t know how to read it. 

“It’s more for us lah,” he intoned, when I protested the $400 transaction. “So we know how to read and write the words.” 

He sat down with the boy and what do you know? Despite the expression below which seems to state the contrary, Day loves his ting xie sessions, which happen every night, after his bath. IMG_1455 

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Their tools: The Besta and a timer.  KK essentially goes through every word on the Besta, getting Day to follow the screen and write out the strokes correctly, gives him five or 10 minutes to revise on his own, when the bell rings, he starts the ting xie. If he gets a wrong word, KK gives him another five minutes to revise, gives it to him again. 

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Reward: Plants vs Zombies (one level). KK is a magnificent coach. I am not given to hyberbole, but even in the days when he trained the varsity softball team and various other hostel sports teams, he was patient, clear and firm. The sort of coach who does not force or terrify you, but challenges you in a good way. Day has scored full marks for his ting xie ever since. KK, seeing his son for the first time as a student, states: “He is very easy to teach.” 

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* Day's ting xie Can the boy speak Chinese smoothly in a conversation? Does he love the language per se? Can he understand a Chinese programme? I doubt it. But hey, one small step at a time.

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