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CHRISTMAS
by Myra Muriel Go
It was the day of the Christmas program, and
Teacher Helen was not feeling well at all.
Teacher Helen had been teaching English at
the same school for twenty years. She was
forty years old and forty is supposed to be a
very good age to be for any teacher. That
means a teacher would have enriched many,
many lives.
Still, Teacher Helen was very unhappy,
having grown increasingly disappointed with
her efforts at teaching English in the last five
years.
Even if she doubled her efforts at explaining
the rules of subject and verb agreement, she
still got sentences that read: The poem are
about, or, I think and felt or, Rizal and her
writing; and even if the only strategy she
hadnt used was to dance the tango to
induce her students to read, she ultimately
got reactions like, Teacher? Did I like Kipling?
Duh, I dunno, I never kippled before. Is that
like bungee jumping?
Or worse, Shakespeare? Is he the new guy
with the X-men? The one with the vibrating
laser beam?
Teacher Helen couldnt figure it out very well,
could not say where exactly the problem lay.
Although her students only spoke
smatterings of English they seemed to
understand much of it; specially films, or the
NBA games. And they correctly pronounced
all the signature brands of clothes and
colognes. They also liked to celebrate the
American festivals like Valentines and
Halloween. Her students used English mostly
to express their thoughts and feelings on
those days, even though their efforts left
something to be desired:
I Labs Ya. Dya Labs Me 2? Or better, Will ya
be may Balentine? Ur cool!
Yes. Of course
Some of my friends have better paying jobs
abroad. DH-Tutors. Have their own houses.
Teacher Helen didnt feel as good as she did
a while ago. She fell into deep thought,
interrupted at last by her physician who
arrived, hounded by a large group of medical
reps waving Christmas packages.
Merry Christmas, Helen, not feeling well this
season?
Teacher Helen seemed far away, managing a
wan reply. Can you believe this?
She whispered, a little lost.