Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Every night on weekends,
there will be lights on in a classroom at the TEDA Library
where many people who are interested in English learning are getting together
to communicate with each other to improve their English
The teachers of this English Corner are all volunteers,
all come from different places in the world
and all take part in this voluntary service
to share English knowledge with others.
Time flies. It has been 10 years since the beginning of this English Corner.
Though many old friends have left and gone back to their hometowns,
the lights in the classroom are still on
greeting more and more new friends
including Luis Hong Sanchez,
who is the youngest teacher/facilitator here since the opening of the English Corner.
Today, we are going to meet this young foreign teacher.
Luis, would you tell us what brought you to this English Corner at the very beginning?
It was on June 27th,2008, when I got to know my friend Bob after I came to TEDA.
At that time, he was holding this English Corner.
When he told me about it
and asked me whether or not I could assist him in his project.
I was immediately interested, and since I had nothing else to do, I agreed.
Can you give us some details about that English Corner?
In the beginning, there were not as many students as there are now
Maybe 50 people each time
It was much like a class
in that he talked in front while everyone else listened
whenever you wanted to answer a question, you had to raise your hand
How did you like that?
I think it was ok at that time
because there was only one teacher but more than 50 students
It was hard to direct so many people, so his method was reasonable
What did you do at the beginning? Just Sit and listen?
At the beginning, I listened most of the time.
I was too young then
and had no experience in such things,
so at first I could only help him a little bit.
Sometimes he would sit down when he wanted to drink some water,
then I would teach for two minutes.
And then you became a teacher?
Later, when he left for vacation for about two weeks
there was no one to teach
so he invited me to do it, At first I was extremely nervous,
because I had never held an English Corner before.
Had you thought of giving up?
Yeah, I thought of giving up.
But later, I decided to try it at least once.
At first I was very nervous.
But the students at English Corner were very supportive;
they knew it was difficult for me.
Tell us what happened.
I remembered telling them that Bob would not come back before two weeks
so I was there to replace him
Since I had seen Bob’s method,
I imitated it for a while
So you’ve been a teacher there since then?
He left TEDA at the beginning of 2009
After he went back to Canada, I continued to facilitate it.
After a while, some teachers from my school came to help.
I heard that there was a student
who left during your teaching?
Yes,it happened a couple of months ago.
We were discussing in groups,
and maybe because I was tired or absent-minded,
I didn’t talk that well
then one young man,
about 20,
just took his chair and left directly
without saying a word.
It had never happened before.
So I was a little depressed.
What did you think?
Nothing. After the lesson, I talked to him
apologizing that I was absent-minded.
Absent-minded in teaching?
But he explained to me
why he left.
He said he didn’t like that environment with school kids.
we eventually became good friends.
You’ve been serving at this English Corner for almost three years. There must be many memorable stories.
Yeah, a lot of them.
There was one most unforgettable student at our English Corner.
His father had leukemia, and he wanted to study in Beijing for a Master’s degree.
He didn’t have enough money to pay for his father’s medical treatment.
So he reached out to another person in our English Corner.
we held a fundraising concert
with the help of our members who had artistic skills.
How did it go?
Very well. They invited me to be the host, and I agreed. It went very well.
A few thousands of Yuan was raised. It may not have been much, but at least it helped.
And everyone tried to show their love.
What was the most touching part in that concert?
the final speech by that student.
He almost cried.
I finnaly relaxed when the whole concert ended
I think that was my most memorable moment.
How did you feel when you finished the whole thing?
Very satisfied and pleased.
Because I knew that this English Corner was really helping people.
I still remember that Bob opened this English Corner
on the one hand to help students with their English,
but on the other hand to help society develop and advance.
Harmony and integration.
Yes. So it did work and I was very gratified.
I want to thank all the participants, organizers and actors,
as well as all the friends in this activity.
Without your help, there wouldn’t have been such an excellent show.
You have also given me hope to finish my studies and to repay society
as well as my complete family including my dad, mum and me.
Thank you!
Luis Hong Sanchez came to Tianjin Binhai with his family in 2008
When he came here, he joined the English Corner.
Till now, he has been serving for almost three years at the English Corner.
When he first joined the group, he was still a junior high school student.
How did he manage the job so well in teaching English
to learners of different ages and backgrounds?
This starts with his special family who live in so many different countries.
I’m currently a Junior at Teda International School.
I was born in Chicago.
My father is from Hangzhou, my mom is from Colombia
and I went to primary and secondary school in Zhuhai.
So, Luis, your grandmother’s family is in Colombia, are there many other relatives there?
Yes, there are some. Many of my Colombian relatives moved to other countries.
So I have relatives from many places.
I have an aunt pursuing her PhD degree in Holland,
and a cousin studying how to play the violin in Paris. My other cousin is studying biology in Germany.
Do you often go back to Colombia?
As for Columbia, we usually go back every three or four years.
But this year in June, we'll go to Mexico to visit my otheraunt
It is fair to say that China is a long way from Colombia,
about half of the world away. So except for China and Colombia, what other countries have you been to?
I have been to many countries.
Last year I went to India.
Two years ago, I went to a few European countries such as Holland, Sweden, Germany and Luxembourg.
Some years ago, I went to Israel twice.
I’ve also been to America several times,
and to Malaysia and Singapore.
For travel?
Yes, to travel and meet some friends.
You like traveling?
Very much. My family likes traveling.
So many travels fill the life of Luis with stamina and passion,
and an extensive and broad experience gives him a different point of view and understanding compared with his peers.
In 2008, 14-year-old Luis
was honored to participate in the Olympics as a Torch Bearers in China!
He fulfilled his wish of being a torch bearer.
Today, he still gets excited when he talks about that experience.
I know that during the Beijing Olympics in 2008,
you were pretty lucky to become a torch bearer. Tell us something about that.
At that time when we were still in Zhuhai,
we read the China Daily newspaper, English version.
My mom read an article,
which said that it needed 8 foreigners living in China to act as torch bearers.
Later my mom and I decided to sign up,
so we gave them our documents. Many people applied.
Their method of selecting the torch bearers was to offer ballots on the internet. And people voted for their favorite participant.
we contacted the Colombian Embassy in Beijing
and told them our situation. This resulted in two publications in the Colombia daily newspaper
which garnered many votes for me.
The local principal of the my school also knew about this,
so we got some votes from the school, too. At last I became the Torch Bearer.
I was very young at that time.
The others who were selected were all in their 30’s or 40’s.
I was only 14 years old and I was the youngest.
I know you also brought the torch here with you today.
Come on. Show it to us.
Ok. I was No.185,and I passed it on in the Jinggang Mountains.
when you were holding it, what did you feel?
I was pretty excited.
It was cold that morning, and my hands felt cold and I trembled as I ran. But I was still pretty excited.
Tell us why you were excited.
Becoming a torch bearer has been a great honor.
I still remember the time when they first called me
to tell me that I had been selected. I didn’t pick up the phone. My mom did.
She teased me on purpose. When she picked up the phone,
she talked for a while and hung up.
And then she told me: “I’m so sorry that you didn’t get it.”
I was pretty disappointed upon hearing that.
But then she told me that I did get chosen, and I would become a torch bearer. That was very exciting.
when you were holding the torch, did you feel nervous?
Yes,but I also felt proud and happy.
so how did this experience influence or prepare you to be a successful facilitator of the English Corner?
It influenced my life to some extent.
the English Corner takes place at 7pm on Friday evenings, and I’m usually quite tired on Friday evenings.
Many of my classmates enjoy watching movies on Friday nights,
and I have not been able to join them for about four times because of the bad timing.
But I made a commitment when I agreed to facilitatethe English Corner on Fridays. I am most glad I made those sacrifices.
so Luis, what is your dream?
Dream? I want to become a physicist.
Physicist?
Yes! I like physics very much.
This is the subject I’m most good at, so I want to become a physicist.
If I can’t make it, then I’ll become a Physics teacher in high school.
I think this would also make me very happy.
After I transferred to Teda International School from a public school,
I realized that math here is too easy.
Also, students here can only study physics during their senior year.
So I decided that I needed learn physics on my own, self study.
I told my principal about my plans to study independently
He said this would be no problem for me but I would have to work very hard to succeed.
So when I traveled to India last summer, I studied a year’s worth of mathematics all by myself.
Later I contacted Stanford University in the United States
and told them that I wanted to study math and physics.
They sent me some materials.
So I keep in touch with Stanford. I feel really good about this.
This High school student, Luis Hong Sanchez,
is seen by his teachers as a passionate and confident individual.
The students at the English Corner Feel he is easy going and humorous.
Let us all extend our best wishes to this passionate and confident boy to realize his dreams one day.