Zhang Rongqi is an old grandma who lives near Ganshi Bridge in Jinan, Shandong Province. Every morning she gets up at 5:30 for the English lecture and first thing she does is turn on the radio. She will listen and read all the way through her routine of washing, dressing, sweeping and making breakfast. And so she starts every day as an “English Day.”
Before she retired, Zhang was a medical worker in Jinan Railway Hospital. Now she lives alone and her favorite pastime is her studies. Her husband passed away when she was just 49 years old and she brought up their children on her own.
So she’s led a really busy life. Once her children had grown up, she gradually picked up her studies again. Grandma Zhang has a good command of geography, history, literature and Beijing Opera. She has made a study of that epic Chinese classic A Dream of Red Mansions. Her interest in English language began when she was 65 and has now become one of the most important parts of her life.
At first she depended mainly on English language programs on radio and TV and she followed every program there was. She also read lots of books.
To help her commit her studies to memory, she developed her own unique way of setting the texts down in writing. In this way she managed to memorize a good vocabulary. She would also listen to tapes and record her own English speaking voice to help polish her pronunciation.
Then grandma Zhang heard of Jinan’s English corner. For five years she went along almost every Sunday. Conspicuous among the youngsters with their fluent spoken English, she studies hard alongside them. The young people enjoy talking with her in English and call her “English grandma”.
To further improve her English, grandma Zhang is tutored by a college student once a week. Grandma Zhang is so immersed in her English that sometimes when she goes to buy her vegetables she might well startle the market trader by asking, “How much?” in English without thinking. And it’s no surprise if she talks to herself in English when she’s out walking or busy with the household chores.
Recently she was delighted to have a good conversation with some Canadians. But she feels her pronunciation is still not so good and that she still needs more practice.
The word has spread about grandma Zhang learning English. Many people have felt quite moved by her endeavors and have expressed a willingness to help her. The Jinan International English School invited her as VIP student and provided her with a free English course. And now she finds she has more and more opportunities to practice her English with foreign experts.
Grandma Zhang hopes to speak English really well by 2008, the Olympic Year, and introduce Shandong to foreign visitors in English.
(China.org.cn by Chen Lin, February 10, 2003)
