…in which he reads at the library.

I’ve set up a little reading program at the library here in town. A bit more than a month ago I began building a small collection of English children’s books. Because of my fond childhood memories they’re mostly Dr. Seuss books. I bought some online from here in Taiwan, but I found most of them on eBay. I had them all sent to my parents’ home in North Carolina where my dad kindly offered to repackage them and send them here. The books arrived in excellent condition. I went to the library to try and set up a time I could come in and read. I walked into the library and I was instantly impressed. The atmosphere was quiet, but comfortable and inviting. There were some plants and many places to sit and read. It wasn’t too large. In that respect I’ve probably been permanently spoiled by the Upper Arlington library that I grew up with right down the street. My dad always made sure I knew how great it was. Eventually I got it; the message wasn’t lost on me. But the MingJian library is nice too. It has a children’s room with bright colors and plenty of windows to give it an open feel. There’s also a large class room that I’ve seen them do art classes in. But the large room that you see when you first enter is what really surprised me. Not everything is nice here, not everything is attractive in appearance. I was glad to see how much care had been invested there.

When I first went to the library, there were two women sitting at the front desk. With only my English children’s books and my meager Chinese I tried to convey what I wanted to do. It actually came out fairly well. I was able to explain that I wanted to read my books and have kids listen. I said that I would like to do it on Saturday. After that, things got a bit fuzzy. We were getting into details and I couldn’t understand the librarian’s questions. I told her that I had a Chinese friend at work who could help me and asked if we could call later. We exchanged phone numbers and I left. It really went as well as I could have expected considering it was all in Chinese. Later, Mia (in the read and grey t-shirt in a previous post) gave them a call and we got the details sorted out. I would come to read on Saturdays at 2:00.

Saturdays are not a day off for me (sorry Meredith). I have class from nine to noon and then I have the library reading at 2:00. I’ve also added another reading activity that I look forward to discussing in another post. I used to have just two hours of class, but I picked up another hour because of a disagreement between a foreign teacher and a Chinese teacher. The difference between two hours of class and three hours of class may not seem substantial. However the way you feel coming out gives evidence otherwise. Two hours was a really pleasant way to wake up on Saturday mornings. It kept me from sleeping in too much and wasting part of the day. I would come out of those two classes ready to get some more work done. Bagels and I would go for a long walk or I might type a letter or a blog entry. But now, after three classes, I take a nap, a break, a rest. The third class isn’t so much more unruly than the other, but I come out feeling like I’m running on fumes. Then I find something to eat while I walk Bagels and I’m off to the library by 2:00. Saturday is a busy day. If it sounds like I’m complaining, then I should also add that I’d much rather have it as busy fulfilling day than otherwise.

I’ve done my Saturday sessions at the library three or four times now and I’ve fallen into a habit of arriving precisely at 2:00. I always try to arrive a bit early, but I haven’t gotten it to work out that way yet. The manager of the library greets me at the door and he escorts me back to the children’s reading room. He speaks some English, but I get the sense that he can read it better than he can speak. He always stays for the session with the kids and he really helps by getting into it. He isn’t the only adult. I’ve attracted some parents who really want to encourage their kids and I think they want to practice some too. The manager calls the kids to gather and I pull out the books I’ve brought for the day. I can usually get the kids to stay for two books, but sometimes, even that is a stretch. From now on, I’m going to open with Dr. Seuss’s ABC book as a warm up, with a bigger book to follow. Just like my elementary school teachers so many years ago, I try to read the books holding them up high so everyone can see the pictures. If there is a particularly funny tongue twisting text I like to read it very fast. Everyone seems to get a kick out of that. Then I go back over it slowly. If it isn’t too complex I’ll try and explain the complete idea for the page with a heavy reliance on the pictures. If it seems too difficult, I’ll pick out some key vocabulary that I can point to and have the kids (and adults) repeat. Then I reread it to transition to the next page.

In my mind the primary goal of these sessions is to familiarize my audience with the sounds of the English language. I can’t count the number of times growing up that I knew the sound of a word before I knew the meaning, the proper usage. I got all those sounds from the books that were read to me and I kept a valuable collection of those sounds. Over time, my formal and informal education helped me organize that collection. At the very least, that’s what I hope to achieve with these kids. I’m not expecting anyone to spontaneously learn English without formal education. My hope is that my readings will aid their education by allowing them to grasp and retain English more quickly and more readily.

The pictures here are from my first session. It went pretty well. I was very pleased with the number of kids that came. Since then I haven’t had quite as many kids, but I think I’ve had at least a couple more adults. Thanks again dad, for helping me get those books. Everyone who is reading this, thanks for checking in on me.