The girl was strangely quiet. Butterflies created havoc in her stomach and that might be the first time she remembered being this nervous. Looking up tentatively from her work on the desk, she peeked at another girl at the teacher's desk, under going an English oral test. It was standard one and this was the first time the girl was experiencing such a thing.
Every one who went before her didn't seem to have any trouble. They said the questions were simple. Surely it could not be bad at all, thought the girl. She jumped a little when her name was called. The teacher was unsmiling as the girl took her seat by the teacher's table.
A book was laid in front of her and she was asked to read out loud. The girl complied. Inside, she was glowing a little for she knew all the words and it really did not seem that bad at all. The teacher then proceeded to the next section of the test. She put a ruler on the table and asked the girl, "Where's the ruler?" The girl frowned, not understanding the question at all. The teacher repeated herself, and when she got no answer, and again.Clearly frustrated, she put aside the ruler and proceeded to describe a situation which was another part of the test. "One day, if you see your brothers playing water in the bathroom, what will you do?" There seemed to be a perpetual blockage lodged in the girl's throat. She didn't know what to say. Words failed her. She didn't understand what she was supposed to do with the question. How to answer? Should she answer?
Completely losing her patience now, the teacher repeatedly the question loudly, scaring whatever wits were left in the girl. The girl could not complete the test. She didn't know how. Without even trying to understand what was wrong, the teacher ordered the girl to stand in front of the whole class and no one was allowed to speak to her. The punished girl stood there, completely and utterly embarrassed. She had no idea what has happened.
Um... I sometimes wonder what has happened to that girl who stood in front of the whole class, with eyes welling with tears and feeling her first small exposure to public humiliation.
8 comments:
This is somewhat nostalgic. We had oral exams like this back then? I had almost forgotten!
Looking back, I am just wondering if I could possibly surpassed my teachers in primary school in terms of knowledge. Omg my ego! Whatever it is, some of them really impacted me. Some I'd really wanna chuck exercise books back at them. Hehehhe.
back then, we were stupid. we couldn't possibly be smarter than them. but now, definitely! (huge egos bumping, haha..) in terms of maturity tho, i think we have more sense back then compared to some of them. remember the one that couldn't handle us and was forced running and crying out of class?
little demons, aren't we all?
I was a total idiot back to my school time. Lol, I was quite lost during those oral exam but luckily my teachers weren't that strict on me and there's always a second chance. --w--
we're all idiots once upon a time. this is call growing up. =)
Hahaha I had forgotten about it if you hadn't mentioned. I missed those days. I feel like buying a math book and do janjang and those bulatan questions again. Math those days were so easy and fun.
Oh btw, I realised something lately. I am lacking the ability to read and understand stuff fast. It takes a long time for me to read and even longer to understand and before grasping the concept, my concentration's gone.
What should I do? I think I'll blog on this. Perhaps I should force myself to read more.
what's janjang? LOL! seriously, what's janjang?
problem absorbing.. for me, i find myself having the problem of coming up with good words and good phrasing. i can write casually like blogging, but when it's serious stuff like reports or presentation, i lack the ability to present my idea in a more professional way.
i have to read more too.
Janjang aritmetik and janjang geometric. It's called progression in english I think. I haven't done that since high school. It's the ones where they give us a series of numbers and we look out for a pattern. It's fun.
I think I'm quite fine with academic words but most of the time I do not really bother. I think the key thing is to know what words you shouldn't use and try to replace them. Passive voice always sound more formal as well.
One thing about formality is that you might lose attention from audience easier. When words are slightly more casual, audience can engage in it better. Unless you're speaking to a peer of academics.
I read your blog this morning - I've done my reading of the day. Hahaha.
reading my blog is not exactly improving ur reading quality, u know. haha... but thank you for the honour.
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