多多还是个孩子

　　多多还是个孩子——老师回想当初……

　　Back then things where different. We had that little kindergarten on the first floor close to the main gate of our building complex. There was always brillian t sunlight where the trees and flowers grow outside. When I first met Donald he was three going on four. His mother had tried to send him to other places to s tudy but nowhere they were able to control his temper because he screamed in a h igh pitched voice, coughed until he vomited, his body shaking violently, face da rk red and perspiring. Sometimes he ran around, panicking like a wild animal in confinement, surrounded by humans. So all the other kindergartens told his mot her to take him back. Donald was the same when he came to us but my wife earned his trust after patiently sitting with him for many hours every day. Gradually his crying became less. He became more and more interested in learning new thi ngs until of course he remembered he had forgotten to cry.

　　Although he was very different for the first two or three weeks, he was still ab le to learn. It took him less than a week to memorize two English words for eve ry single letter in the alphabet. When he wrote his math exercises, I explained everything in English and he was able to grasp the meaning learning English and math at the same time. After the first month Donald adapted to this new way of life quite easily. Still being a couple of months away from his fourth birthda y, he meticulously watched the clock every afternoon at 3:00 p.m., asking what t ime it was every minute. He knew exactly that he would go home at four o’clock . When his mother was late he felt betrayed and argued with everyone over“the broken promise.”?

　　Donald's consuming hobby was the English chat room on the Internet. Once in and having an ongoing conversation, one of the other parties asked him how old h e was.“I'm five years old”came the reply. Nobody believed him.“Get out of here, jerk, and don’t come back!”was the only reaction he got. Donald was quite sad about that. Should he have lied?

　　A nanny, Mrs. Wang had taken care of Donald until he was three. He loves everyt hing about her. Once he had a big fight with his daddy because he said he wante d to be a doctor and make a lot of money so he could take care of Mrs. Wang and her family. That was his position and he wouldn’t back down from it. Every night before sleep he reads one chapter of The Bible - in English! He told me he cries then, because he can't be with Mrs. Wang.

　　Donald is six now. I often tell him to write down what he did during the weeken d, or what his plans for the future are or any other subject. Though his grammar and spelling are far from perfect, it is no problem for him to make himself un derstood and write a complete report. Sometimes, when his classmates can't f ollow or don' t know an answer, Donald stands up, face dead serious, announci ng his famous“you are so stupid”. Of course at other times he's just a kid, pretending to be a great kung-fu fighter. And he loves to do chores, always ho ping there are some little things he can help the teacher with.

　　当我第一次看见Donald,他出现在我幼儿园位于一楼的旧址，周围有灿烂的阳光、树木和小花园；那时候他已经快要4岁了。

　　他的妈妈曾试着送他到另外的幼儿园，但是他哭叫、咳嗽，直到呕吐；猛烈地哽咽，满身大汗脸都红了。他很害怕，觉得自己像是关在笼子里被人参观的动物一样。

　　Donald刚来到我们的园里也差不多是如此，我的太太Jill每天耐心地陪他坐在一起好几个小时，这才得到他的信任。Donald的眼泪逐渐变少了，对于学习新事情变得越来越感兴趣，这让他终于忘了哭。

　　尽管Donald在头一二周的适应期和别人很不同，他仍然能学习。字母表里面每个字母有2个英文单词，他不到一个星期就记住了。当他写数学练习时，我是用英语来解释的，他能够同时掌握英语和数学的意思。

　　经过了一个月以后，Donald适应这种新的生活方式。4岁的他每下午3点以后，开始盯着时钟,一分钟问一次：“现在几点了?”他知道4点整就可以回家。如果妈妈迟到了，他会感到被欺骗了，并且向每个人抱怨：“妈妈不守诺言。”

　　Donald很喜欢打电脑上网，在网站的英语聊天室和人对话。有一次网友问他是多大,Donald诚实地输入：“我5岁。”没有人相信他只有5岁，“走开，说谎的人别再上来……”Donald只得到这样的反应。为了这件事，Donald那天相当伤心，难道他应该说谎?

　　Donald的保姆王太太，从他初生开始照顾他直到上学。Donald喜爱任何有关于她的事情。有一次他和爸爸起了一场争辩，因为他想要成为一位医生，赚的钱都要用来照顾王妈妈和她的家庭，这是他认为最重要的任务。每晚他用英语读完一章《圣经》，睡觉前他会哭，因为他不能和王妈妈在一起。

　　Donald6岁了。我让他写下周末期间做的事情、未来的计划或是别的题目。尽管他的语法和写作不是很完美，但是不妨碍他的表达，他可以写出一份完整的稿子，让人了解他的想法。

　　当然啦，他毕竟还只是个孩子。有时候他的同学不能跟着回答。Donald会站起来，脸色严肃大声宣布他的名句：“真笨!”他时常爱假装自己是武功高强的侠士，总喜欢去帮老师做些琐碎的小事情。

    关键字：英语  教育