Chapter 237

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

"Mm-hmm."

Grandma Gu listened with pleasure and nodded in satisfaction.

"We were the ones who were rash; it won't happen again."

Wang Meng and his wife were inexplicably embarrassed, apologizing profusely.

"You two go out first."

Lin Xiyu waved her hand, signaling the two to leave: "The child stays. I'll give him a test first. You come back in an hour."

"Okay, okay....."

"We won't go far, we'll just wait outside. Call us if you need anything......"

The couple didn't dare delay, made a 'go for it' gesture toward their son, and hurriedly turned and left.

"Wang Bo, is it?"

Seeing the two exit the Door, Lin Xiyu turned back and beckoned to the little fatty: "Come here, come to Teacher."

Wang Bo looked back at the Door, saw his parents had really left, and revealed a constrained, uneasy expression.

"No need to be nervous, come on over."

Lin Xiyu had been a teacher at a Secondary Vocational School and was already used to dealing with all types of students; she had great affinity.

Guided by her kind words, Wang Bo's feet moved involuntarily, gradually drawing closer to the Pomegranate Tree.

"Come, sit down."

When he came near, Lin Xiyu took a Small Horse Stool from beside her and handed it to him.

Wang Bo kept a Distance from her, took it, and sat in a position one meter in front of her.

Lin Xiyu looked at him with a beaming Smile. Seeing his sitting posture was upright, his bearing respectful, though he didn't dare meet her eyes, his trembling Gaze betrayed him — he was still somewhat nervous. Overall, her first Impression of him was not bad.

"Can you tell Teacher what your usual experience is when studying English?"

With a decent Impression, she was in a good mood to continue the Topic: "For example, your view on the English language — do you like it? Is memorizing vocabulary strenuous? What difficulties do you have with word choice and sentence construction?"

"Uh."

Wang Bo's Expression was tense; he just nodded obediently, not daring to speak.

"How about this......"

Lin Xiyu guided patiently: "Teacher will speak. If you feel a certain point matches your situation, you just nod your head? Okay?"

"Mm."

Wang Bo's eyes lit up, and he nodded his head vigorously.

Lin Xiyu analyzed rationally: "Based on Teacher's daily teaching Experience, students usually do poorly in English for the following reasons."

"First is a psychological barrier — believing one lacks talent, can't learn English, self-negation."

"Second is a lack of Environment — lacking an immersive language Environment, no daily communication, English stays only on the textbook."

"Third is a sense of cultural alienation — feeling English isn't one's mother tongue, won't have many chances to use it in the future, lacking learning Motivation."

——

"Mm-hmm."

Hearing the third point, Wang Bo's little eyes brightened, and he couldn't help but nod.

Lin Xiyu smiled Gently and continued probing: "The above was analyzed from a psychological angle. Now let's talk about the actual difficulties encountered in learning."

"In Teacher's Experience, the most common is memorizing vocabulary — rote memorization, ignoring actual Usage in sentences, leading to low memory efficiency."

"There's also fragmented learning — jump-style thinking when memorizing vocabulary, no integration or coherence. The most typical example: the previous word memorized is Television, the next jumps to pork. There's no Connection between the two words; mastering the first word gives no memory help for the next."

——

"Hehe."

Hearing 'pork', Wang Bo gave two awkward laughs, clearly associating it with his own real Experience.

"Looks like Teacher was right — already hit the nail on the head......"

Lin Xiyu continued communicating with him: "Then next, can you tell Teacher what other actual difficulties you've encountered in the learning process? What real feelings? Or can you take out your test papers so Teacher can understand your actual grasp of the English subject?"

"Oh....."

Wang Bo struggled for a long while but still didn't say it himself; instead, he took out the test paper.

"72 points?"

Lin Xiyu unfolded the test paper, glanced at the Grade, and smiled knowingly: "Not bad, better than I imagined."

Wang Bo lifted his Eyelid and glanced at her. Seeing her Expression didn't seem False, revealing no trace of looking down on him, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your Grade reminds me of my little Female Cousin."

To relieve his study pressure, Lin Xiyu deliberately mentioned her Relative: "During summer vacation, when I first started tutoring Nana, her Grade was worse than yours. Her English Grade barely passed, only 61 points."

"At first glance at her test paper, honestly, I was a bit stunned. I really couldn't understand why she scored so poorly."

"Through meticulous Analysis of the test paper, I discovered that the current English exam difficulty and the knowledge content students learn daily in school are not equivalent."

"That is to say, the exam difficulty is too great. The knowledge taught in textbooks and the actual difficulty of exam questions have a large gap. Relying solely on knowledge learned in school makes it hard to achieve ideal Grades."

——

"Mm-hmm."

Wang Bo's little eyes brightened again, nodding vigorously.

"This is also the direct reason why your English grades plummeted after you transferred from the countryside to the City."

Lin Xiyu tactfully expressed her view: "So, you don't need to blame yourself; this isn't your fault. Have confidence in yourself. The teacher's female cousin managed to raise her English grades within a single summer vacation; likewise, you can too."

"Junior high English isn't difficult. As long as you master the correct study method, no subject can become a stumbling block for you. Once you get past this hurdle, your grades will advance by leaps and bounds, returning to the top of the class."

——

"Teacher, can I really do it?"

Wang Bo was moved by her speech and finally spoke his first complete sentence since meeting the teacher.

"There is nothing that is impossible....."

Lin Xiyu continued to stir his emotions: "As long as you want to, you can achieve it."

"I want to!"

Wang Bo's expression was very excited.

"What do you want?"

Lin Xiyu deliberately guided him to express the thoughts in his heart: "Can you be a bit more specific? The teacher doesn't quite understand."

"Want to....."

Wang Bo rubbed his hands nervously, stammering: "Want Teacher to teach me English."

"Wanting Teacher to teach you isn't out of the question....."

Lin Xiyu didn't agree immediately but continued to probe: "You answer me first. Do you like studying English? What is your motivation for learning English?"

"Uh?"

Wang Bo wilted again, lowering his head and staying silent for a long while.

"This child, really doesn't like to speak."

Grandma Gu watched anxiously from the side, wishing she could answer for him.

"I don't think a person who doesn't love this subject can learn English well......."

Lin Xiyu pretended to shake her head regretfully, deliberately provoking him: "Since you can't answer this question, then forget it. Let your parents come in and take you home."

"No, I'm not leaving....."

Wang Bo blurted out in desperation: "Please, Teacher, don't drive me away."

"If you want to stay, then answer the question....."

Grandma Gu was anxious for him and couldn't help but interject again.

"I don't like English, but I'll study it properly....."

Seeing Lin Xiyu's brows and eyes turn serious, Wang Bo feared she would really chase him off and promised tremblingly.

"Why don't you like it?"

A probing look flashed in Lin Xiyu's eyes; she intuitively felt the real reason wasn't simple.

"When I first transferred over....."

Sure enough, the next second, Wang Bo lowered his head again, a touch of desolation flashing in his eyes: "My Mandarin wasn't standard; it carried a local accent. Classmates always made fun of me....."

"No wonder....."

Grandma Gu suddenly realized: "His parents are such eloquent people; their child shouldn't be this tongue-tied. So the crux lies here."

"Some students are like this....."

Understanding the inside story, Lin Xiyu tried to console: "They may not have malice themselves, just treating it as a joke, but it can cause an unpredictable impact on the person involved."

"Have you told your parents about these things?"

Grandma Gu also changed her view, feeling quite sympathetic toward Wang Bo's experience.

"No."

Wang Bo shook his head.

"No wonder they were anxious but had no way to deal with it."

Grandma Gu sighed gloomily, a touch of dissatisfaction rising toward his parents: "This couple is too careless, only minding their business and making money, not caring more about their child. If it weren't for Xiyu, you being meticulous and finding out the cause, the two of them would still be kept in the dark."

"Knowing how things stand makes it easy to handle."

Lin Xiyu had a plan in mind and smiled with relief: "Actually, this matter isn't hard to resolve. Just treat your hometown dialect as your own unique trait, turn a disadvantage into an advantage."

"How exactly to turn it around?"

At these words, not only did Wang Bo's eyes brighten, even Grandma Gu perked up, looking over with great interest.

"Have you heard of Shandong Kuaishu?"

Lin Xiyu didn't disappoint them, giving an unexpected answer.

"Of course....."

Grandma Gu answered first: "What Shandong person hasn't heard of it!"

"That's not necessarily true....."

Lin Xiyu smiled and shook her head, then looked at Wang Bo: "Shandong Kuaishu isn't as popular as it was in previous years; kids probably don't know much about it."

Wang Bo, seeing her looking at him, indeed showed a blank expression.

"No way, child....."

Grandma Gu looked surprised: "You haven't even heard of Shandong Kuaishu?"

"No."

Wang Bo was embarrassed, his face flushing bright red.

"What a pity."

Grandma Gu sighed with deep regret: "Such a fine art, and it's nearly extinct."

"Extinct is putting it too strongly......"

Lin Xiyu analyzed rationally: "It's just that people's entertainment methods now are different from before; teenagers are more addicted to online games and romance dramas, and many art inheritances face the predicament of a generational break."

"That's true..."

Grandma Gu thought of her own grandson who runs a game company, and the words "games mislead the youth" that were about to blurt out were forcibly swallowed back down.

"You were talking about studying, how did the conversation get onto Shandong Kuaishu?"

Guben was working in the study, but through the window he still heard every movement in the yard clearly.

"I'm wondering whether to take Wang Bo to see Da Yifu."

Seeing him come out of the study, Lin Xiyu smiled with some hesitation.

"See him for what?"

Grandma Gu's eyes revealed astonishment.

"What Wang Bo needs most right now isn't rote memorization of vocabulary, but practicing oral expression ability."

Lin Xiyu stated her thoughts frankly: "The main reason he doesn't like to speak is actually still lack of confidence, afraid classmates will laugh at him; to improve, we must start by changing his mindset."

"You want Da Yifu to teach him Shandong Kuaishu?"

Guben reacted swiftly, instantly understanding her intention.

"You guessed right."

Lin Xiyu broke into a smile, giving him an admiring gaze.

"Is Shandong Kuaishu useful for learning English?"

Grandma Gu still couldn't understand.

"The biggest taboo in learning English is mute English..."

Lin Xiyu used her actual teaching experience to explain to them patiently: "To achieve a qualitative breakthrough, one must combine listening and reading, listen and read for half an hour every day, strengthen recitation of English texts, persist for half a year, and there will be significant results; language sense, vocabulary, and fixed collocations of grammar will all integrate and become thorough through recitation; these knowledge points are the key points of exams, mastering them is more than enough for middle school students to handle exams."

"Listening and reading practice is that important?"

Grandma Gu realized, her gaze toward her granddaughter-in-law full of admiration: "Not to mention, our Xiyu speaks about English teaching in a very professional way; truly a top student from Huashi University."

"Grandma overpraises."

Lin Xiyu smiled humbly, then turned her gaze to Guben: "What do you think? How is my idea? Feasible or not?"

"Ask me and it's one word: feasible!"

Guben gave very strong support: "Must be feasible; whatever wife says is right, we support unconditionally."

"Since you also think it's feasible, then it's decided..."

Lin Xiyu's confidence redoubled: "Let's go to Aunt Da's house now, tell Da Yifu about this."

"Go now?"

Guben raised an eyebrow, glanced at Wang Bo: "Aren't you going to solicit this student's opinion?"

"I want to learn."

Unexpectedly, Wang Bo answered very quickly, almost speaking without thinking.

"Heh."

Guben laughed and teased: "So you spent a whole afternoon talking, found a disciple for your Da Yifu."

"This is called coincidence makes the story."

Lin Xiyu was pleasantly surprised: "Hope Da Yifu can, for the sake of this niece's face, not refuse."

"With a disciple delivered to his door, he'd be delighted."

Guben was very certain: "Anyway he's retired, idle at home is idle; having a little disciple to train, whether he succeeds or not is another matter, just treat it as a pastime."

"I'll call Da Yifu first, see if he's home?"

Lin Xiyu's execution was top-notch, immediately picking up her mobile phone and dialing Aunt Da's number.

——

Arriving early is not as good as arriving at the right moment; Da Yifu went fishing in the southern mountain area with old colleagues early this morning, and when the phone rang, he had just entered carrying a bucket of small mixed fish.

"Out for a whole day, and only caught this stuff?"

Aunt Da glanced at the small fish not even the size of a slap, pursed her lips in disdain, reached out and took the fish bucket.

Da Yifu hehe'd happily, didn't take Aunt Da's words to heart; hearing the phone ring, seeing Aunt Da go to the kitchen, not even bothering to change shoes, he went to the living room to answer.

"Da Yifu, you're home, I have something I want to ask you to help with..."

Seeing Da Yifu was home, Lin Xiyu was very happy, directly expressing her purpose.