For Olivia, the most nervous time during a Chinese class is when her teacher hands out a couple of 生字卡(flash cards) to each child at the beginning of the class and asks themto go to the front of the classroom and read the words on the flashcards to the entire class. She does not like to get them wrong in front of everyone.
This past Sunday, right after we sat down in the classroom, the teacher handed her three flash cards, they were 東西 (thing), 娃娃 (baby) and 看 (look). She got them all with a little help except for the word 東西 which she just kept on forgetting.
You could tell that she was trying very hard to remember all the words, especially 東西. But most of time when she picked up that card, she would get stuck and ask me: “Mommy, what is this again?”
“東西. Remember that I call you and Evan 小東西?” I answered.
“Oh, yeah! 東西.” She repeated.
Verysoon the class started and the teacher started to ask the children togo up to the front to read their flash cards starting from the frontrow. Olivia sat at the back. It would be a little while before her turn.
Inoticed that at this time, she was very concentrated and totallyoblivious of what was going on in the class. Everything was about thosethree cards in her hands. She muttered to herself: “東西, 娃娃, 看, 東西, 娃娃, 看, 東西, 娃娃, 看…”
Iwanted her to pay attention to what the class was doing, so I said toher: “Olivia, take a look at Christopher’s flash cards (he was standingin the front), do you know the words on them?”
Beinginterrupted and still not one hundred percent confident, Olivia was alittle anxious: “Mommy, don’t talk to me! I am trying to concentratehere, 娃娃, 看...eh...eh, see, I forgot this word again!”
Olivia的確是個非常要強的女孩.如果不能做到最好就會沮喪.這點有點兒讓我擔心.我倒希望她能relax more.這樣她就會少些煩惱多些快樂:)
Evan似乎就不是很care. 也許真象我讀到的一篇文章中說的,老大都偏向於perfectionist而老二則more laid-back.
娃娃又看東來又看西,難怪會糊塗呢,一次隻能看一樣,看東東,或者看西西。
小孩子的認真勁兒,可愛。