我在ESL課程寫的故事，很精彩哦！
Best day at school
by Selina Chiu
Kyoko was sitting at her desk. She was writing her English homework. But she was not really thinking about her homework, because there was nothing about English on her mind. She was thinking about her Japanese friends. In her mind, they were playing tag, drawing pictures, reading books or dancing together back in Japan. “Hmm, I wish I were in Japan now.’’ Kyoko always said.
Japan was her favorite country because she thought it was the most beautiful in the whole world. But something was wrong for Kyoko. Now, she wasn’t living in Japan. She couldn’t believe she was in America. Before she came to America, she had a lot of friends, and she was a great student. She could answer all the questions that the teacher asked her. But, Kyoko was in America now and it was different. She didn’t know how to speak English or anything about American culture. “What is the word for apple, mom?” “What is sun in English, dad?” Kyoko asked in Japanese. She didn’t even know what was “yes” or “no” in English. “I’m not a good student anymore, and I don’t have any friends in United States.” Kyoko said in a sad voice. “I hate my classmates, I hate English. I hate America!”
She hoped that she were back in Japan now. “My silly dad, I still don’t understand why he had this kind of crazy idea to come to America. See! If I were in Japan now, I could play with my friends. My stupid dad always said that America was wonderful. But I don’t think it is great here. My dad spent $900 on my airplane tickets to let me come to America. $900 and America? He didn’t need to buy that expensive ticket.
AUGH! I would have preferred to stay in Japan.” To get her mind off her problems, Kyoko drew a picture of Japan and imagined herself playing with her Japanese friends. Then, she walked downstairs, and turned on the TV. She took out a can of soda from the refrigerator and she drank soda as she watched TV……. Suddenly, she yelled “what! What did they say, BO---HO---N-A ? ” She turned off the TV because she couldn’t understand what the movie was about, and she thought it was boring. In anger, Kyoko threw the soda can on the floor. She jumped on it and stepped on it. “AUGH ! why don’t Americans speak Japanese. Japanese is better than English.” Kyoko yelled again and again. Suddenly, her mother came to the living room. “Stop Kyoko, stop yelling, pick up the soda can and go write your English homework. I mean right now.” Kyoko was so angry and yelled at her mom. “I wish everyone in the whole wide world could speak Japanese.” Kyoko yelled to her mom.
Feeling very frustrated, Kyoko, walked upstairs and jumped into her chair. “My silly mom. She doesn’t understand me. Doesn’t she think America is strange?” Kyoko said as she took out her homework. She looked at the worksheet. “Oh! No! I have a lot of work to do and it is too difficult.” Kyoko looked at the clock. “WHAT? It’s already 9:00 pm! I’m not done with my homework yet! And I didn’t answer half of the questions !” Kyoko sat in front her desk for a long time. She put her hand on her long black hair and pulled it gently. She would do this when she was thinking or trying to remember something. Kyoko was trying to figure out what the questions meant. She stared at the worksheet for 15 minutes, but she still didn’t know the answer. Kyoko turned around and looked at the clock again. “What? What happened to the clock! Was it broken? It was 9:25 PM!” Kyoko was surprised, and she had done practically no work. “I need to hurry.” Kyoko decided to randomly answer the questions. When she finished, it was almost 10:00 pm. “Kyoko do you finished you homework?” Kyoko’s mother asked very loudly. Kyoko was surprised. “Yes mommy, I’ve done my homework already. I am so tired. Can I go to sleep now? I have being working so hard.” Kyoko lied to her mom. “Great! You could go to sleep!” Kyoko’s mom said.
Kyoko was so happy that she could now go to sleep. “Bye! My little terrible homework, so glad NOT to see you again.” Kyoko said as she put the homework in her bookbag. Kyoko was so tired, because she had spent the whole night working on her homework. Kyoko jumped into her bed, and put her down on the pillow. Kyoko was so tired that she fell asleep.
The next day, Kyoko woke up early and went to school. She was the first person who came in Mrs. Belly’s classroom. Mrs. Belly was Kyoko’s teacher. She was kind to everyone. “Good morning, Kyoko. How are you honey?’’ She heard in loud voice. Kyoko already knew it was Mrs. Belly, because she had a loud sharp voice. “Hhh……..Hi.” Kyoko said. “Kyoko, can you put your homework on my desk?” Mrs. Belly told Kyoko. Kyoko stared at Mrs. Belly for a moment. Mrs. Belly knew Kyoko didn’t know the meaning of what she was saying. So she pointed to her desk and then pointed to the homework. Kyoko knew what the meaning was now. And she just forgot about homework. She thought “Oh no! I just randomly did my homework. If my classmate knew what I did, they will never want to be my friend.” Kyoko thought for a moment. At last, Kyoko decided to put her homework on teacher’s desk.
Kyoko’s classmate came in the classroom one by one. Finally, all of her classmate was there. “Ok, students. I think we will work on about animals, foods and plants for the next three weeks.” Mrs. Belly told to her class. “Can anybody tell me one kind of animal?” Mrs. Belly asked the class. “lion!” One of the classmate yelled. “Elephant!” “Rabbit!” “Pig” “Zebra!” Kyoko’s classmates shouted without raising their hand. It is too noisy in the classroom. “Shh! Be quiet guys. Please raise your hand if you want to talk. But you did know lots of animals. Can you compare and contrast different?” Mrs. Belly asked. One of Kyoko classmate raised his hand. Mrs. Belly called on that person. “What did you think?” Mrs. Belly asked. The person who raised his hand said “Some make lots of sound, some could move and breath.” “Good job!” Teacher said. And, they kept learning about animals on that day. But that day Kyoko understood nothing. Instead she played with her finger the while teacher talked.
When Kyoko went home, her mother asked “How are you doing in the school, darling?” “It’s fine, but a little bit boring, because I don’t understand anything.” Kyoko answered. Her mom kept saying “Your teacher called me on the phone this afternoon. She said that you didn’t do your homework carefully. Did you just randomly answer the question?” Kyoko was surprised, she was being quiet for a moment. “How did you know, mom?” Kyoko thought her mom would be mad at her. Kyoko’s mom said in a soft voice “Next time, I will help you your homework. And I will teach you some English. Okay?” “Okay mommy.” Kyoko said. She was happy that her mom didn’t feel angry at her and she was glad that her mom was going to teach Kyoko a little bit English. Kyoko’s mom couldn’t speak English very well. But she was going to help Kyoko any way. At first, Kyoko doesn’t want her parent know that she couldn’t understood anything at school. She thought thar if her mom knew what’s going on, she would tell her teacher, and teacher would tell to the whole class. And then, her classmates would never ever want to be her friend. Kyoko thought “Friends” were the most important people in the school.
“Kyoko let’s go upstairs and I’ll do your homework with you.” Her mom said. They walked upstairs, and sat at Kyoko’s desk. Kyoko’s mom taught Kyoko English. And told her how to said each kind of animals in English.
After a few weeks, Kyoko’s mom taught Kyoko lots of English. During this few. Kyoko felt uncomfortable, because she needed to remember lots of new words. “Animals could move, breathe and make lots of sounds. Plants need water, air and sunshine. It could breathe too, but it couldn’t move. Kyoko are getting this in her mind, because Mrs. Belly was going to ask some questions the next day. Kyoko thought that if she answer the questions right, maybe some of her classmates would ask her to be their friends.
“Ding, dong, ding, dong…….” The school bell rang. Mrs. Belly walked inside the classroom. “Be quiet student, remember? Today I’m going to ask you what your favorite animal or plants or food. Who want to be first?” “Me…….”All of Kyoko’s classmate raised their hand. “Monica, what’s your favorite plant?” Mrs. Belly asked. “I like roses, because they was pretty.” Monica answered. “Great job, sweety!” The teacher said. Monica was a smart girl, Kyoko wished she could be her friend. “Okay, how about you David. What’s your favorite animal?” Mrs. Belly asked. David said “Monkeys! Because they are cute!” “Okay David.” David was a little bit naughty. He always teased Kyoko, because he knew she couldn’t speak English. The teacher always tried to stop him, but David didn’t mind. He kept teasing Kyoko.
“OK. Let see who wasn’t being up yet. Oh! Kyoko, I forget about her. Kyoko, what is your favorite food?” Kyoko was surprised. She studied very hard at home, but she still couldn’t remember everything. Kyoko put her hand on her long black hair. She just forget what was food. She was mixed up. “My favorite food is a Koala.” Kyoko said it is very soft. “Koala?” Mrs. Belly asked. Kyoko nodded her head. Everyone in class laughed. “Kyoko loved to eat koala’s meat. So did everyone in Japan eat koala too? Hah, Hah…….” David said. Kyoko’s classmates laughed again. “Be quiet, please. That is rude, David. Stop laughing.” Mrs. Belly said. Kyoko felt very sad. “Kyoko, I’m asking what your favorite FOOD is, not ANIMAL. I know koala was nice, But the question is what is your favorite FOOD.” Mrs. Belly said in a nice voice.
At recess, Kyoko sat on the swing and watched other people playing. “I wish I had lots of friends to play with.” Kyoko said. Suddenly, David and some of his friends walked by. “Hi Kyoko, the koala eater.” They said as they threw trash at Kyoko. “Oh! Nasty girl.” David said. They laughed at Kyoko for a long time. Then, they walked away. Kyoko was terrible angry at them, but she was afraid to tell Mrs. Belly because she was too shy.
When Kyoko went home, Kyoko’s mom said “How are you today? Did you feel better at school?” Kyoko was too angry, so she shouted “You don’t need to care about it!” “My little darling. Actually, who has come from country doesn’t feel good at first. But soon, you will feel better than before.” Kyoko’s mommy told Kyoko. Kyoko felt a little bit better.
Kyoko and her mom went upstairs to Kyoko’s room. Her mother taught Kyoko more English. Now, Kyoko’s English was much better than before. She worked really hard. Kyoko knew more letters too. One month passed and Kyoko could understand more of what her teacher was saying. But she still had a problem. She had no friend, because she was too shy. She had no courage to ask others to be her friend. She even had no courage to talk with others. She was bored everyday at school because she felt lonely. She could do nothing, but look at other classmates playing together, drawing together, reading together or dancing together. Everyone had friends to play with, except Kyoko.
At recess, Kyoko sat on the swing again. She was watching other kids playing around. “Ouch!” Kyoko heard someone crying. She looked around the playground. Kyoko saw Monica falling on the ground. Kyoko forget that she was shy, and ran over as fast as she could. “Are you all right?” Kyoko asked Monica. Monica said “I’m fine” as she looked up. Monica was so surprised. “Did you just talk to me, Kyoko?” “Yes. But that’s not important. Did you need to go to the office?” Kyoko said. “No thanks. I’m just fine. Thank you for helping me. Why were you so quiet before? You need to speak up because you have a nice voice!” They played together for the rest of the recess. This was the first time that Kyoko played with one ofher classmate. Kyoko had lots of fun at the recess that day.
Kyoko sang the song as she walked home. That was the best day that Kyoko had at school. “Hi! Mommy, Hi! Daddy.” Kyoko said to her parents. “What made you feel so happy?” Kyoko’s mom asked Kyoko. Kyoko told her mommy what happened at recess. “Good for you, Kyoko. I already told you that you need to speak up. So others will know that you could speak English and your classmates will know how you are feeling. Remember, always try your best. Even if you can’t speak English very well.” Kyoko was so glad she had a friend. She went upstairs, and did her homework. She tried even harder than before. Kyoko decided to speak up the next day, and raise her hand. She wanted to try her best and she also want to help others because Kyoko knew if she did that, she could make more friends.
The next day, Kyoko woke up early and went to school. When she went in the classroom, she saw that Monica and Mrs. Belly were already there. They were smiling at Kyoko. Mrs. Belly said “Monica told me what happened yesterday. She said that you were not that shy.” “Yes, you are so kind!” Monica said. “Yes, of course I’m not shy anymore.” Kyoko said. That day, she tried really hard at school. She raised her hand very often. She felt proud of herself.
After that day, Kyoko and Monica became best friends. They played together, drew together, read together or danced together. Kyoko worked hard every day. A Few weeks after, Kyoko had lots of friends. And her English was getting better and better.
One day Kyoko talked to her classmates about what it felt like to be from other country and not to speak English. She said “If you are from another country, and have a problem just like me. It is okay, you will feel better after some time. You need to try harder than other people if you are from another country. I promise you will make friends if you try your best. Trust me.” Kyoko said. “At first, I didn’t like being in this country. But now I love my classmates, I love English, I love America!”
原文刊載於 人間福報 13版 少年天地 2011年8月11日 星期四 邱心妍 (宜蘭縣黎明國小六年八班) 
