Luckily, after my high school, I got a job as a tutorial teacher in my free time. Traditionally, the students in Myanmar who had passed the previous high school year exam, must wait for two years to enroll at the college.
I got plenty of time. I remembered I really wanted to read English books. I dreamed that I could read them very well. From the first time, it was not easy to start with the English books but with determination and confidence, I could begin to read them.
I still remember that the next morning I asked my uncle to borrow his English books and sought his suggestions about reading them. Happily my uncle let me borrow some of his books and encourage me how to find the words I did not understand in the dictionary. It was very tiresome and boring for every single word which I had to look at up the dictionary. I remember on one page I did not know how many times I looked up at the dictionary.
Once a classmate brought me to the Kachin National Culture and Museum on the way home. I found many books. The Museum had two departments such as the exhibition arts and the library. Every Friday and Monday, I went to borrow and return books in the Museum. Later the Librarian who was a very kind, hospitable and warm lady, explained to me that all those books were donated by individuals. They collected those donated books into a library. The library was very small compared to other libraries in the country. In all, there were about five hundred books.
Leisurely, from time to time I visited the Young Men Christian Association in Myitkyina, Myanmar. In the YMCA, there was a library where I found many English books and cassettes for the English beginners. There were at different levels.. For membership, each one must pay 500 Kyates a year. (50cents). It was quite expensive for me. But with that membership, a student could have 15 hours to listen to the English stationary tapes. In the library, there was a cable TV where I watched the BBC. The time was awesomely joyful.
I used to have a morning class in the school. Sometimes I did not have a class. Deliberately I enjoyed reading books with my limited vocabularies and became quite isolated from my classmates.
Firstly, I was very interested to explore and learn about other people in different countries, about their thoughts and their lifestyles. Normally, I would not understand everything in the books in detail. But I tried to grasp the story.
In my home, I tried to listen to the VOA special English program on my radio. I liked the program very much. But, I worked at night so I did not then have time for listening.
Once, my younger brother asked me if I understood all the English words in the news. I told him I did not. It was a simple and honest answer. I explained to him the reason I liked to listen to the English program.
The reason I wanted to study English was to enable me to read English books. I did not have any plans for going abroad and study in another country. With a dream I could read the English books from the different countries' literatures and works which were normally written and translated in English
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First and foremost, my background education was inadequate in helping me for a better preparation. Inevitably, I did have great difficulty in the beginning. Without surrendering these challenges I worked hard to better my English.
Among my friends, memorizing the slang words or idioms by heart or the dialogue was the norm. I believe that that practice would still be popular among the young English learners in my country. It was very funny for me to see those people practicing their English. Of course, it could be a technique or shortcut for learning English. Until now, I like to use simple English. I accept that English is like a tool which can be used differently by people. With English I always remind myself to express my thoughts but not to impress.
As a worker in the computer stores I was busy but I found time to continue my English. Studying English was not a job but a hobby for me. I used to buy the used English books at very low prices. I walked around the bookstalls along the Seik Kan Thar street and the Ban-do-la street (Bar-lan) before going back to my dormitory. Of course, I spent time going to the Christian library which was founded by the Chin youths. It was free for everyone. But one condition, for those who wanted to borrow books, you must be a member in the library. It would cost 600kyates (60 cents) for membership.
During stressful times, I could enjoy myself with books. Maybe it was my recreation after the whole day in the miserable hours of work. I found reading fulfilling. You might wonder what I received from reading books.
Simply I have received countless benefits. I encourage you to read and read. It will be your refuge for your whole life and a great treasure for your future.
