Chapter 502: Requirements Should Not Be Too High
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
For someone like Qiu Chenxi, who came from a respected family, she was used to such big occasions. Since a young age, she had developed the skills to conduct herself in such situations. On the contrary, for people like Qiao Nan, the biggest occasion she had seen might be the flag-raising ceremony every Monday in school.
For the sake of the Zhai family, the woman that Zhai Sheng married in the future must have this ability.
Zhai Yaohui knew that Zhai Sheng was very much in love with Qiao Nan, and she was the first girl that his son liked. Zhai Yaohui was in a dilemma.
As a father, he was happy that his son found a girl that he liked, but as the head of the family, he had to look at the big picture.
It was because of this that Zhai Yaohui had been unclear in his attitude toward Qiao Nan. It seemed as if he had agreed to their relationship, but it also seemed as if he was against it. From time to time, he would warn Zhai Sheng to know his limits. Once Zhai Sheng went beyond the limits, as a father, he would not be lenient to Zhai Sheng.
But after what happened today, Zhai Yaohui felt that his son had grown up. There were certain things that he could allow his son to choose and make his own decision.
“Did you see that? Nan Nan is so excellent. She is so amazing. It turns out that she learned English from Elder Lin. She has learned well from him. Great!” Miao Jing was totally unaware of the thoughts that went through her husband’s mind even though he sat right beside her.
“Great,” Zhai Yaohui said faintly. If Qiao Nan did not have the ability, Zhai Sheng would not fall for her and keep it from his mother.
“I know long ago that Nan Nan is very smart. It’s just that I did not know she is so outstanding.” Miao Jing stared at Qiao Nan as if she was her idol. There was a look of adoration in her sparkling eyes.
It was not without reason that the principal of the same school almost got engaged to Miao Jing.
Miao Jing was a very simple person. To her, there were three types of people in this world who she adored and respected: the teacher, the doctor, and the police.
As for the soldiers, they were at a higher level than the police.
Right now, Qiao Nan was the teacher in the army. Hence, Miao Jing looked at Qiao Nan in a different light.
Miao Jing had excellent etiquettes, but she was not good in English.
After witnessing Qiao Nan’s ability, Miao Jing had the thought of learning English from Qiao Nan. Back then, she had learned English from a teacher, but she was getting on in years and was not as fast in picking up new skills. Her pronunciation was awkward and she could not remember the correct way to pronounce the English words. She was embarrassed to keep asking the teacher to repeat them. She felt like a fool in front of the teacher.
Hence, Miao Jing gave up after a few tries.
Today was different. She only learned a few words, but she felt that it was not as difficult as what she used to believe. Like what Qiao Nan said, she was quite smart. She had managed to remember all the words that Qiao Nan taught today.
Zhai Yaohui was about to answer Miao Jing’s question when she walked off to look for Qiao Nan.
Qiao Nan packed up her lesson plans, took a sip of water, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Qiao Nan might seem to be very relaxed during the lesson, but nobody knew that, in fact, she was very tensed up.
Apart from adorable male and female soldiers and the people from the Zhai family, the political commissar and the other cadres in the army were there to listen to her class. The most terrifying thing was that these important people sat in the first row. Qiao Nan could see them clearly. She never had the chance to be in contact with such officials and important figures in the country.
In her previous life, she had never thought that she could have such a day.
Not only did Miao Jing go to look for Qiao Nan, but the political commissar came up to look for her as well.
He looked at Qiao Nan awkwardly before turning to speak to Lin Yuankang. “Elder Lin, Teacher Xiao Qiao taught us well. Her teaching style was very good, and the soldiers in the army also liked her lesson. But according to what I heard in the past, can one learn English in this way? Isn’t it necessary to teach pronunciation, the alphabet, the basics, etc.? Is it alright to learn all these without any foundation? Is it good?”
The political commissar only knew how to train the soldiers. He did not know how to teach English.
However, he knew how other people conducted their English classes, so he had doubts about today’s lessons.
Qiao Nan was a young lady. The political commissar was worried that if he asked her directly, she might be too thin-skinned that she broke into tears.
Lin Yuankang took a sip of water and looked at Qiao Nan. “Nan Nan, what do you say?” After all, he also had the same question.
Zhai Yaohui, who stood behind Miao Jing, was without any expression. However, he knitted his eyebrows, clearly waiting for Qiao Nan’s reply as well. Of course, he was not interested in what Qiao Nan would say to the political commissar. He just wanted to know how Qiao Nan would behave and conduct herself in front of the political commissar.
Qiu Chenxi, who waited to see the good show, noticed that none of the Zhai family had left, particularly Zhai Sheng, who moved to stand silently next to Qiao Nan, seemingly as if he was giving Qiao Nan his support. She gritted her teeth and walked forward to the podium.
Zhai Sheng ignored everyone else and stood quietly by Qiao Nan’s side, showing that he supported and trusted her.
Initially, when faced with such an important figure like the political commissar, Qiao Nan felt slightly weak. But she could feel Zhai Sheng standing right by her side. They stood so close to each other that she could feel his body temperature. Qiao Nan felt reassured. “Political commissar, do you want my master to teach English at the army so as to send them to take the English proficiency test, becoming professional English speakers, being able to write essays in English, as well as being able to read advanced and professional English content? Or do you want them to become experts who have perfect English pronunciation, and are competent enough to work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?”
“No, this is not the intention,” the political commissar paused momentarily and replied quickly.
“That’s right. These people do not need to sit for the test. As long as they can converse in basic English, can hold their heads high in front of foreigners and uphold the dignity of the soldiers through simple greetings, isn’t that good enough? Political commissar, the requirements you mentioned are not high, so I feel that it is good enough if the soldiers can converse in simple English. Not having perfect pronunciation is not a problem. We should not think too highly of the foreigners and ask too much of our own people. After all, people in different positions have different requirements. China has a large population. Every place has its own dialect, and their Mandarin comes with a local accent. Will we not understand Mandarin that has a local accent because of that? It’s the same for foreigners. Even if the pronunciation is not very accurate, it will be fine as long as the meaning could be communicated across.”
In ten more years, if one was to say ‘milk’ to the foreigners, they did not need to specifically say ‘milk’ in English. The foreigners would understand if one said ‘niunai’ in Chinese without any pinyin to it.