Last week, my 14-year old part-time homeschooling student Teddy (he spends the other half at a private buddhist school), brought me a "Career Option" handbook that was designed by the Taiwan educational system. It's a handbook to discuss together with their parents about their educational future.
我的半自學學生"子健"（ㄧ半時間在佛教學校）今年14歲，上個禮拜帶了學校發給他們的ㄧ本國家教育部發行的"技職全攻略"宣導手冊給我看。這是一本讓家長跟他們討論他們未來前途的手冊。
I read through the handbook, thought it was thorough with inspiring true stories of people who's made it in their fields. It allowed me to also discovered that Teddy was a great young cook, who often make the family dinner and desserts!
我看完之後，覺得介紹的很詳細，有一些在自己領域裡成功偉人的啟發性故事。在探討期間我發覺到子健是個超棒的小廚師，他常在家煮晚餐和作點心給家人吃。
When I first met Teddy, I was told by his mom that he can't stand studying, let along learning English and memorizing vocabularies. He was considered a troubled-student in the Asian educational system. He's transfered to many different schools due to his behavior.
剛認識子健時，從她媽媽嘴裡得知他是個不愛讀書的孩子，所以那有耐心想學英文及背單字。他在亞洲教育環境裡是老師們認同的問題學生。他轉換了很多學校是因為他的學習態度問題。
His teachers would be glad if he sits quietly in his corner and not disturbed any students in class. Through our conversations, I found out he was either likely to be a basketball player, music performer, or an awesome gamer when he grows up; Nothing in there has anything to do with academic studies.
他的老師們最高興他只要乖乖坐在座位上不影響其他學生們上課就好。從我們的談話裡，知道他長大後的志願可能是當一個籃球員、音樂表演者或者是最厲害的線上遊戲玩家，裡面完全沒有學科。
After our conversation, I knew the only way I could gain his trust was to teach him music through singing and guitar. Surprisingly, he owns a guitar but doesn't know how to play it. During that time, he was obsessed with Alan Walker's "Faded" so much that I knew it was my ticket to show him the joy of learning!
我們聊天後讓我領悟我們最近聊天之後，讓我體會到教他唱英文歌、彈吉他是他對我這位信任的第一步。因爲很驚喜的知道他有一把吉他，但是不知道怎麼彈。當時，他迷戀著一首艾倫沃克的歌曲“消逝”，我知道這是個機會去教他學習的樂趣!
Through the lyrics, he learned English pronunciation and the meaning of the song. Through learning how to play the 4 chords on his guitar was the beginning of his life's lessons in self-discipline, self-dedication, and self-respect.
從歌詞裡他學會了英文發音與歌詞意義。從學習吉他的四個和絃裡也是他學習人生課裡的自律、自我奉獻與自尊、自愛。
He was so proud of the callus on his finger tips from long hours of practice-even more so that his older brother who plays guitar doesn't have it. Through music and hard work that opened the door to the acceptance of learning; especially English.
他苦練出手指頭上的繭是他的驕傲，更開心的是因為會彈吉他的哥哥沒有。從學習音樂的努力，開啟了他接受了學習，特別是英文。
After that, we also started piano lessons and English courses using the Spectrum book series, a current state standards used in the United states purchased at Caves Bookstore.
從那之後，他也開始上鋼琴課，我們在敦煌書局買到美國教育部認證的Spectrum教學課本教他學英文。
With joy, his mom promised soon to enroll him in DJ class taught by an amazing person named Theo who came from England to Taiwan, who's well-known as DJ Chamber around the world. For the first time in his life, he can see the short goal through learning and the rewards that comes with it-his grades at school began to improved.
他媽媽很開心的答應他，等他英文程度再穩定進步一點就讓他去跟ㄧ位從英國來台灣的Theo,世界認知的DJ Chamber學電子音樂。在他人生的第一次起步，感受到短期的目標是可以從學習裡得到獎勵的。他的學校成績也開始進步了。
