My life seems to be filled with 'R's--Dragging myself out of bed wearily each morning, I unconsciously move my legs forward to get my body to the field with others. Meanwhile, I keep mumbling d-l-l-l, d-r-r-l-l, d-r-r-r-r-l-l, etc. Dressed in a chaos, eyes semi-opened through a narrow gap, and giving the outer space an unpleasant bad breath, every wonders why there’s a weird, deep, low noise wandering around them—there shouldn’t be any flies at this time, this place, eh? And from the surprised appearance they show when they see me, I know they’re wondering why I kept smiling, in a way that does not seem happy at all, all the time. I’m not smiling, it’s only the jaw has to be forced to the back, if I’d like to do the tough pronunciation.

When I kept failing, I gradually began to understand my mother’s difficulty. I now feel profoundly guilty for what I had said to hurt her feelings several years before.

She hold Deutsch as her second language, the pronunciation of which is entirely different from that of English. As English is now becoming increasingly more important in the corporation she works in, she got annoyed with her English. Perhaps it’s the old saying ‘Never too old to learn’, which is almost a cliché, gave, and still giving, energy to her. I never saw her working so hard on anything, though she was always talking about how diligent she was in her youth, and she was always reading English aloud at home.

But I, inconsiderate towards her feeling, at once showed my impatience and irritation—I don’t like your Cheutschlish style of pronunciation. To me, nothing could be easier to form a correct pronunciation in English. How fatuous I was!

And now I from time to time take a piece Deutsch as relaxation of hobby, with my mother’s help. Undoubtedly, I was almost turned down by this stuff called R, as my mum was by some other English words, what kind of treatment did I received from mum? Yes, encouragement and praise.

It’s as clear as daylight that I am not doing a good job in any aspect. I am most conscious myself. But I am actually receiving a lot that I do not deserve.

Mum, will you forgive me?

Again, feeling grown up, I began to listen to my mum’s English with calmness and appreciation. It’s not perfect anyways, but it’s a great job that she has made such a huge progress. She’s now speaking better than ever, far better than many of my fellows at school.

 I’m so happy to achieve that, I can now listen to my mother’s English with an honest smile on my face. How great it is that I can actually help my mother with most problem she ask me, and how great it is to see her so enthusiastic as a result of my encouragement.