I was never a bright student. I gave an admission test in an English
medium school in West Bengal. My parents and I were called for an interview.
The principal said somewhat like this: ‘Mathematics is okay but his English is
poor.’
I was never a bright student, I repeat, since I could hardly learn anything by heart. Even for the I.C.S.E and I.S.C examinations, I read the text books and wrote mostly in my own words. With some difficulty and by reading and writing several times, I was successful in remembering some chosen definitions. Several times, I did not get any rank. Some students did suggest taking tuitions from the subject teachers. As I was not in favour of private coaching by the school teachers, I preferred external teachers.
Learning in class seven, I used to go to my friend’s house where a teacher would teach us almost all the subjects. Everything was excellent except for his technique of teaching English. He made us comprehend Bengali grammar and do translations from Bengali and Hindi (for me) to English almost daily before he started English, which I considered (and consider even now) was pointless and wastage of time. We then moved to some other place, which made it difficult for me to go to my friend’s house, so he came to our house and stopped coming before the final examination result. I do not know what he had in his mind, but I was promoted to the next class with a rank. I never got anybody to teach me English then, and to teach me Science and Mathematics, there was one who showed me the ways to improve my Mathematics and score good marks in Science.
A teacher would pick up my pen or something to explicate a transaction in Accountancy. His explanation was always extensive and would make a composition which I never liked especially when I was concerned about the syllabus for my examination. My friend who joined his tuition class after me was the first to quit, followed by me. I got another Accountancy teacher who did not get enough time to understand me.
My school did give me the best grammar book and dictionary which are still helping me to develop my English.
I was never a bright student, I repeat, since I could hardly learn anything by heart. Even for the I.C.S.E and I.S.C examinations, I read the text books and wrote mostly in my own words. With some difficulty and by reading and writing several times, I was successful in remembering some chosen definitions. Several times, I did not get any rank. Some students did suggest taking tuitions from the subject teachers. As I was not in favour of private coaching by the school teachers, I preferred external teachers.
Learning in class seven, I used to go to my friend’s house where a teacher would teach us almost all the subjects. Everything was excellent except for his technique of teaching English. He made us comprehend Bengali grammar and do translations from Bengali and Hindi (for me) to English almost daily before he started English, which I considered (and consider even now) was pointless and wastage of time. We then moved to some other place, which made it difficult for me to go to my friend’s house, so he came to our house and stopped coming before the final examination result. I do not know what he had in his mind, but I was promoted to the next class with a rank. I never got anybody to teach me English then, and to teach me Science and Mathematics, there was one who showed me the ways to improve my Mathematics and score good marks in Science.
A teacher would pick up my pen or something to explicate a transaction in Accountancy. His explanation was always extensive and would make a composition which I never liked especially when I was concerned about the syllabus for my examination. My friend who joined his tuition class after me was the first to quit, followed by me. I got another Accountancy teacher who did not get enough time to understand me.
My school did give me the best grammar book and dictionary which are still helping me to develop my English.
