2023-02-21 Journal

• How is the job market recently?
• It's too difficult for people over 35 years old to find jobs.
• Why could't we learn English well?
  For half a century, we kept asking ourselves a question on: " how can we learn english well?" rather than why we couldn't. We spent years reciting
  vocabulary, remembering every single word, but unable to read between the lines of Virginia Woolf. We spent years learning grammar, earning high grades over all the tests, but unable to utter a complete sentence expressing our own ideas. We spent years imitating English accent, drilling on the phonetic symbols time and time again, but unable to initiate a meaningful conversation about current global affairs. efforts spent, money wasted. we tried so hard, but failed so miserably. asking a wrong question cannot lead us to the right answer. Let us ask the question again, why could't we learn English well? The answer is simple and straightforward. Because we treat English language as a tool to pass exams or to make money or to show off in a game, in return English treats us as a machine, a slave, a chess piece, depriving the nobility of human beings. We believe English language should be treated differently, and we are here today to say it to you . we believe language is an instinct, an instinct of curiosity, a desire to explore the unknown, to empathize with strangers, to listen to the whisper of the voiceless and to empower the underprivileged. We also believe this instinct is equal to everyone, everyone however petty and low is entitled to have. We believe language is a history, a history in which Socrates made his apology to the jury, Confucius lectured on noble men, Shakespeare read the sonnet loud, Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence and the young men and the young women in the 19th century introducing the West to China in order to revive their motherland. It is a history the weak are not defeated by the strong, the kind prevail over the evil and the wise stand on the high ground seeing through the mist of stupidity and ignorance. We believe language is the present, the present of uncertainties, the maelstroms of daily circumstances, the mart of economic strive and gain, the floored information, the fragmented time, all these make learning a language extremely hard, therefore we must focus, we must think critically and differently. Keep our eyes open, our ears sharp and above all our hearts beating. We believe language is a challenge, a challenge to test our strength and perseverance, a challenge once overcome, we will not live in self-blindness and arrogance, but see the true world and our true selves. We believe language is a bridge, and this bridge linking east and west, past and present and through this bridge, we can build our cultural confidence, spread Chinese civilization and learn from the universal values, so we convene today to dedicate ourselves to this expedition, to hold the torch lighting the darkness, to emancipate, to guide, to inspire and to motivate, even at the cost of our lives, so we convene today, to learn English as a language, start from reading the daily news of The Economist, reading behind Hamlet and reading across the bestsellers from The New York Times. So we convene today, to vow against the oppression of utilitarianism. We are the rebels against the establishments. Let us go back to the fundamentals, let us go back to the musts. If you have suffered enough, if you cannot bear the mediocrity, if you feel lost or isolated for a long time, if you want to start anew. Please hear this: young man and women everywhere, proclaim it far and wide, the earth is yours, and fullness thereof, be kind but be fierce, you are needed now more than ever before, take up the mantle of change, for this is your time.

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