Most people might all too easily think that it is not difficult for anyone to become a teacher of a foreign language. After all, this is not as easy as they thought. In my experience, many students tend to pay less attention to a foreign language teacher than a native teacher, even though they express an interest in the language. This is because, in my opinion, they are under the illusion that a foreign language teacher cannot teach the language as well as a native speaker can. Also, some students would like to study a language only from a teacher who speaks it as their first language. Of course, a foreign language teacher or a native teacher will have to teach the same language. The first language barrier that a foreign language teacher could face is nothing but pronunciation. The pronunciation of a language will be most correctly uttered by a native speaker only. Even so, not all native speakers can pronounce any word of their language with the exact utterance. That is, they might also do it wrong sometimes. Hence, we can never say that only native speakers’ pronunciation is always right. A foreign language teacher will be able to overcome the difficulty of pronunciation in a language by going and staying in that language-speaking country for a few years, watching or listening to news broadcasts in that language, using a pronunciation dictionary, or learning phonetic symbols. Despite this, inarticulate teachers often run into difficulty while teaching pronunciation to young students. And usually, foreign teachers’ pronunciation may not be as excellent as native speakers’. The second language barrier for a foreign teacher is vocabulary. As a teacher of a foreign language, it will not be convenient for him or her to have a limited vocabulary in the long run. In other words, a language teacher should have a wide vocabulary. In spite of this, a foreign language teacher will find it difficult to have a rich vocabulary. Any language teacher must have studied essential vocabulary, core vocabulary, specialized vocabulary, active vocabulary and passive vocabulary in advance to enrich an extensive vocabulary as regards the language. To build vocabulary items, a teacher has to use dictionaries, thesauruses and language activators. Though the dictionary is a bank of vocabulary, daily newspapers can be best seen to look up vocabulary words for such a large vocabulary as common or current usages. The third language barrier for a teacher is grammar. Grammar can bring accuracy and fluency to the language, we all know. Nevertheless, many foreign language teachers are given to saying a grammatical pattern, whether it is right or wrong, just depending on what they have ever seen or read, if they are asked by their pupils. Thus, their reply to questions on grammar relies too much on a certain extent to which they have read. It is not a good habit for a foreign language teacher at all. For a language teacher, a grammatical structure can be said exactly if it is correct or not with reference to which dictionary, what page, and so on, as needed. As far as I am concerned, grammar looks boring for most language learners or even language teachers, but nobody can avoid grammar in speaking or writing. Most of all, grammar is the `half-life´ of language writing. A language teacher’s fourth barrier is often found to be speaking the language. As I am aware, most foreign language teachers are unable to speak that language effectively and efficiently. As a result, they are more likely to use the translation method in language teaching and practice instead of the direct method. Here, I do not mean that the translation method is in vain in language instruction, simply because this method is used in many countries where a language is taught as a second language. Nonetheless, almost all students like a foreign language teacher teaching the language, just speaking in that language. Every foreign language teacher’s linguistic instruction needs to have both validity and reliability in language teaching, as well as accuracy and fluency. And a teacher of a foreign language had better have self-confidence not only in language study but also in language teaching. For language teachers, great writing is their life too. Every foreign language teacher ought to listen to news on TV or the radio and read as much as possible, to say the least.
Even just one smile on your face in a day can bring you a sense of relief and comfort. The small act known as a smile can have a profound impact in the human world and serves as a companion that speaks louder than words when it comes to living a joyful life.In everyone’s life, we gradually face challenges and difficulties that can at times feel overwhelming. However, even during moments of discouragement for various reasons, a simple smile on the face can help ease our emotional state to some extent. A person’s smile can also influence the emotions of others and help reduce their mental stress.Duo activitiesEveryone happy can bring a smile, which represents satisfaction on their faces. No one can bring a smile while facing suffering and unhappiness. Hence, the smiling move and the emotion of happiness and satisfaction are inseparable. That is why individuals have to nurture their souls to be able to bring smiles by overcoming sufferings and challenges, as well as by searching root causes of happiness in life. Everybody needs to consider that if they use smiles as a tool to build a happy society, the entire world can cease unhappiness, sadness and grief.The power of a smileA smile is a natural and deeply valuable human behaviour that belongs to everyone. For example, when a mother smiles at her young child, that smile conveys a sense of safety and acceptance to the child. In the same way, in everyday life, a smile serves as a rustproof bridge that builds strong connections between oneself and those around them.Scientifically speaking, when a person smiles, the body releases natural feel-good chemicals such as serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins. These substances help generate feelings of satisfaction and emotional well-being. Additionally, a smile can even help lower heart rate and reduce stress levels.How a Smile can help us live a joyful lifeHappiness is an emotion, but it doesn’t always arise automatically. Sometimes, we must make an effort to seek it out. In doing so, smiling becomes one of the simplest and most accessible ways to maintain a sense of joy in our daily lives.Some fundamental principles underpin happiness. These include self-confidence, self-worth, the capacity to love, and even the ability to forgive those who oppose us. When combined with a genuine smile, these values play an essential role in building healthy relationships, improving mental well-being, and achieving success in life. Generally, happiness is defined as a state of emotional satisfaction. Efforts to ease social tensions and reduce feelings of loneliness are also key factors in achieving a happy and fulfilling life.Smiles and External RelationshipsIn social settings, those who smile often are frequently perceived as trustworthy and approachable individuals. If you look at successful people featured in the media, you’ll often notice a bright, consistent smile on their faces. That smile helps strengthen their social relationships and serves as a valuable tool for communication and collaboration.Someone is smiling warmly and kindly when meeting others not only reflects your attitude but also builds self-confidence. In the professional world, individuals with strong social skills tend to receive more opportunities. Therefore, a smile proves beneficial not just personally, but also in business, education, and organizational environments.How a Smile Supports OneselfThere are times when, looking at one’s own life, a person may feel discouraged or disheartened. Due to losses, dissatisfaction, or the many challenges that arise in daily life, one might feel like giving up. Even in those moments, a simple smile can become a message of hope.Research has shown that in mirror therapy, where individuals look at their reflection, smiling at oneself can help reduce psychological stress. Loving oneself and accepting one’s life can gradually be restored, and the starting point for that healing often begins with a single smile.Raising a smiling habitSmiling can be difficult to do in unwanted situations or to maintain as a habit. However, gradually making a conscious effort to smile even during challenging emotional times can help create a better mental state. Along with the points mentioned above, this can help shift the energy moving within you in a different direction. It supports becoming a person filled with love, compassion, motivation, and fulfilment.Even during difficult and tiring times, if one can carry a smile, it can bring comfort to everyone around them and fill the entire environment with feelings of peace and happiness. By setting aside one’s pain and suffering to bring joy to others, that happiness will reflect from those people, allowing oneself to experience at least a small measure of calm and joy. This is the principle of kindness’s reciprocal nature.Victims of unhappinessThe surveys of the World Health Organization stated that more than 300 million of the global population, accounting for 4.4 per cent, are suffering from depression in their lives, adding that a large portion of the population is also lacking happiness based to unknown diseases. As different tensions impact society, the majority of people cannot emphasize happiness and pleasure while struggling for the daily needs of their lives.The Lord Buddha preached the Four Noble Truths. They are the first Truth of Suffering (Dukkha) that life inherently involves suffering and dissatisfaction; the second Truth of the Origin of Suffering (Samudaya) that Suffering arises from craving, attachment, and ignorance; the third Truth of the Cessation of Suffering (Nirodha) that Suffering can be overcome and ended; and the fourth Truth of the Path to the Cessation of Suffering (Magga) that the Noble Eightfold Path provides the way to end suffering.Hence, nobody can avoid the impacts of suffering and dissatisfaction. They are facing different social crises such as a higher rate of unemployment, lower income, rising expenses and increasing commodity prices. So, the majority of people are experiencing something special about depression. It shows basic factors to disappear happiness and pleasure in their minds. Consequently, they do not believe in their future aspirations, and they cannot endure these sufferings.Research on happinessVarious organizations in global countries released surveys and indices over findings from research on the happiness of people. The happiness of people can be measured by gross domestic product, healthy lifespan, contribution of society for individuals, rights of independent choosing, generosity, and perspectives on corruption. Especially, people from developed countries are embracing happiness due to their lifestyle, which is better than other countries.CriteriaLife is short. Instead of feeling upset and running away during that brief time, we should face it with joy. A smile is a gift for your life – something you can use throughout your entire lifetime.Therefore, dear friends, I encourage you not to forget to smile on your face when you wake up in the morning and to smile when you meet others. A single smile can make not only yourself but also someone else’s entire day extraordinary. A single smile can open a person’s heart. If you truly want to be someone who smiles genuinely, let’s start by sharing words of love and kindness in life.Smiles based on happinessThe happy life of individuals does not depend on the life possessing money, wealth, educational degrees, taking pride in their lives, and faithful associates. Only when individuals are happy will they bring smiles for a long time due to enjoying the safety of life. Actually, can they be happy and satisfied only if they have sufficient food, clothing and accommodation? Both physical and mental well-being can shape the happy life of people. If so, they can sustain their satisfactory smiles throughout their lives.GNLM
With a violent wind from the south and the tide receding steadily, the river becomes an arena of chaos. The coarse water swells and waves, crested with frothy white heads, clash against one another like restless spirits. They seem to rise and fall with a primal force, as if they are dancing wildly to the rhythm of an unseen orchestra. Amidst this wild watery waltz, a little boat struggles for balance, rolling and tossing like a leaf caught in a storm. The river, at this moment, does not welcome peace.Inside the boat, the boatman’s hands grip the oars tightly, knuckles pale with effort. His arms are weary, his mind clouded with anxiety. The boat, though small and fragile, is his entire world. It holds not just his body but his hopes, his thoughts, his fears. The helm resists his control, pulling him left and right, and for a moment, it seems the storm outside has awakened a storm within. Madness whispers from the corners of his mind, tempting him to surrender to the river’s will.As the tide continues to ebb, revealing the secrets of the riverbed, long brownish mudflats appear on both banks like ancient tongues licking the edges of the current. These flats, glistening under the softening light of the afternoon, stretch far into the horizon. Upon them, the world finds a moment of calm. A little white egret, elegant and still, stands like a statue carved by the hand of serenity. It balances gracefully on one leg, the other tucked beneath its wing, eyes half-closed, indifferent to the turmoil nearby. It is a picture of peace in the face of unrest.Somewhere beyond, a group of little birds resumes their quiet singing, repeating the same notes like a lullaby handed down through generations. Their monotonous tunes are not boring but sacred, an ancient comfort that tells of endurance and continuity. The wind carries this melody across the water, reaching the boat and softening the rough edges of the boatman’s mind. It is a yearning, a longing for something gentle, something still.The river’s current continues its course, flowing with a resonant roar. Yet even this sound, powerful and rough, seems to become a kind of music – a song of the tide, a chant of nature’s clock. And there, right in the heart of it all, floats the little boat. It does not drift aimlessly. It resists, it struggles, it dreams. The coat it wears is not of fabric but of determination, holding it together as the world around it churns and moans.Downstream, a cluster of water hyacinths bobs along joyfully, carried effortlessly by the current. Their purple blossoms wave like tiny flags of farewell. Unlike the boat, they do not resist. They follow the flow, unburdened. They have no destination, no fight, only movement and surrender. They vanish into the distance, turning their faces away from the struggles of the little boat.But the boatman has chosen a different path. He must go upstream. He must fight the course of the current. The tide, though fading, leaves behind a coarse and muddy texture on the water’s surface, making the journey all the more difficult. Yet he continues. His arms may ache, his breath may grow short, but his will does not falter. The river may threaten to break him, but it will not break his resolve.The oars in his hands are small. The whirlpools ahead must be avoided with skill and intuition. Each paddle stroke is both an act of survival and an act of faith. The sky above darkens slowly, the late afternoon bleeding into dusk. Shadows stretch across the mudflats. The wind begins to hush. Night is coming.Still, he rows.The river becomes more than just a body of water. It becomes a metaphor for life – a wide, unpredictable road filled with storms and whirlpools, soft melodies and sudden winds.Each of us is like that little boat. We do not always travel on calm waters. Our paths are not always clear or easy. Life’s current does not always carry us where we wish to go. And even if it does, sometimes we must choose to turn against it.Some journey downstream, flowing effortlessly with the current. They do not struggle; their passage is smooth, graceful. They wave as they pass, like the hyacinths, unaware or perhaps uncaring of the effort others must make to move forward. But it’s not always the safer journey. Even downstream, rocks lie hidden beneath the surface. Even the easy road can lead to unknown danger.Others, like the little boat, must journey upstream. Their path is harder, but perhaps more meaningful. They learn resilience, they build strength. Each paddle forward is a triumph. And though the progress is slow, every inch gained is won with honour.Not all travellers reach their destination. Some may be lost along the way, caught in the whirlpools of circumstance, pulled down by the unexpected. Others may find themselves turning in circles, unsure of where to go. But in the heart of every journey, there must be purpose. There must be a reason to keep rowing.The little boat, though tired and tossed, keeps its sight set ahead. The boatman, though nearly overwhelmed, listens to the wind, watches the water, and whispers, “Oh, little village, you are not far away, are you?” He believes in the destination. He believes that beyond the bend, past the storm, there is a place of rest – a quiet harbour with lights in windows and warm meals waiting. A place of belonging.The sky deepens into indigo. Stars begin to shimmer above, faint and few at first, then multiply into a soft cosmic field of light. They do not speak, but their silent presence comforts the boatman. They, too, are travellers, voyaging across the heavens. Their light is ancient, yet it reaches him now, reminding him that he is not alone.In the river, the waves settle slightly. The moon begins to rise, casting a silver ribbon upon the water. It is faint, but enough. The boatman’s eyes, though weary, find strength in that shimmer. It becomes a guide, a thread of hope stretching from his tired boat to the unseen shore.So he rows.The journey is not yet over, but it is not without beauty. The struggle is not yet finished, but it is not without meaning. And the little boat, though bruised by waves and worn by wind, continues forward, with grace, with courage, with hope.GNLM
When I was younger, the market felt like a stage, and I thought I was one of its clever performers. Every time I bargained something down to half the price, it felt like winning a secret game. I remember the silent pride that rose in me when I walked away holding something I wanted, feeling light, satisfied, and quietly pleased with myself. I never thought about the other side of that moment. I didn’t see the whole picture.Back then, I believed I was simply being smart. But growing older teaches us to see not just outcomes, but emotions, especially the ones we once ignored. One day, I remembered a time I bargained with an elderly woman selling handmade baskets on the roadside. I had pushed the price low until she nodded, wrapped the basket in old paper, and handed it to me. Her smile was small, but her eyes looked distant. At the time, I saw only my success. Now, I see her loss.Looking back, I realize she didn’t agree with delight. She agreed with quiet reluctance. Maybe she hadn’t made a sale all day. Maybe she needed some extra money to get home. I had been celebrating a win, unaware that she was giving something up with a heavy heart.That basket, once a prize in my eyes, now feels different. It carries something invisible – an unspoken sadness. It wasn’t a gift freely given, but something surrendered. And it taught me that what we take, when it comes with discomfort or pressure, is never just a thing. It’s wrapped in emotion. It comes with weight; we don’t always feel right away.But there’s another side to this.Let’s imagine a moment when, instead of bargaining, we offer more than what is asked. We say, “Keep the change”, or compliment the seller’s craft with sincerity. We look them in the eye and mean it. In that moment, something shifts. The seller lights up. They feel seen and valued, not defeated. What they give us in return carries their joy. The item becomes more than just a product—it becomes a token of human connection, given with pride and peace.This, I’ve learned, is what truly matters in any exchange: not the price, but the feeling behind it. When we take something that someone offers freely, we carry their warmth with us. But when we take what someone is not ready to give, even if they say yes, we carry their sorrow.This lesson isn’t only about markets. It’s about our daily interactions – our relationships, our conversations, the way we treat people’s time, energy, and trust.Sometimes we ask for favours. Sometimes we borrow someone’s ear or heart. And often, people say yes even when they don’t want to. They smile, they nod, they do what we ask. But deep down, they’re tired, unsure, or unwilling. We don’t always notice, and sometimes we choose not to.But the truth remains: when we take from someone who is hurting, hesitant, or afraid to say no, we don’t walk away with a gift. We walk away with a burden.It’s easy to forget that the quiet discomfort someone feels when they give us something they didn’t want to give doesn’t disappear. It stays in the space between us. It may not be visible, but it lives in the memory of that exchange, and in the way they feel the next time we speak.That’s why giving more – more patience, more presence, more care – matters. When we offer a kind word when it isn’t expected, when we give our full attention even for a few minutes, when we help without waiting to be asked, we create something beautiful. These moments become little gifts of their own. Not just to the other person, but to ourselves. Because kindness, freely given, circles back in quiet and powerful ways.Even with strangers, these small acts can mean the world. Holding the door a little longer. Letting someone speak without rushing them. Smiling sincerely when the world seems too fast. These are the things that make people feel human again, even if only for a moment. But just as we must give with intention, we must also learn to receive with care.There are times when we want something: someone’s time, someone’s understanding, maybe even their forgiveness, but we sense hesitation. We hear the pause. We feel the silence between their words. And in those moments, we must be brave enough to let go. To respect their boundaries. To walk away without taking more than they’re willing to give.Because what we gain at someone else’s emotional cost never stays sweet. It begins to weigh on us. It becomes a quiet sadness we carry, whether or not we admit it. Someone’s unspoken grief can become our silent regret.But imagine a different kind of world. A world where people give only when they want to, and where we take only what is freely offered. Where every exchange, whether big or small, is filled with willingness, not pressure. Where people leave each interaction feeling just a little more whole, a little more respected.That is the kind of world we build when we choose kindness. When we speak with care. When we notice what’s behind someone’s yes, and listen when their silence speaks louder. It’s not about being perfect. It’s about being present. Aware. Thoughtful.So, before we take something from a market, a moment, or a person, let us ask ourselves: Is this being offered with joy? Or am I pushing too far? And when we give, let us give not just what’s asked, but what’s meaningful. Let us give with warmth, not obligation. Let us leave behind peace, not pressure.Because in the end, what truly lasts is not how much we’ve gained, but how deeply we’ve connected. Not what we’ve held in our hands, but what we’ve left in people’s hearts. The things we carry in life are not always seen. But they are always felt. So let us make sure that what we take – and what we give – leaves behind light, not weight.GNLM
Brief bio-data of poet Maung Swan YiThe poet Maung Swan Yi (real name U Win Pe) was born on 17 February 1937 near a village in the town of Myingyan in what was then upper (British or colonial) Burma. He attended the University of Mandalay in the late 1950s and 1960s. Since his early University days, he had published his poems in various magazines and newspapers. He had also worked in various departments in Burma/Myanmar as editor, writer and one of the drafters of the curriculum, mainly for Burmese language texts for high school students.In a collection of most of his poems, which he had published from the late 1950s to about 2010, Maung Swan Yi modestly or unassumingly wrote that he had not been ‘that much of a prolific poet’. That was written in his Foreword to his collection of poems published in August 2017. His foreword was dated 29 June 2017. The 2017 collection contains 342 poems. Yours truly has translated perhaps about 16 of his poems into English.The poet Maung Swan Yi is of leftist persuasion politically. One can say that he was at least in the 1960s and early 1970s a ‘militant leftist’. In the mid to late 1960s Vietnam War was raging. Maung Swan Yi took a very anti-imperialist and (in the context of that particular period) anti-American political stance. On 22 December 1966, he wrote a poem titled ‘Want to commit murder’. It was an anti-Vietnam War poem. A few phrases in the poem read in my translation, ‘I want to have a million hands where I hold a million guns … a million guns yeah, therefore a million bullets’. I refrain or forbear from translating the full poem. The poem is reproduced on page 206 of the 2017 collection of poems.The anti-imperialist and erstwhile anti-American Maung Swan Yi ‘migrated’ to the United States in 2002. For about 23 years, he has been living in an apartment in New York City. This is the brief biodata of the now 88-year-old poet. I recently spoke on the phone with him. He is now very hard of hearing. A visitor to his apartment had to ‘translate’ my conversations to him. But from what the visitor and others based in New York told me, he is quite prolific and resilient. I was told that he tried to write in long-hand poems or essays almost every day in his apartment in New York.One of the poems that Maung Swan Yi composed on 8 November 1969 reads in my translation:New Year Wish for the Scientific AgeBy Maung Swan YiTranslated by Myint Zanwith advances in biology and biochemistryusing scientific methods‘artificial’ life is createdfrom inside the test tube:a human has ‘descended’viola!may the humanborn out of a test tubehave compassion and metta (Pali- loving kindness)for the humanworldlings born outof the of the breast of the creator, dispenser of loving-kindnessPoem composed on 8 November 1969Translated on 19 June 2025Maung Swan Yi composed this poem in November 1969. Eight years and eight months after Maung Swan Yi composed the poem, the world’s first test tube baby, Louis Joy Brown, was born on 25 July 1978 through what is called in vitro fertilization in the United Kingdom. A quick web search indicates that there are currently about eight million humans who were born as ‘test tube babies’.Maung Swan Yi used the phrase Phaya Thakin in his poem, which can be translated as ‘Creator or Deity’. The translator will express his view that, in context, the phrase indicates the ‘creator’ God of the Abrahamic religions. The poet Maung Swan Yi is a Buddhist. One ventures to suggest that the poet was taking poetic license when he used the above phrase, for the Buddhist doctrine is that humans, indeed all sentient beings, are not the ‘creation’ of the Deity as such. But it is fine for Maung Swan Yi to use his poetic imagination to compose this insightful poem. Did the poet envisage or ‘foresee’ the future of not only in vitro fertilisation, which took place eight-and-a-half years after he composed the poem?From test tube babies to designer babies and a few ethical and legal issuesBoth Maung Swan Yi’s poem and my translation do not define (in layperson’s terms) what a test tube baby is. One website definesQUOTEA test-tube baby is a term used to describe a ‘test tube fertilized’ embryo or fetus that is created outside of a woman’s body. Sperm and the egg are manipulated using a scientific process for successful fertilization.UNQUOTEThat process albeit not that prevalent world-wide is no longer a rare phenomenon since that July day in 1978 when the pioneering medical doctors and scientists Patrick Steptoe (9 June 1913-21 March 1988) and Robert Edwards (27 September 1925-10 April 2013) enabled the birth, so to speak, the world’s first test tube baby Louis Joy Brown.The term ‘designer babies’ has quite a different connotation from that of test tube babies. Another website defines designer babies also asQUOTEgene editing, which allows scientists to remove, add, or change genes to prevent or treat certain diseases. If successful, this could prevent the transmission of genetic diseases to future generations. In the future, parents may also be able to choose the genetic traits of their unborn baby.UNQUOTEThe web article excerpted above was dated 7 February 2025 and was written by Rosalie Rung. She continues that though this method is to ‘stop the transmission of heritable diseases. experts don’t consider it safe or effective for widespread use’. Hence, it may not necessarily be a ‘giant leap’ from ‘test tube babies to designer babies’, but it is neither a ‘small step’. Perhaps it may be stated that there are arguably more ethical, indeed legal issues to confront vis-à-vis designer babies than as regards ‘test tube babies’.Surrogate motherhood?When a surrogate mother uses either her own ovaries or the ovaries of another woman mixed with the intended father’s sperm to ‘carry’ the baby in her womb can generally be defined as ‘surrogate motherhood’. As early as 3 February 1988 in the case of ‘Baby M’ (a pseudonym) the New Jersey Supreme Court in the United States ruled that the provision of monies (10,000 US dollars) to the surrogate mother who used the sperm of the intended father and carried her pregnancy to term is illegal (under relevant United States law and statutes). Note that the decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court (citation 109 N J 398 1988) was made less than 10 years after the first test tube baby (not designer baby, not surrogate pregnancy) in July 1978. Hence, ethical and legal issues regarding designer babies and surrogate motherhood (as an offshoot of test tube babies?), which the poet Maung Swan Yi wrote about more than 55 years ago in November 1969, have come to the fore. And it took less than twenty years after Maung Swan Yi’s imaginatively wrote his poem.(Non) Applicability in Myanmar?Subject to correction with evidence, the procedure for in vitro fertilization (IVF) test tube babies is not available in Myanmar. I understand a few couples have visited Thailand to ‘obtain’ ‘test tube babies. Surrogate motherhood and designer babies do raise ethical and legal issues subject to restrictions, limitations and perhaps prohibitions in certain medically advanced countries. This article is a brief addendum to and commentary on Maung Swan Yi’s poem of November 1969, where he whimsically wrote about compassion and Metta (loving-kindness) among ordinary worldlings and test tube babies.Dr Myint Zan is a retired Professor of Law. He has established a Myint Zan Prize in the Philosophy of Science in perpetuity for undergraduate philosophy students at one of his alma maters, The Australian National University. From 2018 to 2024, six undergraduate students have been awarded the Myint Zan prize in the Philosophy of Science.GNLM
Most people might all too easily think that it is not difficult for anyone to become a teacher of a foreign language. After all, this is not as easy as they thought. In my experience, many students tend to pay less attention to a foreign language teacher than a native teacher, even though they express an interest in the language. This is because, in my opinion, they are under the illusion that a foreign language teacher cannot teach the language as well as a native speaker can. Also, some students would like to study a language only from a teacher who speaks it as their first language. Of course, a foreign language teacher or a native teacher will have to teach the same language.The first language barrier that a foreign language teacher could face is nothing but pronunciation. The pronunciation of a language will be most correctly uttered by a native speaker only. Even so, not all native speakers can pronounce any word of their language with the exact utterance. That is, they might also do it wrong sometimes. Hence, we can never say that only native speakers’ pronunciation is always right. A foreign language teacher will be able to overcome the difficulty of pronunciation in a language by going and staying in that language-speaking country for a few years, watching or listening to news broadcasts in that language, using a pronunciation dictionary, or learning phonetic symbols. Despite this, inarticulate teachers often run into difficulty while teaching pronunciation to young students. And usually, foreign teachers’ pronunciation may not be as excellent as native speakers’.The second language barrier for a foreign teacher is vocabulary. As a teacher of a foreign language, it will not be convenient for him or her to have a limited vocabulary in the long run. In other words, a language teacher should have a wide vocabulary. In spite of this, a foreign language teacher will find it difficult to have a rich vocabulary. Any language teacher must have studied essential vocabulary, core vocabulary, specialized vocabulary, active vocabulary and passive vocabulary in advance to enrich an extensive vocabulary as regards the language. To build vocabulary items, a teacher has to use dictionaries, thesauruses and language activators. Though the dictionary is a bank of vocabulary, daily newspapers can be best seen to look up vocabulary words for such a large vocabulary as common or current usages.The third language barrier for a teacher is grammar. Grammar can bring accuracy and fluency to the language, we all know. Nevertheless, many foreign language teachers are given to saying a grammatical pattern, whether it is right or wrong, just depending on what they have ever seen or read, if they are asked by their pupils. Thus, their reply to questions on grammar relies too much on a certain extent to which they have read. It is not a good habit for a foreign language teacher at all. For a language teacher, a grammatical structure can be said exactly if it is correct or not with reference to which dictionary, what page, and so on, as needed. As far as I am concerned, grammar looks boring for most language learners or even language teachers, but nobody can avoid grammar in speaking or writing. Most of all, grammar is the `half-life´ of language writing.A language teacher’s fourth barrier is often found to be speaking the language. As I am aware, most foreign language teachers are unable to speak that language effectively and efficiently. As a result, they are more likely to use the translation method in language teaching and practice instead of the direct method. Here, I do not mean that the translation method is in vain in language instruction, simply because this method is used in many countries where a language is taught as a second language. Nonetheless, almost all students like a foreign language teacher teaching the language, just speaking in that language.Every foreign language teacher’s linguistic instruction needs to have both validity and reliability in language teaching, as well as accuracy and fluency. And a teacher of a foreign language had better have self-confidence not only in language study but also in language teaching. For language teachers, great writing is their life too. Every foreign language teacher ought to listen to news on TV or the radio and read as much as possible, to say the least.GNLM
About five or six years ago, I opened a computer training centre. My training centre operated with 20 desktop computers. Since I also ran a small English language course, I taught computer skills once a week to the young students who came for English lessons, while also providing dedicated computer training for those who wanted to learn separately. The computers were purchased at affordable prices from the second-hand market in Yangon, so the initial investment wasn’t too large. Within about a year of starting the business, it became quite successful. However, over the next two years, the unreliable electricity supply made it impossible for the desktops to function properly, especially during the day when power was available for only a few hours on a rotational basis, and even then, frequent outages occurred. This created significant challenges in running the computer training centre, so I ended up dismantling and storing the computers.Since the computers were second-hand to begin with and had been stored for about a year, they started to break down. Keeping the broken computers at home felt cluttered and took up space, so I sold them to a scrap shop for a negligible price, more like the rate for scrap metal than old computers. Now, I’ve kept only two good desktops at home and rely on laptops for my needs. I haven’t been able to reopen the computer training centre either. One day, I read an article in Reader’s Digest about E-Waste, which made me understand the issue and regret selling the old computers. That’s why I’ve written this article to share with readers.Technology permeates modern life, with smartphones, laptops, tablets, and other devices becoming indispensable. However, when these gadgets become obsolete or malfunction, many are discarded carelessly, contributing to a mounting issue known as electronic waste, or e-waste. This category encompasses discarded electronics like old phones, computers, monitors, keyboards, batteries, and household appliances such as microwaves or refrigerators. Improper disposal, often in regular trash bins, poses significant environmental risks. Recycling e-waste offers a sustainable solution, yielding benefits like reducing toxic pollution, conserving natural resources, cutting greenhouse gas emissions, minimizing landfill waste, and fostering a circular economy. This article explores how recycling e-waste protects the planet.Understanding E-WasteE-waste refers to discarded electronic devices or their components. Globally, millions of tons are generated annually, yet much of it is improperly disposed of, ending up in landfills or incinerators, causing environmental and health hazards. Recycling involves dismantling old electronics and reusing their materials or parts to create new products, mitigating these risks. Below are five key environmental benefits of this practice.1. Reducing Toxic PollutionElectronics often contain hazardous substances like lead, mercury, cadmium, and brominated flame retardants, which pose risks to ecosystems and human health. For instance, lead can impair the brain and nervous system, while mercury contaminates water sources, harming fish and wildlife. Improper disposal, such as landfilling or incineration, allows these toxins to seep into soil and water, polluting rivers, lakes, and groundwater. This contamination affects plants, animals, and communities relying on these resources.Recycling prevents such pollution by ensuring safe handling of toxic materials. Specialized facilities extract and dispose of these substances properly, preventing environmental contamination. By recycling, ecosystems remain protected, and air, water, and soil stay cleaner, safeguarding biodiversity and public health.2. Conserving Natural ResourcesElectronic devices contain valuable materials like gold, silver, copper, and rare earth metals, used in components such as circuit boards, wires, and batteries. Extracting these materials through mining devastates forests, rivers, and wildlife habitats while consuming significant energy and water. Recycling recovers these materials for reuse in new products, reducing the need for virgin resources. For example, gold from an old smartphone can be repurposed for a new device, decreasing reliance on mining.This process preserves natural landscapes, conserves water and energy, and minimizes environmental degradation. By reusing existing materials, recycling supports sustainable resource management, benefiting the planet’s ecosystems and reducing the ecological footprint of electronics production.3. Lowering Greenhouse Gas EmissionsRecycling e-waste combats climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide, which trap heat and contribute to global warming. Manufacturing new electronics from raw materials is energy-intensive, involving mining, refining, and production processes that often rely on fossil fuels. These activities release substantial emissions into the atmosphere.Using recycled materials or refurbishing old devices requires significantly less energy, cutting emissions. For instance, recycling metals for new products consumes less power than mining and processing ores. Additionally, recycling reduces emissions from transporting raw materials globally. By prioritizing recycling, the electronics industry’s carbon footprint shrinks, contributing to a healthier planet and supporting global efforts to mitigate climate change.4. Minimizing Landfill WasteE-waste is among the fastest-growing waste streams worldwide, with millions of discarded devices adding to landfill volumes annually. Overcrowded landfills struggle to accommodate this influx, and many are ill-equipped to handle electronics safely. Toxic substances can leak, exacerbating environmental harm, as discussed earlier. Recycling alleviates this burden by diverting e-waste from landfills.Recycling programs collect and sort electronics, reusing components and safely processing hazardous materials. This reduces landfill waste, lowers the risk of pollution, and helps maintain cleaner, safer communities. By keeping electronics out of landfills, recycling addresses a critical waste management challenge and supports sustainable urban development.5. Promoting a Circular EconomyE-waste recycling advances a circular economy, a sustainable model that maximizes resource use and minimizes waste. Unlike the traditional “take-make-dispose” approach, which extracts raw materials, produces goods, and discards them, a circular economy emphasizes reuse, repair, and refurbishment. Recycling e-waste enables materials from old devices to be repurposed for new products, reducing the demand for new resources and minimizing waste.For example, components from a discarded phone can be used in new electronics, extending material lifecycles. This approach conserves resources, reduces landfill and incinerator waste, and promotes sustainability. By embracing recycling, society moves toward a system that prioritizes long-term environmental health and resource efficiency.Why E-Waste Recycling MattersRecycling e-waste transcends simply sorting electronics into designated bins; it’s a vital step towards environmental protection and sustainability. It prevents toxic chemicals from contaminating soil and water, conserves valuable resources, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, alleviates landfill pressures, and fosters a circular economy. These efforts collectively safeguard ecosystems, mitigate climate change, and promote sustainable resource use.Achieving these benefits requires collective action. Governments can enforce regulations to ensure proper e-waste collection and recycling. Companies can design products for easier recycling and incorporate recycled materials. Individuals play a crucial role by choosing to recycle rather than discard electronics in regular trash.How to ContributeParticipating in e-waste recycling is straightforward. Start by locating local recycling programmes or drop-off points, often available through municipalities or electronics retailers. Many manufacturers offer take-back programs for old devices. Before recycling, erase personal data, such as photos or passwords, to protect privacy. Extending device lifecycles through repair, donation, or second-hand sales also reduces e-waste. These actions, though small, significantly impact environmental health.In brief, e-waste poses a growing challenge, but recycling provides a powerful solution. By reducing toxic pollution, conserving resources, lowering emissions, minimizing landfill waste, and promoting a circular economy, recycling protects the environment and fosters sustainability. Every recycled phone or computer contributes to cleaner ecosystems, reduced climate impact, and efficient resource use. Individuals, governments, and companies must collaborate to ensure responsible e-waste management. The next time you replace an old device, choose recycling — your action can make a meaningful difference for the planet’s future.GNLM
