Correct me if I'm wrong, the English education at the suburbs is slighly different from that in the cities? For the school I'm in, the kids' knowledge of English is rather miserable. I can safely say that whatever that's taught in grade 6 here would only be the equivalent of primary 2 education in Singapore. Not surprising yea?
After interacting with the locals, I began to understand the mentality of people in taiwan a little better. I think most taiwanese (children and adults) are not motivated to learn English because they find the language unapplicable to the context of their daily lives. Although some of them actually know how to speak, all of them refuse to apply it for fear of getting corrected or laughed at? Even amongst the teachers here, I see the inconfidence in their eyes when I requested for a conversation in English. They were quick in giving their refusal. Having said that, I'm quite inspired by the creativity on the part of English teachers here to make students want to learn English. With a mixture of songs, games and candies, they manage to keep the attention span of these children going.

On to a separate issue, I was told that there is something unique about the children in this school and I saw it with my own eyes today. That in almost every class, there are a few who are having physical difficulties (blindness, deafness and even intellectual disabilities). In Singapore, we have special schools that cater to the needs of these kids and the typical elementary school would almost always refuse their admission. However, the Taiwan education actually believes in integrating them into the education system and giving them a chance to grow with the other normal kids. But what I saw today were verbal insults and even physical abusement they receive from the normal ones. Is it healthy for them to develop in this way?
Maybe it's due to the fact that this is a school in the suburbs, kids enrolled have families with multiple problems like single parenthood, drunken dads and financial difficulties (which is the most common). I was told that this little girl in grade 4 has to wash the clothes for her dad and sister when she returns from school everyday. At the age of 10, what was I doing then?