WEBVTT

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Today’s class is composition.

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The topic of the composition will be

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My Mother.

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Get out your composition book and start writing.

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How do I write it ?

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My mom's

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name is Lin Miao-yin.

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I call her mom.

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Isn't this nonsense ?

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How should I write it ?

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What do you write ?

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My mom

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is neither tall nor short ;

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and neither fat nor skinny.

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I think you can add :

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“She's neither dark nor pale,

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and neither nice nor nasty.”

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Hmm, leave me alone.

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Alright, don't be afraid of writing a composition.

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You'll be fine just by making things up.

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Teacher, my mom loves making things up.

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Those who finish writing can hand over your books.

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Teacher, I'm done.

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When writing a composition, the most important thing

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is to read the topic carefully.

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If you write down the wrong topic,

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how will you write it?

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You wrote My Baby

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instead of My Mother.

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Read it yourself.

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My Baby.

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I don't have a baby.

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I only have a chihuahua,

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who is a male.

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I think my masterwork must be this set of books,

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which is called Jun-Wei in Elementary School.

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The set consists of six books,

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and was published over 20 years ago.

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At the time,

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I wrote the first book–Grade 1 New Things–

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to record the interactions of my son

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during his first year

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in elementary school

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and the times with me at home

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I didn't expect that it would be very popular

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when published in the newspaper.

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The publisher came to me

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and published the book.

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Unexpectedly, Grade 1 New Things

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was popular after being published,

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so the following series, grade 2,

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grade 3 and all the way

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to grade 6 were also published.

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When grade 6 was published,

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I had spent 10 years on the series.

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The set of books

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Jun-Wei in Elementary School was then published.

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I'm an elementary school teacher

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and a mother of two.

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I thought since I'm with kids

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day and night,

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and surrounded by

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kids' vivid talk

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every day,

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it would be pity

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if I didn't write things down.

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One of my articles, Flowers' Thoughts

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has been selected

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in a textbook.

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The story Don't Laugh at Cactus

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was written based on my personal feeling.

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I used the method of personification

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to write it.

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Cactuses are prickly.

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To humans,

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they don't look

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pleasing to the eyes.

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For example,

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flowers such as

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lilies and roses

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are more charming and attractive.

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So I used a

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contrasting approach to write it.

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Which I mean

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in a group,

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if people don't like you

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and you aren't popular,

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you should still continue to make progress

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with confidence.

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This is my purpose in writing this story.

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In order to awaken

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kids' interest in writing,

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I made use of my artistic ability

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when I was hosting

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book clubs.

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The activity I conducted

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was to make a book after reading a book.

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For example, this book.

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I used the approach in

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the novel

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The Little Prince.

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After we finished reading The Little Prince,

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all of us made a heart-shaped book

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of The Little Prince,

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because this book needs to be read with your hearts.

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They opened the book

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and wrote down

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their thoughts

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about The Little Prince

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on each page.

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As a result, the kids

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maybe felt that

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they were making something fun,

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and didn't realize

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that they were writing.

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So making a book after

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reading a book

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became the main motivation

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for my promotion of hand-made books later on.

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I believe that

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hand-made books

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can be a wonderful bridge

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from reading to writing.

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Since I was little,

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I always do one thing

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after finishing a book,

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which is

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thinking through it.

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In other words, I reflect on it.

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Because of that,

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I think that it is very important

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for kids

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to make a habit of

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coming up with

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their own reflections

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or ideas

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after reading

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articles and books.

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Because of that,

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over the last few years,

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I have developed a set of

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philosophy books for children,

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in which my beloved cat

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Miaoqiaoke is the protagonist.

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I feel that cats often

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have a sense of mystery.

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It's like they...

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My cat likes to think

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while looking out of the window.

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It is actually listening to the bird singing.

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I think this image is quite fascinating.

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That's why I made Miaoqiaoke

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the protagonist in my books.

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I wrote a series of philosophy books for children

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with Miaoqiaoke in them.

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In this series of children's books,

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actually what I want to talk about

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is one thing,

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perhaps it's more important

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to think about questions

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concerning issues.

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In my books, I want to raise

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good questions

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that will make kids think about

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possible answers.

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Moreover, in my numerous stories,

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there isn't only one answer.

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I even want kids to think that

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perhaps there’s no answer to a question.

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They might feel more confused after reading it,

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but I think being confused is a good thing.

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It's because confusion will

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make you want to think deeper.

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Except for children's songs and screenplays,

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I've written all types of material.

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In the depth of night,

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I sometimes think that

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among all the books I've written,

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if one book,

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just one of my books,

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is read by a certain kid,

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who really likes it

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and feels at heart

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that the book has been written about him or her,

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and is having a conversation with him or her,

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I'd be filled with joy

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when I think of

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that scene.

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I mean I write from my heart

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and readers can read what's inside my heart.

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At that moment,

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our hearts are communicating with each other across the distance between us.

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That moment is pure joy,

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like eating chocolate.

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Kids