The Hare and the Tortoise

 

Once, I worked as an English teacher. One day, I was almost late, so I took a taxi. I told the taxi driver to go to the English school. The elderly taxi driver asked me, “Are you an English teacher?” Then he started to tell me his story.

When he was a student, he wanted to work for a hotel. Many non-Japanese travelers would stay in the hotel. So he studied English very hard. He continued, “I can recite ‘The Hare and the Tortoise,’ which was in my textbook. May I recite it now?”

I listened to his recitation of “The Hare and the Tortoise” as an English teacher. Amazingly, from the beginning to the end, there was no mistake. He was very fluent. Driving a taxi is a great job. But if his dream came true, he would be a great hotel employee.

I was lucky to be able to continue my English education. I became an English teacher. But I can’t remember a single page from the textbook I used when I was a student. I am not sure I can recite “The Hare and the Tortoise” fluently without making a mistake.

Perhaps I need to study the fundamentals again. Maybe every time the driver drives an English teacher, he practices “The Hare and the Tortoise.” Practice makes perfect.

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Picture by Yaiba lime