A Meaningful Punishment

When I was in the senior high school, I studied Chinese language. It was the first time I got the lesson. I was so interested with it and I always paid attention when I studied it. On the first meeting, we introduced ourselves to my teacher and she did too. My teacher’s name is Panggih Pratiwi. She asked us to call her Jiejie Panggih. Jiejie means older sister. She wanted us to call her jiejie, because she had not got married and she was still young.

After we introduced each other, we continued to our study.  I and my friend were taught about the alphabet of Chinese language  by Jiejie Panggih. We were so confused because the pronunciation is different with the written. For example, the word which is started in b should be read p and the word which is started in p should be read ph. Sometime, it was looked so funny when my friends got a difficulty to pronounce some words. After that, she taught us about the intonation. There are four tones that we had to understand, they gave influence when we spoke in Chinese language. There are four tunes that we had to understand, they are ( ā), (Ć), (Č), (ì), for example ā must be read in flat tone. The words that have been brought the tone will be called pinyin. After we knew about pinyin, Jie Panggih told us about hanzi. Hanzi is the letter of Chinese language.

After we had studied for some meetings, Jie Panggih announced that we would have a daily examination. I prepared the material as best as I could, because I wanted to get a good mark. The day came, Jie Panggih gave us some questions. I could pass the exam successfully. The next meeting, she told us about the result. I was so curious about it. When she called my name, I was shocked, but she smiled and said that I got a perfect mark. I was so happy with it.

In the first year, studying Chinese language was so fun, but it was different in the second year. It changed because we had to memorize so many words. We had to memorize among pinyin, hanzi, and the meaning. It was so hard for us.

One day, we had a daily examination and it was about weather. The materials were so complicated, especially the hanzi. I was so afraid when I was answering the questions, because I did not prepare everything. Although I did not study hard, I did not want to cheat. I just could answer some questions, but my paper seems blank. I tried to remember  pinyin and hanzi, but I  just could remember a little. When the time was up, my paper still seems blank, but I had to submit my paper whatever it was.

The next meeting, she told us about the result. I could guess that the result was not good. It seems from her face that looked upset just same as mine. I could not hide my fear. When she called me, I was surprised and shocked when I looked at my mark. I got thirty five. Well, it was the worst mark I ever got for Chinese language examination. Jie Panggih announced the remedial test would be held fifteen minutes later. I felt like my heart broken into pieces. I opened my book and tried to memorize hanzi and pinyin in fifteen minutes.

Jie Panggih asked us to translate six sentences into Chinese language. We had to write hanzi and pinyin. I could not do better. My paper seems blank again. Our paper were corrected by her directly after we submitted them. When she told the result, I felt like I wanted to die at that moment. Well, I just got thirty and Jie Panggih gave a punishment for us who got the worse mark. The punishment is we had to make a declaration letter and it should be submitted the next day at 10.00 a.m. I was so confused and scared how I can solve it. I was not good in this lesson and I did not have Chinese dictionary. But I believe that Allah always with me. My friend told me that she would help me. Lucky me!

After school, I and my friend made the letter. It was about my promise that I would not do the same thing and I had to study hard. The next day I submitted my letter to Jie Panggih. Since that day, I never do the same thing and I always prepare everything when I would have an examination.