By THAN HTUN (Geoscience Myanmar)
Education Systems
Around the year 1961-62, according to the state education system, I had the chance to start learning English in the 5th Grade. At that time, the average age of students in the 5th Grade was around 10 or 11. We could read and write Burmese quite well, along with fundamental mathematics. Typically, KG to 4th Grade was in State Primary School, 5th Grade to 7th Grade was in State Middle School, and 8th Grade to 10th Grade or Matriculation was in State High School.
State Middle School
After passing 4th Standard, I moved from primary school to State Middle School in Meiktila Township. Our courses changed a lot, especially in English, Algebra, and Geometry. Of all the compulsory subjects, I was most interested in English. I noticed that our English teachers, except for Headmaster U Kyaw Nyein, had also learned English starting in the 5th Grade. So, I was not satisfied with their pronunciation as they naturally inclined towards Burmese sounds. The headmaster taught English only in the 7th Grade, and all students, including my elder brother and sister, were afraid of his rank and style of teaching.
During my 5th Grade in middle school, I was lucky to have the opportunity to learn English grammar and composition from my cousin, who had passed matriculation many years ago. He provided me with a solid foundation in English grammar and composition, which gave me the confidence to pursue self-study. During the summer holidays, right after the final examination of 5th Grade, I borrowed the old 6th-grade English textbook from my sister and studied it on my own during the long break. I could read and understand almost all the chapters before the start of the next school term. I also obtained a valuable English composition exercise book, although I cannot recall how I got it. I read it and completed all the exercises in the book as a general foundation. I am sure that students in the mission schools in Myanmar at that time may not have needed to study as diligently as I did.
During my early studies, I consistently ranked first in English in monthly examinations. Living in a rural area meant access to English books was limited to school textbooks. After completing sixth Grade, I delved into my sister’s seventh-grade English textbook to prepare for the upcoming school term. I meticulously studied its comprehension passages and completed all exercises diligently throughout the entire summer break, along with revising my previous English composition exercises.
Upon entering seventh Grade, our respected Headmaster, U Kyaw Nyein, began teaching our English class. With around 40 students, most were typical learners except for my close friend Soe Myint, who excelled in mathematics and had a knack for dressing sharply since primary school. The headmaster would read each chapter aloud and explain in Burmese when needed. After reading, he would challenge us: “Stand up; if you can fill in the first line of the exercise, you may sit.” Having prepared over the summer, I quickly filled in the blanks and sat down. Recognizing my readiness, the headmaster singled me out to confirm my answers. This pattern repeated with each new exercise, and I consistently stood alone as the only student to complete the tasks correctly. As a result, I maintained my top position in English throughout the school year, repeating my first-place performance from the previous year.
Life often turns out quite different from our expectations. During my middle school years, the government granted a stipend for outstanding students in high school. For three years in high school, outstanding 7th-grade students had to sit for an examination, and those who passed would receive a stipend. Unfortunately, our headmaster moved to a new middle school in town before the mid-term of my 7th Grade. I noticed that the deputy headmaster elected Soe Myint for the scholarship examination. This news deeply saddened and depressed me. I struggled to sleep, lost interest in my studies, and did not share my frustration with my parents.
A few months later, a new headmaster took over at our school. He was a young, qualified, and quiet teacher. One early morning before class, I approached him and asked why, despite achieving first place in all subjects in the monthly exams, I had not been selected for the scholarship examination. The headmaster explained that the decision had been made before he arrived and that he couldn’t help. After hearing his remarks, I felt even more upset and considered giving up on my school lessons. However, I managed to pass the 7th Grade with flying colours.
State High School
I moved to No 1 State High School in Meiktila town just after finishing middle school. On the first day, I learned that the high school syllabus had changed, and we needed to decide whether to study science or arts. Although I thought arts subjects would be easier, I was drawn to studying a science combination of physics, chemistry, and mathematics despite being weak in math. If I had chosen arts, I would have had to move to No 2 SHS immediately. I preferred No 1 SHS as it was more convenient for me to study there.
In the 8th Grade, we were introduced to physics, chemistry, and mathematics by newly graduated teachers from various universities. My impression of the education system was relatively low, and due to previous negative experiences, I wasn’t entirely interested in my studies. Despite the teachers’ efforts, nearly half of the students failed the exams because the science subjects were new to us. Although I passed, the failure of so many classmates was a wake-up call for me. I resolved to approach my future studies with renewed enthusiasm and dedication.
In 9th Grade, known as the ‘High School Final’, which was directly controlled by the board of education, only a few per cent of students passed annually. That was the first significant step in higher education, so I studied hard, just as I did in middle school. During 9th Grade, I had the opportunity to study under excellent teachers, U San Shwe and Daw Yin Mya. U San Shwe was very patient and kind to students. He taught English textbooks thoroughly, sentence by sentence and word by word. He often spent almost a month on a single paragraph, providing examples and exercises. Both he and Daw Yin Mya taught us English grammar, composition, and essay writing. Their generous and stimulating teaching gave us a strong foundation in English. I am deeply grateful to our teachers for their kind guidance.
One day in June 1965, I discovered my name in the daily newspaper’s list of those who passed the high school final examination. I was so happy and excited to achieve such a difficult award. The exam was hard to pass; less than 10 per cent of the candidates succeeded during that time. I knew that my position was within reach of higher education, intending to earn a degree soon. I focused on my matriculation courses, especially English, along with Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry.
In the metric class, we were fortunate to learn English under the guidance of teacher U Kyi Soe, who holds a BA BEd degree specializing in English. He taught us English grammar, composition, essay writing, and paragraph writing. Saya U Kyi Soe’s English pronunciation was clear and precise, and he provided us with many comprehension exercises. We all enjoyed his class and felt free to ask him anything we wanted to know. The most interesting lesson was when he introduced us to editorials from newspapers to help us learn current usages, idioms, slang, and colloquial English. He brought various daily newspapers to class and distributed one to each student. Holding a newspaper himself, he guided us through the editorial, explaining the rich vocabulary, phrasal verbs, and speeches of world leaders found in English newspapers. He read an editorial aloud, thoroughly explaining it sentence by sentence and phrase by phrase. He then encouraged us to read the entire newspaper casually and later analyze the editorials in detail, focusing on their English usage, style, grammar, and contemporary idioms.
One morning in class, our beloved teacher, U Kyi Soe, suggested we cut out editorials from various newspapers without considering the date of issue and keep them together with clips. The next day, we bought new or old English newspapers from the market, mostly from shops that used old newspapers for wrapping. We could buy them cheaply as they were sold by weight. I recall that most of them were The Guardian newspapers at that time. We cut out the editorials with scissors, bound them together with paper clips, and brought them to the classroom the next day.
Our teacher was delighted and commended us for our enthusiasm in English, appreciating our willingness to follow his guidance. From that time on, we read editorials both in class and at home whenever we had time. Teacher U Kyi Soe encouraged us to read our selected editorials aloud one by one, explained their meanings and how the writers conveyed the themes and had us note down his explanations in our notebooks. Additionally, Saya introduced us to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) for better English pronunciation – the phonetic key served as our guide to pronounce vocabulary correctly, enabling us to study independently. By following our teacher’s guidelines, we all became familiar with English from a broader perspective and gained confidence in self-study. Simultaneously, our English skills significantly improved by studying editorials from English newspapers. My teacher’s method of teaching English remains fresh in my memory, along with his kindness.
Teacher U Kyi Soe told us that English idioms, proverbs, and expressions are important parts of everyday English. They come up all the time in both spoken and written English. As idioms do not always make sense literally, you will need to familiarize yourself with the meaning and usage of each idiom. Therefore, you may need a lot of work despite learning idioms being fun, especially when you compare English idioms to your language. You can find all the above valuable knowledge from daily newspapers and editorials that you read daily.
University and Ministry
After passing my final high school examination, I moved to Mandalay for higher education. While attending the Arts and Sciences University of Mandalay for a BSc (Geology) degree, I regularly read daily English newspapers. I was fortunate that we studied all geology subjects in English. Upon graduation, I moved to Yangon to join the Ministry of Mines. In Yangon, I had access to more books and resources for studying English, and I attended Spoken English classes. U Aung Kyaw’s ‘Su Su and Tu Tu’ English class taught me spoken English based on newspaper reading, including editorials and IPA phonetics.
I had a significant opportunity to study spoken English with BBS U Hla Bu, a retired famous announcer of the Burma Broadcasting Service in the 1960s. He taught us advanced courses in phonetics, listening, and retelling radio talks, plays, and editorials. I also visited the USIS Library to borrow and read English books, including novels and short stories, and I listened to both VOA and BBC radio stations daily.
Additionally, I was assigned to the UN Tin/Tungsten Projects, where I had the chance to interact with UN experts from various countries, including Canada, America, Holland, Israel, Germany, and Britain, who all spoke English. I had the opportunity to buy both old and new English newspapers, such as the Bangkok Post and The Straits Times from Thailand, while I was in Mergui, Bokpyin, and Kawthoung in the Tenasserim offshore fields. I read all the editorials whenever I had time. As a counterpart geologist to expert geologists, I gained extensive experience in mineral exploration. Consequently, my English proficiency improved, enabling me to manage a Joint Venture Programme with foreign companies successfully from 1995 to 2004.
My lifelong ambition and determination to achieve excellence in English never faded. It inspired me to continue my journey of learning and teaching English to this day. I dedicate this article to all former and current editors of English newspapers.
