The Boy Who Sees with Sound

Benjamin Underwood develops a special echolocation system, which usually is used by bats or dolphins, to detect the surroundings around him so that he can get to any destination without a cane, a common tool for blind people. Retinal cancer claimed both his eyes when Ben was three years old. However, he always says, “I am not blind. I just can not see.”

The attitude of his mother is contributing to the extraordinary ability to push the limits of human perception. Ben’s mother always told her son, “Your name is Benjamin Underwood, and you can do anything.” She gave him the confidence and the bravery to challenge the physical deficiency, prompting this exceptional boy to develop his unbelievable echomobility.

I am astonished by the fact that the human being could employ echoes to distinguish the objects and to navigate oneself. This story, again, proves that the mankind has a variety of unknown capability to exploit. If a boy like Benjamin Underwood who has lost his faculty of sight could conquer the all the impediments to learn how to locate himself by echolocation, how could a person like me who is in possession of all faculties give up his or her life goal by any temporary setback or surmountable depression?

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The Boy Who Sees with Sound - by PEOPLE Magazine

To Save a Stranger, Will You Lie between Rails Letting the Train Running Trough You?

What is the feeling of lying on the roadbed between rails while a 370-ton subway train roared over above your body? Wesley Autrey, a 50 years old African-American, just experienced this kind of formidable moment. What is his motivation? Well, it is to save a stranger, who fell down from the platform because of unexpected seizure.

I am not only shocked by the incredible plot of this real-life story and the courage of the savior, but also moved by the fact that in this world, there is still somebody willing to risk his own life to rescue the life of a stranger. Many times, when I was standing on the platform waiting for subway train, I used to fantasize lying on the depression between the rails when a train was passing through the station, wondering the possibility of being alive after doing so. This is only a passing whim derived from boredom while waiting for my train. However, I have never thought of that this action could have really happened in the reality on January 2 of this year.

The most impressive moment for me was that the two young daughters were screaming- “My daddy! My daddy! - when the train monster swallowed their father and that stranger. I could sympathize the fright of the little girls at the very emergent moment. What if their father died in front of them? Then that day could become a haunting nightmare in the rest of their life. Fortunately, this supposition did not become a truth.

Life is a miracle. Everybody should cherish each moment of his or her life. On the other hand, to give others a hand when one could is a virtue that might be an old-fashioned one, but should last forever.

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Is It Necessary for Americans to Learn a Secondary Language?-As a Response to Dan

One month ago, my Caucasian friend, whose parents are respectively an Englishman and a French, told me that our new friend who just come to China from the U. S. is just a “typical American”. I can tell his definition about the phrase “typical American” was definitely not positive, according to his detailed descriptions. This had made me relate to other comments toward Americans from my other European friends, most of the comments concluding to two points - Americans don’t care about others (other countries) and Americans believe they are the center of the world.

I have to make it clear that I didn't feel this way before. In fact, I like Americans and the U. S. A. is my top priority among the destinations on my traveling list. However, when I hear these kinds of comments again and again, I can't help wondering what cause this kind of opinions and what is the so called “typical American". That is the background of article “The World knows about America, Whereas the America Knows Nothing about the World” I wrote a few days ago. In this article, my main idea is that the inability to master a secondary language impedes most Americans to get a deeper understanding of thoughts from other countries. My assumption is that few Americans learn a second language is a fact.

Dan gave me a comment on this topic, prompting me happily to give him a response. In his comments, he accepted my assumption - I hoped that I did not misunderstand -, introduced some background statements about the U. S. and explained his “opinion on why Americans seem to only care about themselves and display racial bias”. In my response, I just reiterated the language do play a key role in mutual understandings, even though it is not the only means for sure. Besides, I wrote that “As for other parts you mentioned, I would say that whether it is necessary to understand more about the world for American people would be another issue involved different value system. It is only a problem of choice," a part that confused Dan and that I would like to make it clear in the following.

It is the values, some beliefs in what deserves to do, that prompt people of a country to decide whether they need to learn another foreign language or not. For most Americans, they don't feel worthy of learning another language because they can use English, both in life and in work, to communicate with people in America and in other countries. They think that learning a secondary language has no pragmatic function. The choice they make just reflects their thoughts and attitudes about the world and themselves. And this choice may be another topic to discuss if anyone is interested in it. There may be nothing right or wrong.

I hope I express my idea unequivocally.

The World knows about America, Whereas the America Knows Nothing about the World

Many reports are describing that the Americans are enthusiastic about learning Chinese language, making a big shortage of Chinese Teachers. One article comments that English as an international language can be both advantage and disadvantage for the American people. The good part is that they can be convenient and easy to travel around the world because most people around the world try to learn English. However, the bad part is that people around the world can understand every aspects of the U. S., while the American people can hardly understand what other countries are thinking of. The language is the key.

I have to agree with this point of view. Today, I watched some CNN breaking news about the radio host, Don Imus, who got fired by NBC because of his discriminative comments about some African-American young female athletes. I found it interesting that a racial issue is so sensitive in American society, a phenomenon that seldom to happen in Taiwan or in China. While I was observing the progress of the event occurring in the United States, I started to wonder if any American people know what the critical issues are in China, Taiwan, or other countries. I become to get a little idea why most of my European friends express their disparagement to the Americans unconsciously. One of them once told me that the Americans only know about themselves and most of them are just selfish. At that moment, I just think it is a bias and an attitude of imbalance derived from the status quo that the U.S. is the supper power country in the world, compared with the European countries.

Admittedly, many Americans learn their secondary languages, such as French, Spanish, and Japanese. Nonetheless, the portion of population mastering foreign languages is much lower than most other countries. For example, in China, billions of citizens are learning English using out-of-date textbooks and materials. Contrast to this, only about 50 thousand Americans are interested in learning Chinese and they even encounter a big problem of no suitable textbooks, according the article I read.

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