If You Give Me Three Days of Light: The Best Collection of Helen Keller

Chapter 46 Anne Sullivan's Letters (3)
Every time she wants to know the name of something, she will point to that thing while clapping my hand.So I spelled "water" for her to see, and she didn't ask me about the word again until after breakfast.I thought she understood it completely, and I also thought that with the help of this new word, the problem of "mug" and "milk" might be solved.Then, we came to the pump room.While pumping, I asked Helen to wait in front of the spout with a cup.The cold water gushed out and filled the glass in one fell swoop, and I immediately spelled "water" into Helen's other hand.Under the infiltration of the cold water, the reality of the word seemed to shock her.She dropped the cup in her hand, and stood there in a daze as if enchanted by someone.A new radiance shone on her face.In fact, she didn't really "get it all" until then, spelling the word "water" several times in succession.Then she noticed the ground, and asked me what it was called, and then she pointed to the water pump and the shed frame next to it, and even turned around and asked what I should call it.I spelled "teacher" for her.At that time, the nanny carried Helen's little sister to the water room. Helen pointed at the little sister and spelled out the word "baby".On the way home she was in high spirits and learned the name of everything she touched.In this way, in just a few hours, thirty new words were added to Helen's vocabulary.Including door (door), open (open), shut (close), give (give), go (go), come (come) and so on.

PS: I was in no rush to post this letter last night because I wanted to add a couple more.

This morning, Helen awoke like a lively little angel.Her hand flicked over each item, asking the name of each item.At the same time, she happily kissed and kissed me.As soon as I went to bed last night, she quietly got into my arms and kissed me, which is rare in a century.I was really indescribable at the time, and my excited heart almost jumped out.

letter nine

Nov. 1887, 4

Every day, no, almost every hour, every minute I could see the improvement in Helen.Now because she knows that everything has a name, she can't wait to ask about this and that wherever we go, especially things that she didn't learn at home.Not only was she eager to have her friends teach her to spell new words, but she taught the sign language alphabet to anyone she met.I think that once she acquires enough vocabulary, she will be able to fully express her true feelings with these new words.She would no longer use the confusing gestures of the past.Another point worth mentioning is that we all noticed that Helen's facial expressions became more and more colorful.

According to Helen's performance, I decided not to offer formal courses for her for the time being.I was going to treat Helen the way I would treat a two-year-old.Because I think it is absurd to send a child to a fixed place at a fixed time, and then, when he has not yet mastered the basic vocabulary, ask him to recite a fixed text.After teaching Helen, I asked myself: "How does a normal child learn language?" In fact, we know the answer, which is very simple: "Imitate."

Every child has an innate ability to learn. As long as he receives enough external stimulation, he will be able to "self-learn" without cramming.Children will actively watch people do things and then try to do them too.He listened to the others and then tried to speak too.That is, he understood what was being said long before he uttered the first word.These two days, I have been observing Helen's little cousin.Although she is only fifteen months old, she already knows a lot.Whenever someone asks her a question, she will obediently point to her nose, mouth, eyes, chin, face and ears to respond.For example, if I say, "Honey, where is your other ear?" she will point it out accurately.If I take a flower and say to her, "Give this to Mom," she hands the flower to her mother.If I asked, "Who is the little naughty kid?" she would hide behind the mother's seat, or cover her face with her hands, and peek through her fingers very mischievously.In addition, she also knows how to obey commands, such as "come here", "kiss", "go to daddy", "close the door", "get me a cookie".She can do both.

This is because people have repeated these words to her hundreds of times, and although there is no way to teach her, it is obvious that she can understand them.These observations have given me useful insights into the question of what method to use to teach Helen the language.I should "talk" to her hand as we speak to a child.I should think of Helen as an ordinary child with the ability to imitate and absorb.I will speak to her in complete sentences.Of course, if necessary, I will also use more vivid sign language to make supplementary explanations.But I will not fix her thinking within a certain range, I will try my best to stimulate her senses, arouse her thirst for knowledge, and then wait for her to grow gradually.

letter ten

Nov. 1887, 4

My plan is going very well.Helen has learned more than one hundred words. Moreover, she is very interested in learning new things, and she is full of energy and confidence every day. I didn't expect such a good result, which is simply amazing.She learns this way because she can't stop, the same way a bird learns to fly.But don't think she can "speak fluently".Like her little sister, she still expresses whole sentences through single words.For example, she said "milk" and added a gesture, which meant "add some more milk to me".She said "Mommy" and at the same time made a questioning face, she meant "Where is Mommy".Likewise, if she wants to express when she wants to go out, say "go."Say "home" when you want to go home.

She also understands more and more the meaning expressed by other people's words.When I spelled "pass me some bread" into her hand, she would bring it to me.If I say, "Put on your hat, we're going for a walk." She immediately gets dressed and follows me.Obviously, the words "hat" and "walk" have the same effect as complete sentences.If a complete sentence is repeated many times in a day, then it can leave an impression in the brain of the recipient in time, and soon, the recipient will use these sentences himself, and Helen is like this.

We often play a little game together, which is adapted from "Hidden Thimble".I found this game to be very helpful for mental development and, by the way, it answers questions like the purpose of language learning.First I'll hide something, like a ball of yarn or a spool, and then we'll go find it.When we first played the game about two or three days ago, she wasn't sharp at all, searching for places where it was impossible to hide things.For example, when I was hiding the ball of yarn, she only paid attention to what was under the clipboard.When I hid the spool again, she fumbled again in a little box less than an inch long.As a result, she quickly lost interest and gave up looking.But now, at least for an hour, I can keep her interested in the game.Also, she's much smarter than she used to be, which often even surprises me sometimes.

For example, this morning, I hid a cookie.She searched everywhere imaginable and couldn't find it.Disappointed, she suddenly had an idea.She ran up to me and probed carefully (with her fingers) while making me open my mouth wide.When she found no trace of cookies, she pointed to my stomach and spelled the word "eat" and asked me if I ate the cookies.

One thing happened on Friday that made me feel like Helen had really grown up when we went into town and a gentleman we met gave Helen some candy.Besides eating herself, she put a small piece of sugar in the pocket of her apron.After returning home, she took the initiative to find her mother and said, "Give my sister candy." Mrs. Keller was very happy to see Helen doing this, but Mildred was too young to eat candy.So Mrs. Keller spelled to her: "No, my sister can't eat it." So Helen ran to the cradle, and while she touched Mildred's mouth, she pointed to her own teeth.Mrs. Keller spelled out the word "tooth" on her hand, and then she spelled: "My sister has no teeth, so my sister can't eat." Helen nodded half-understanding.

letter eleven
Nov. 1887, 5

At first I used little games like beads, cards, and straw (training Helen Keller) because I didn't know what else to do.But judging from the current development trend, I no longer need those "kindergarten-style" educational strategies, and this kind of enlightenment training has become a thing of the past.

And I've started to have my doubts about all the well-designed education systems.Because I think those theories seem to be based on the assumption that every child is an idiot who needs to be taught how to think.However, if children are allowed to face problems by themselves, they will definitely be better at thinking.They should be allowed to come and go freely, let them master a comprehensive learning method, and get in touch with real things.

In fact, it shouldn't happen that a group of kids are sitting around a small round table in a room while a teacher with a sweet voice proposes that we build a stone wall out of blocks, shall we?Or, make a rainbow out of colored paper strips.Alternatively, grow straw in pots.For children, this "cramming" education method with false artificial traces cannot make them grow at all. They must develop independent ideas from practical experience before they can make great progress.

Helen is now learning adjectives and adverbs, which she learns as easily as nouns.I can also say that her mental awareness is always one step ahead of the words.Before I even came to Keller's house, she knew how to sign for "small" and "big".If she wanted a small thing and people offered her a bigger one, she'd shake her head and grab a tiny piece of skin between the thumb and fingers of one hand.

When she wants to show everyone that something is big, she stretches the fingers of both hands as far as possible and then pulls them back in, as if she were grabbing a big ball.One day I replaced her gesture with the words "little" and "big," and she immediately dropped the original gesture and accepted the words and.Now, I can make her go up the stairs slowly, run quickly, or walk a little faster.I can also ask her to bring me a large book or a small saucer.I told her to close the door, and she added: "And the lock."

This morning, she used the conjunction "and" (and) for the first time.Just a few minutes before, she had come running up the stairs in high spirits.I didn't know what was going on at first.She kept spelling "dog-baby" and pointed to her five fingers one by one, and at the same time, she sucked her fingers again and again.I thought it was one of the family dogs that bit Mildred, but it didn't look like that from the beaming look on Helen's face.But no matter what, I must follow her to see what happened.She led me to the water room. In one corner, a setter and five cute puppies were huddling together!I was teaching her to spell the word "puppy" while holding her hand and touching the puppy.When the puppies are suckling, I spell "puppies" again.

Helen was so curious about the process of breastfeeding that she spelled "mother", "dog" and "baby" several times.When Helen noticed that the eyes of the puppies were all closed, so she spelled "eyes", "closed", "sleeping" and "no", she meant to say, "Although the dogs have their eyes closed, they are not sleeping. When these little guys wriggled and screamed, Helen also screamed with joy, and she immediately spelled: "baby" and "eat big".I think she meant "the puppies eat a lot".Then I taught her to spell the word "five" as she pointed to each of the puppies with her five fingers.She held up a finger and said "Baby," and I knew she meant Mildred, so I spelled it out: "A baby and five puppies."

After playing with the puppies for a while, Helen suddenly thought that puppies should have their own names just like people.She wants to know every dog's name.I told her I could ask Captain Keller, but she said, "No" "Mom."Obviously, she thinks that mothers should know more about the daily life of puppies.

She noticed that one puppy was noticeably smaller than the others, and she spelled the word "small" while gesticulating accordingly.I said "very small" to her, and she immediately understood what "very" meant.She also correctly used the word "very" on the way home.She spelled "small" by pointing to one stone and "very small" by pointing to another stone.When she touches her little sister, she says "baby is small" "dog is very small" and she also calls small steps "very small", she already knows how to change her steps "from big to small" .

At present, she wants to learn the words of all objects, so she is carefully inspecting every corner of the house. Since I gave up the idea of ​​​​regular teaching, I found that Helen Keller is learning faster.I believe that teachers who try their best to explore children's intelligence and sow seeds for children are just for the satisfaction of "planting", and this practice should be abandoned.I think we might as well look at it this way, children have the ability to play their own roles well, and teach students in accordance with their aptitude, so that the seeds you sow will surely blossom and bear fruit at the right time.Teachers can save a lot of unnecessary troubles, which is fair and reasonable for children.

letter twelve
Nov. 1887, 5

After breakfast every day, we go out for a walk.The air is filled with the aroma of strawberries this season, and the weather is also very sunny.We usually go to Keller's Pier on the Tennessee River, which was used by troops during the Civil War but is now run down and overgrown with moss and weeds.Secluded places often evoke a sense of dreaminess, just two miles from home.Along the way, we never thought about how we got there or how long we were there.We only remember the joy in our hearts, especially when we encountered those new and strange sights.Until now, I feel as if I have never seen anything in my life before.In short, along the way, Helen discovered such interesting things that could be discussed.

We will chase beautiful butterflies, and when we are lucky, we will catch one.Then we'd talk about it while sitting in the shade of a bush, or under a big tree.If the butterfly is still alive by the time of class, we will release it.But more often than not, its life and beauty are sacrificed on the "altar of our learning."At this time, I wonder if this is another form of eternal life?Do you think this kind of thinking is strange?In short, every time Helen learns a new word, she seems to have to pay a certain price.It is also through this continuous stimulation that her mind can grow healthily.

There is a beautiful little fountain near Keller's Wharf, and because I told Helen that the squirrels used to drink from it, she called it "the squirrel's cup."She has also touched the carcasses of squirrels, rabbits and other wild animals and would love to see a "walking squirrel".I understood what she meant by wanting to see "live squirrels".At lunchtime, when we were returning home, Helen would immediately tell her mother what she had seen.This desire to repeat what had been told to her was a marked advance in her intellectual development.It is also a motivating factor when it comes to language learning, and its value is hard to measure.I make a plea to all her friends that I hope they will encourage Helen to tell them her story, and to be as curious as possible.This approach not only satisfies children's sense of accomplishment, but also maintains their curiosity.It can be said that this is the basic principle of substantive communication.Of course, she also makes many mistakes, such as misinterpreting words and phrases, speaking with the cart before the horse, or struggling in vain with the jumble of nouns and verbs.However, this also happens among normal children, not to mention Helen has these insurmountable physical defects.

But I am confident that these problems will eventually be resolved by themselves as Helen progresses gradually.Having the urge to express is crucial.I utter a word here or there, sometimes a sentence.I'm just showing that some things can be ignored or forgotten by her.Only in this way can her vocabulary grow rapidly, and these new words that fill her mind are all composed of the essence of the universe.

letter thirteen
Nov. 1887, 5

(End of this chapter)