Wu Huiwen, 88 years old this year, is a resident of Jinsong Community, an old military camp street, and after retirement, she insisted on learning 10 foreign languages by herself, and she has been persevering for 18 years. Not only that, she also reads books and newspapers, cares about current affairs, and has become an elderly learning expert in the community, and is affectionately called "foreign language grandma" by everyone. Her spirit of "living to learn from old age" touches everyone around her, and also inspires and drives the elderly friends around her to maintain a young heart, and make retirement life more colorful through continuous learning and progress.
“Hello，nice to meet you！（很高兴见到你）”敲开武慧文老人的家门，就听到她热情地用英文跟大家打招呼。
Don't look at the old man is 88 years old, but he is not deaf and blind, he is in good spirits, amiable, and very talkative. Her wife Ren Fengqi is 93 years old, her body is also tough, and she treats people very warmly.
Wu Huiwen's home is clean and tidy, well-organized, and the warm sun is sprinkled in, making it even more quiet and warm. Some of the old desks are filled with books and notes of all kinds. The old man said that the study was the place where she spent the most every day.
The most striking thing in the study is the thick stack of "notes" placed on the table. These "notes" are bound together with waste paper, "This is my reading notes, which are divided into two parts, A and B. The old man said that in notebook A, the feelings of studying national guidelines and policies are recorded, and in notebook B, there is the feeling after reading Chinese and foreign classics.
In addition, there are various English learning materials on the desk. On an open notebook, the English names of more than 200 countries around the world are neatly recorded, some marked in red and black, some places covered with correction tape and re-copied, and some English country names are marked with Chinese homonyms next to them.
Since he started learning English in 2006, Wu Huiwen has written 150 English notes, and 3 electronic dictionaries alone have been broken.
In 2006, Wu Huiwen and his wife traveled to Western Europe. One night, on the streets of Italy, the two felt thirsty and walked into a small shop to buy a bottle of water. Embarrassingly, they didn't speak English, and they didn't buy water after gesturing with the shopkeeper for a long time, so they had to go home empty-handed. After that, they also encountered some communication difficulties during the tour.
Because of this, Wu Huiwen decided to study English hard and "connect" with the world. Unexpectedly, she has been studying for 18 years.
After returning to China, she signed up for an English class at the University for the Elderly to learn "New Concept English". When she first learned, she didn't even know 26 letters, which was really difficult. For this reason, she set a rule for herself, getting up at 5 o'clock in the morning every day to memorize words, preview, and review, without stopping for a day.
When she is old and her memory is declining, how can she remember these English words? Wu Huiwen thought of a way, every time she learned a new word, she memorized Chinese and English on two pieces of paper, then sat at the desk and read it several times, and then ran to the balcony to recite it to Chinese, constantly consolidating her memory.
After learning the intermediate level, many old people in the class couldn't hold on and chose to give up. But Wu Huiwen and a few like-minded friends insisted on further their studies, and received support from Yingze District Community College, which provided them with specialized classrooms.
Through continuous efforts, Wu Huiwen's interest in learning languages has become stronger, and her learning scope has expanded from English to German, French, Japanese, Korean and other languages.
Once, a neighbor received a health care product from a foreign relative, but he couldn't read the instructions, and learned that Wu Huiwen was learning English, so he came to ask for advice. After reading it, Wu Huiwen explained the eating method in detail, which surprised the other party.
Another time, an English guy came to the community and asked for the way to Willow Lane. The neighbor didn't understand, so he quickly asked Wu Huiwen for help, and the problem was successfully solved again. In this way, the neighbors all knew that Wu Huiwen knew English, and some residents called her "foreign language grandma". The knowledge learned can be practiced and applied, and it can also help others, and Wu Hui has become more energetic in literature.
"Learning a foreign language not only allowed me to acquire a skill, but also to experience a whole new culture. Each language has its own unique cultural background and way of thinking, and by learning a foreign language, we can better understand the culture and history of each country, and feel the unique charm of different cultures, which makes me love the world even more. Wu Huiwen said.
“我认为，人就应该不断地学习新知识，不断地充实自己，真正做到It is never too late to learn（活到老学到老）。 ”
Wu Huiwen said that when she was a child, her family was poor, and she started working early to earn money, and going to school was a luxury for her. However, she never gave up on her dream of studying. After going to work, she used her spare time to attend a cultural cram school, and in only 3 years, she completed 6 years of secondary school. In 1959, Wu Huiwen was successfully admitted to the preparatory course of the Chinese People's University and learned Russian. In the following decades, despite her busy work and life, she continued to study and enrich herself, and then she was admitted to graduate school! It can be said that her life was spent in constant learning.
"We have a very regular life now, I get up at 6 a.m., after breakfast, I start learning foreign languages, and my wife reads the newspaper. In the afternoon, we would go out for a walk, go shopping, and go to rest at 10 p.m. sharp. Wu Huiwen said that in addition to studying, she and her wife are also very concerned about national affairs, and will carefully read newspapers every day to understand the latest news trends.
"Live to learn" is the motto of the old man Wu Huiwen, and she not only said it, but also did it. From having zero knowledge of English to talking to foreigners, she has become a "foreign language grandmother" in the eyes of residents, and a typical representative of "having fun and doing something for the elderly".
Gao Yanmei, secretary of the community party committee, said with emotion: "No matter how old we are, we should not give up our love for knowledge and life. The spirit of 'living and learning' makes us understand that learning is not only for the purpose of acquiring knowledge, but also a kind of life attitude and spiritual pursuit. ”
Life is endless, and reading is endless. Wu Huiwen's experience of insisting on learning and doing something for the elderly has inspired many old people, and her story of learning and struggle continues......