T he e-mail confirms what I have said in previous columns. Hong Kong teachers put so much importance on grammar that they are inhibiting (preventing, hindering, discouraging) students from learning English properly. The primary school student whose father sent me the e-mail had the creativity to write interesting articles although she made grammar mistakes. Now she writes boring and simple sentences but without grammar mistakes. Is perfect grammar more important than creativity? Is it better to be a creative novelist who makes grammar mistakes or someone who makes no grammar mistakes but is unable to speak or write English in an interesting way?
To be creative (adjective) means to have original ideas or a good imagination. Charles Dickens had a lot of creativity (noun). So does Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. The word "struck", which comes from "strike", has numerous meanings. You can be struck by lightning, which means you were hit by lightning. But if you are struck by things such as a song, a beautiful sunset, or a poignant e-mail, it means you find it very interesting or impressive. The word poignant can be used in several ways. A poignant e-mail is an emotional, a sad, or a touching e-mail. I hope teachers here would not inhibit creativity for the sake of grammar.
我最近在專欄中提及，香港教師們過份將重點（emphasis）放在文法之上，許多讀者寫電郵給我。我已經盡力回覆電郵，但還是得向那些未有回覆的讀者道歉。我特別對一封教人惋惜（poignant）的電郵留下深刻印象（struck），那是來自一位父親，他談及他的女兒上年剛進小學。他說她以往很擅於寫英文文章去表達自己的想法，但現在已再沒有這樣的信心。那是因為她的小學老師，一位本地中國人，過份強調（emphasis）文法，以至她現在只敢寫簡單句子，以防犯上文法錯誤。當她嘗試寫具創意（creative）的句子時，她的老師會挑出她的文法錯誤，而毫不讚賞她的創意（creativity）。
這個電郵再次確定了我之前那些專欄所說的。香港老師都過分著重文法，反而阻礙（inhibiting）學生好好地學習英語。那位小學生（就是她的父親傳電郵給我）本身擁有創意（creativity）去寫有趣的文章，即使她犯上文法錯誤。現在她寫的是沉悶和簡單的句子，但沒有文法錯誤的。完美的文法真的比創意（creativity）重要嗎﹖到底我們要一位會犯文法錯誤但富創意（creative）的作家好呢，抑或一位不會犯文法錯誤，卻不能生動地講和寫英文的﹖
Creative（形容詞）是指有原創性的想法或富想像力的，查理．狄更斯就有豐富的創意（creativity，名詞）。面書的創辦人馬克．佐伯克也是。Struck這個字來自於strike，有許多意思。若你struck by lightning，即是你被雷擊中了。但若你被一首歌、一個美麗的夕陽或一封令人感動（poignant）的電郵所struck，那即是說你認為那些事物很有趣或感人。Poignant可以有好些用法，a poignant e-mail就是令人很激動、傷感或很感人的電郵。我希望讀到這篇文章的老師們不會為了文法而抑制（inhibit）了創意（creativity）。
mickchug@gmail.com
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
Source: http://news.stheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=281245§ion_name=wtt&kw=126