100 marks plus five

Beth seems to have come off her i-hate-chinese mountain.

This past week she has been calmer and more amenable to doing her homework.

On Sat when I picked her up from Chinese class, she sheepishly told me she got 80% for her 听写.

I asked what her best pal Jennifer got.

"100 marks, plus 5 extra for knowing how to write 黑."

I bit back on my urge to lecture, and simply asked how she felt about it, and what she planned to do about it.

The upshot was she decided there was nothing for it but to study (Chinese) every day, even when she's not in the mood.

And we agreed it would be a good idea if I gave her a mini-tingxie every day of the week. Say 5 phrases at a time.

And she would try to get at least 90% the next time.