Prof. Ping Jiang-King
Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
A wonderful memory in my life
This year is the 10th anniversary of the Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages at CUHK. As one of the founding members of the department I am very happy to see that the saplings we planted 10 years ago have become flourishing trees, and new sprouts in the linguistics field are growing robustly. Being a teacher of linguistics, it's a tremendous honor to receive the Faculty's exemplary teaching award 4 times in the last 10 years. I never dreamed of getting these awards and am grateful for the recognition given by the University.
There are numerous wonderful memories in the past 10 years. But Dec. 1st 2010 was a day I will never forget. It was the last class of the course “Language Survey in the Field”, and it was my birthday. My students gave me a present. It was a small notebook with an elaborately designed cover. On the first page, beside my picture, my students wrote: “to the teacher we love most”. Each page contained a small picture of a student and the words he or she wrote to me. Each student expressed the things that touched them when they took my courses, and all students thanked me for giving them a joyful and rewarding learning experience at CUHK. That night I couldn’t stop my tears from rolling while I read their words. It is the most precious gift I have ever received because no one can buy it anywhere. Today when we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the department, I would like to thank all the students I have taught at the department of Linguistics and Modern Languages at CUHK because it is the students who make my life meaningful.