LEE's diary

For lunch time

One day, he heard a public service announcement about private tutoring offered by the Literacy Volunteers. He called up and explained about himself. His teacher, Mrs.Lord, remembers the first time he showed up at her door. "He was such a nice man," she said. "At first I didn't realize how deep his problem was. But it soon became clear - he didn't even know the alphabet." So, twice a week, they started to work together. "He was so grateful," Mrs. Lord said. "I do this for free, but he kept saying that if I ever needed any plumbing done, even if it was an emergency in the middle of the night, he would do it for nothing." In the time since he started studying with Mrs. Lord, the man has found a new job. His employers do not know that he cannot read, he is deathly afraid that they will find out and that he will be fired again. But, he said he was proud of how far he had come in his life without knowing how to read. "I built...

A year and half ago, the man lost a job because he could not read. The company he was working for required each employee to take a written test about safety procedures. The man knew the rules, but could not read the questions. He couldn't admit the real problem. He bought a book called Reading Fun for 93 cents. The book was designed for pre - school - aged children. He looked at the book and tried to teach himself. But, he couldn't. Finally, he told his wife he couldn't read.

He's 55. He's trying to learn how to read. He bears a resemblance to the actor Ernest Borgnine. His plumber's work clothes - denim overalls, a flannel shirt - are still on. Today, as he does twice a week, he has driven straight from work to Mrs.Lord's house. His hands are dirty from his day's labor; as he points to words on the spelling list you can see that he has not had time to stop and clean himself up. He has been coming to Mrs.Lord's house for just over a year. He never learned to read as a child. His mother was sick and his father was an alcoholic; the boy did not do well in school, and at the age of twelve he dropped out and began to work. The man went through most of his life hiding his secret. He learned to be a plumber; he married and started a family. He concealed his inability to read even from his wife and children.

I have studied English grammar for 3 years with correspondence course. Until now, I have studied some stories. For example, 'The Wizard of Oz', 'Alice's adventures in Wonderland' and 'Daddy - Long - Legs' with very simple English. When I was a student, I didn't like to study English grammar. But, when I watched that a Japanese astronaut communicated with the earth in English on TV, I understood that English isn't just an accessory, but a tool to fulfill my wishes. And then I started to want to be able to speak English someday. My English grammar's assignments are very nice, and educational. I studied again with the assignments about Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King,Jr. and Helen Keller. But the most impressive story was about an unknown American plumber. I'd like to introduce his story.