I grew up with 21st Century English

Lu Yuxin takes part in the English speaking competition in China Daily,Beijing on March 27, 2010. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

I may be just 13 years old, but I've known 21st Century English for over half my life. Needless to say, over the years, I've shared many exciting stories, experiences and memories with 21st Century English, and each one just gets better and better - but there will always be three that I remember particularly well, the first of which happened when I was 6 years old.

I've always liked learning languages. English, of course, was no exception! I had just begun to learn English when I was 5 years old, and I was eager to improve. At that time, many of my friends were already subscribed to various English newspapers and magazines. Seeing them read prompted me to want to read English newspapers as well, so I asked them which newspaper they usually read and they recommended 21st Century English to me. So I went home and asked my father to subscribe me to the newspaper. At first, I didn't like reading it, but gradually I began to love it.

The next encounter came soon after. It was a lazy Saturday morning, and I had just woken up to a faceful of newspaper.

"Wake up, Lucy," my dad said, placing the newspaper on my head. "Your newspaper's here."

I groaned and got up. My dad had put the newspaper down with the front cover facing up, so when I lifted it from my face, I read the back cover first. It was an advertisement, advertising an English speech competition held by 21st Century English. For some reason, I really wanted to enter the competition, so I quickly rushed to my parents' bedroom.

Lu Yuxin reads the 21st Century English Newspaper published by China Daily. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"Hey dad, can I enter this competition?"

"Competition?" my dad repeated. "What competition?"

"This one, right here." I handed over the newspaper.

"A speech competition?" he scanned the paper quickly.

"Yeah."

"Seriously?" my mother interjected, confused. "What's with all this all of a sudden?"

"Nothing, I just thought it looked interesting and I wanted to give it a go," I shrugged.

"What will you write about then?" my mum asked.

"Oh, I don't know yet, but I'm sure I'll figure it out later," I said confidently. "It shouldn't take that long."

"Okay, if you say so," my mother eyed me warily. "Alright then. You can enter this competition."

And so began my second experience. Although now, I found it very hard to find ideas for anything, I found my speech topic extremely quickly - but again, I suppose 6-year-olds see and notice things older people can't. We lose some of the magic as we grow up. I passed heat after heat - the Beijing preliminaries, semi-finals and finals. I was eliminated in the national semi-finals - but that didn't matter too much then. I had already gained more confidence in my English speaking skills - and with the help of the confidence I gained from entering the competition, I began to write for 21st Century English as a junior reporter. I loved it - to be able to share even the most everyday, mundane things in life, and watch that everyday, mundane thing blossom into words and share it with other people - that is truly something magical, indeed.

I didn't know then that one of the everyday, mundane things I wrote about in 21st Century English led me to my third encounter. I didn't even know by myself - it was a blogger who left a comment on my blog. The blogger said that they'd seen one of my articles and turned into a cloze test question in an exercise book of theirs. My article gave the link for my blog, and they'd looked it up, thinking it might have a joke and was surprised to find that it was not a joke, but a real and active blog. I was so surprised that the article I wrote when I was 6 years old managed to be turned into a cloze question - after all, I was just writing about normal things that happened to me. I was busy with school at the time, so I wasn't able to go back to China to sort out the copyright issues, but as soon I went back, I contacted the publishers. After a lot of hassle, I managed to sort out the copyright issues - my first copyright issue.

I've spent so many happy years with 21st Century English, and I think it's fair to say I've grown up with it! I feel very honored to have been given the chance to write for 21st Century English, the English newspaper I've been reading since I was 6 years old. It's offered me so many opportunities, new experiences, but most of all, it was thoroughly fun and enjoyable. So, happy 35th birthday!

The author currently receives education in the Henrietta Barnett School,UK.