Essay

Woulda, coulda, shoulda

By Samantha Loong

As a newly qualified English teacher, one of my biggest fears has been teaching my students English grammar. As a native speaker of any language, you take it for granted how your language works. As a result, finding ways to easily and effectively explain why language needs to be used in a certain way can be daunting. However, my favorite grammar point to teach so far has been the conditionals. The latest of these is the third conditional — imagining a different past. And it's made me think about how my life now could have been vastly different if I had done things differently.

For example, if I had realized I could've actually left school and gone to university a year earlier than I did, I would've missed out on studying in Osaka. And as a 9-year-old, if my dad hadn't thought it was a good idea for me to learn self-defense, I never would've met my lovely self-defense teacher — who I ended up being reunited with 20 years later. And if I hadn't been reunited with her, I wouldn't have been encouraged to get into teaching.

It's funny how things turn out. I had applied to get into the same teacher training course in Kobe around six years ago, but the day after I received the application forms, I also was sent a job offer. The offer was too unique an opportunity and it led me to work in Tokyo — a city that I initially had no interest in visiting, let alone living in. Had I not gone to Tokyo however, I would've never met some amazing people, done some amazing things and had some incredible experiences.

Earlier in the year, a friend of mine asked me if, given the chance, I would've chosen not to study computer science at university, seeing as I've not used it in any of my careers. My initial response was: "I'd never do it again! What a waste of time and money that was!" But if I hadn't done it, I would never have made some wonderful friends. Some might say that you can't put a price on friendship, but considering how long it took me to pay off my student loan, I know that my university friends are worth at least NZ$20,000 (1.27 million yen). And studying computer science looked good enough on my CV that I was asked to work for a Japanese company. This gave me plenty to write about, which in turn kick-started my writing career.

The textbook I've been using with my students has asked me to point out that the third conditional is used for expressing regret and criticism. Although I've followed the textbook's notes, I've also said to my students that the third conditional is not all negative. Because life shouldn't be filled with regrets. Everything works out in the end, so whether or not you believe in fate, whatever you think your destination should be, you can be sure the universe will show you the scenic route there.

Shukan ST: OCTOBER 12, 2012

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