猜應該有100,000字
這堵牆上排滿故事書大約35本，三堵牆將近100本，大班畢業前夕，我突發奇想，請老師測試畢業生。
方法很簡單，先排第一堵牆的35本故事書，書封朝上。老師開始唸第一句英文，請問：「這句話在哪本書裡？」然後換下一本。結果令我跌破眼鏡。以下是100句話，從100本故事書裡挑出出來的。我不是驚訝孩子都答對了，是驚訝老師的題目太難了。我說：「叫老師自己來答，都答不出來吧。」
目前測的小朋友，在學校的就學時間是三年、兩年、一年，原本想上學愈久答對的機率愈高，對嗎？
不，只讀一年的，也全都答對了。不可思議對嗎？ 這代表什麼？100本故事書，大約是100,000個英文字，平均每句話以八個字計算，大約是1200個句子。如果你把它想像成是法文，是不是可以說，這些小孩已經有聽懂法文的聽力了。
我們測試的時候，會特地避開故事裡的人名，免得孩子是從人名聯想到書本，會不夠準確。原本我想請老師把題目變簡單，也 就是選些較長的句子，孩子在比對的時候線索會比較多，不然只有三個字，不是太難了嗎？看到結果後，我說：「不用改題目，以後就這樣。」
我又有另一個奇想。每年學校會請畢業的小朋友回來「敘舊」，到時再玩一種更難的，就是小孩答對了故事書以後，把書拿給他，繼續問：「 請問這句話在哪一頁？」我打賭他們都翻得出來。
「學習新語言」，是人類一出生就設定好的本能。只要有「聽」的環境，學會新語言對幼兒來說，易如反掌。
這是我的夢想。我們的國民小學從一年級就開始有英文課，一週4小時，通通拿來聽故事書，什麼其他事都不要做。因為時間有排擠效應，當你拿去「讀和寫」，聽力就顧不到了。我們幼兒園一週 10小時聽故事時間，如果一年可以聽懂，代表全國的小學生，到小學三年級，就擁有了英文聽力，不是嗎？這麼好用的方法，不用不是太可惜了。
有了聽力，只要將來遇到需要說英文的環境，要上手會變得容易多了，而且會變得有信心。我們常常說英文覺得沒信心，或是不敢說，最大的原因是聽不明白、聽不懂，心態上馬上變得害怕起來。害怕，就是學習說一種新語言最大的障礙。
想像一下，如果我會聽法文，但我不太會說，因為平常沒機會說。有天我去法國旅行，不管是機場、商店、旅館、餐廳的人說什麼，我都聽得懂，是不是就不害怕了？語言是一種溝通，我說得不好沒關係，我可以用表情、手勢、語氣來輔助，慢慢就會愈說愈好。但是如果聽不懂，就完全沒輒了，也會馬上變得害怕起來。
誰認識國家管教育的？這麼簡單好用的方法，短時間下一代的英文溝通能力都會直接跳升好幾個等級。意思是現在開始，三年後你就會在全國的小學生身上看到明顯的成果。而且方法簡單到不行。
然後呢？繼續唸，唸到小學六年級畢業，都不要把時間花在其他的地方。因為要掌握一種語言，跟聽了多少「內容和時間」，有正向關聯。到時候你會發現，小孩不只學習了另一種語言，而且會從故事裡吸收到許多日常生活裡用不到的詞彙，表達方式、邏輯思維、思考模式、甚至人格的培養。
我知道有一天孩子都要面臨升學考試，讀書這件事要靠自己用功，不肯自己用功，家長花再多力氣讓小孩補習，都是白忙一場。
0 What a big bubble
0But was the basket full
0I make a card for my dad
1A hammer bangs. Bang! Bang!
2 I can take you for a ride
2 They both had ice cream instead
3 One hard throw
3 He was as hungry as a horse
4 They sang and everybody clapped their hands
4 Let’s pin the tail on the donkey
5 He made a roof to keep out the rain
5 I don’t mind if you don’t take up much room
6 She looks by the circus tent
7 Sit down and sink down
9 All about the starry dark
9 Dark in the song, song in the bird
10 Then they begin to sigh. Meow, meow, meow
11 What do you want for your birthday
12 They got some man hair
13 It’s the greatest thing ever
14 Once there was a peddler who sold caps
15 Send in the sheep to make her stop
16 I have room
17 I can be a rocking horse
18 The people wore masks
19 They went up one aisle
19 One very small mouse sat in the front
20 I am your friend. said the street cleaner
21 But the big thing just said, snort
22 The monkey who stole a banana
23 Good night
24 Everybody loved him
25 Then It must be you
25 I’m the stranger here
26 That’s my witch
27 Left, right. Left, right.
28 Suddenly had an idea
28 The next day the lady next door sang some more
29 They thumped and bumped
30 Did you count six? So did we
31 Roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws
32 I’m in outer space
32 Never mind
33 Shut your eyes, and say one two three
34 I could see a river
35 So he just walked in big circle
36 Together they searched and searched
37 I’m afraid it won’t come up.
38 I am a giant
39 Honk. This made all the other animals jump
40 He ate lunch anyway
41 We will bring you something good to eat
42 Pit, pat, pit, pat
43 There were sharks in the water
44 Painted the house in matching barn red
45 Man overboard
46 The painters were getting ready to go out for lunch
47 The newsboy was just passing by with his bag full of papers
48 What fun it must be to fish
48 Then, little by little, he got the string out of the tree
49 Puppies were everywhere
50 I didn’t know I’d lost a button
51 Oh, no. We’ve got to go through it
52 It looked like a dancing ghost
53 The chief did not say anything
53 Once I chased a little cat up a tree
54 I could be a dancing elephant
55 Not I, said the cat
56 No more hic-hic-hiccups
57 I can’t go swimming. I hurt my leg
58 There is a little bowl of milk in the sky
59 Cling-a-Cling-a-Clang
60 We must store up food for the long cold winter
61 Father can’t help noticing how miserable his son is
62 And one scary pumpkin head go boo boo
63 What’s your favorite dish
63 The rat and the cat left the shop
64 Can you tell a better story
65 Those are the biggest feet
66 The other bump is moving
67 But I wonder what is the other side of the hill
68 Would you like me to tell you a story
69 Now seeds, start growing
70 And flopped outside into the snow-flop flop flop
71 It’s my check-up day
72 If you become a sailboat and sail away from me
73 I think I could find a cabbage somewhere
74 Then the snows melted
74 I wish I were a rock
75 Wiggle wiggle! Waggle waggle! Giggle giggle! Gaggle gaggle
76 The ice cream is melting in the sun
77 Once there was a very tall mouse and a very short mouse who were good friends
78 I turned the rope for the dark frog
79 Dad often takes the whole family to see how others focus
80 He washed the wool and carded the wool to straighten it out
81 I’m sitting in the time-out chair
82 The bees said Huzzzzah Huzzzzah
83 He hammered and hammered and hammered
83 I you let me catch a fish, I’ll let you catch one, too
84 He’d go Zoop! Zoop! And make things disappear
85 Somewhere else
86 Time for ice cream
86 She looks like a witch
87 Now the elephant block
87 We build a tower
88 I’m not sick. Just a little uncomfortable.
89 You could not find a nicer fish
89 He did not really blame the other fish
90 He yelled Help!
90 We color. We paste
91 A home run
92 A funny little bear fell off a circus train
93 Run! Run! Run! Catch me if you can
94 Retrieve
95 But there were no food stores in the town
96 So it must be a crocodile
97 Suddenly they heard a loud pop! Pop! Pop!
97 Sometimes he has strange people in his house
97 We must find your bag
98 He could shoot baskets here all by himself
98 A giraffe cannot jump that high
99 It was getting bigger and bigger
99 I locked the basement door
99 Monsters love pickles
100 You don’t feed her. You don’t wash her. You don’t milk her.