Liu Lingli has been a teacher for hearing-impaired (听力受损的) children for 33 years. Her first communication with hearing-impaired people was with her neighbor, Mrs. Wang. One day, when Liu was playing in her house, Wang used sign language (手语) to communicate with her. But Liu couldn’t understand. Wang’s husband told Liu that Mrs. Wang wanted to make her a scarf.

“I was moved by her kindness, and thought it would be great if she could speak,” Liu said, “so I decided to become a teacher for hearing-impaired students.”

At first, Liu almost gave up because of difficulties. She then thought about her neighbor and the pain on her face when she could not make people understand what she was trying to say. That made Liu stick to her dream of being a “special education” teacher and she succeeded.

Although she was only 18 at that time, she regarded the students as her children. Every day, she spent much time teaching them to speak. One of her students, Jiang Yan, said Liu would show over 100 times how to speak just one word. She also taught the students how to wash their face and clothes, and clip their nails (剪指甲).

Liu Lingli put lots of efforts to help them live better, too. With her help and encouragement, another student Liu Hanxiang could communicate normally with others. Liu Hanxiang learned dancing and is a member of an art group now.

Thanks to Liu’s devotion (奉献), more than 20 students have received higher education. “Whenever they tried to say ‘mom’ or ‘dad’ for the first time, I felt it was the sweetest sound in the world,” Liu Lingli said.