Nanyang Street for Children and Cram Schools for Adults

"The next four years of university will be the best days of your life."

Wayne's teacher spoke with such conviction that it felt less like a prediction and more like a reminiscence. "You'll discover that the grand productions and intense romances you thought were amazing in high school are actually trivial. At university, there's always something more exciting to do. You need to treasure this time dearly. Because the most carefree and exhilarating period of your life might truly be just these four years of university."

This was the most memorable thing I heard in Wayne's English class during my senior year of high school. Ten years older than us, Wayne wasn't a mentor figure to us high schoolers—he was more like a peer. The memories he'd casually share during class were the future we gazed up at from behind our stacks of books. After entering university, you become an adult. Freedom seems within reach—but what would that feeling actually be like?

Children of Nanyang Street and Adults of the Cram School is a memoir that chronicles the youthful days of high school students while also documenting the business ventures of adults running cram schools. Initially, I was a student listening from the audience. After the book's publication, I became a third-year student who should have started (but procrastinated on) thinking about the future. Reading it again, I'm now a working professional two years into my career and having switched to my ideal job. Each time I read this book, it feels different—like the feeling of a young person listening to rain.

The biggest difference is that on my first reading, I focused entirely on the student section, thinking about how unique certain students were and relating to their worries. On rereading, I found myself naturally drawn to Wayne's experiences at the cram school, the difficult positions he navigated between management layers.

I also realized that those Wednesday evenings I once looked forward to so much—the model exam solution sessions that let me glimpse the adult world of freedom—were actually built on solid practice, bitterness, and even self-doubt before being presented to us. Only after working in society did I notice the hard work behind the glamorous surface.

The author of this book, Tsai Shih-Wei @waynetsai1984, is a cram school teacher and renowned English translator. Books he has translated include: Atomic Habits, Crushing It!, Michael Jordan: The Life, The Mamba Mentality, and The Daily Awakening.

The book is divided into three sections: "What These Students Taught Me," "Tales from the Cram School," and hidden bonus content "Chats Between Classes."

"What These Students Taught Me" features the eccentric students Wayne taught at the cram school—there's Mori with his strict mother, a military enthusiast passionate about Isoroku Yamamoto, and a top-tier baker from Taipei First High School who excels at both exams and baking. Each high school student mentioned stands out distinctly within the standardized manufacturing process of high school education designed to meet the standards of the college entrance exams. Their distinctiveness might come from a special passion, a particular skill, or even exceptional obedience and lack of resistance. After reading this section, one can't help but think of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall." Does education make us better, or is it simply a filtering mechanism?

"Tales from the Cram School" documents Wayne's experiences and encounters at Liu Yi English. From entering the industry to becoming the star teacher of the cram school, from the glamorous lecture stage to prep time after class and navigating relationships with management. What impressed me most was when cram school owner Liu Yi once told Wayne: "I hate you!" Despite this, Wayne expresses in the book that he deeply respects Teacher Liu Yi. The biggest reason is that he was moved by Liu Yi's passion for teaching English. Liu Yi once said on stage: "If I suddenly died, it wouldn't matter—I've already prepared all the lecture materials, and other teachers can take over."

During my high school cram school days, I received newly compiled vocabulary books, grammar books, and sentence pattern books from Liu Yi's publishing house each semester. Though few people actually read them, this spirit of approaching something you care about with an attitude of "who else but me" deeply moved me.

"Chats Between Classes" excerpts over a dozen passages that deeply inspired Wayne, accompanied by his life experiences as verification. This is my favorite part of the book. Kenzaburo Kenzaburo, the founder of Japan's Gentosha publishing house, once said, "What matters isn't what's written in the book, but how you feel about it." While reading the chats between classes, this quote suddenly came to mind.

Wayne loves reading and engages in dialogue with authors through his own life experiences. Reading Children of Nanyang Street and Adults of the Cram School lets you see the questions and answers that people ahead of us in life have repeatedly pondered. You also learn that you're not alone in having these worries. Though we must live our own lives by ourselves, we are not solitary. 😉

The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries. - René Descartes

Reading great books is like conversing with the finest minds of past ages. - René Descartes

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