Linguistic Inequalities of x>y

I grew up in the Western Pacific⸺on Guam. I liked school as a kid. English was the language of instruction. The problem was, it wasn’t used in some of our classes.  

My math teacher copied out an example from the book and quickly wrote out how to solve the problem in abbreviated form. She wanted us to do study hall because she was taking courses at the University of Guam and needed prep time. I didn’t understand the method of x and y axes on a Cartesian plane. I raised my hand and asked her to explain it. She raised her voice at me, “don’t you speak English? It’s right there in the book and I wrote it out for you!” She pointed at the book, the board, and then over my head. Then she proceeded to explain it in a two-minute dialogue in her native (off-island) language to another student sitting behind me. She gestured at me and her eyes swept over me. End result, I felt stupid and isolated.

Embarrassment made my sweat sting. I was too ashamed to tell my parents about it.

That summer, I asked if I could go to summer school at another private school in the north. I needed help and I knew she wouldn’t be here because she was leaving Guam. 

Our summer school teacher was originally from India. His rules were simple: homework, textbook, and English. Any question was answered. Every question was encouraged. Every step was explained. We did so well in the class, we ended up doing material for the next year’s syllabus. Everyone was respected. Looking back, we all “got” the material. In the playground and at lunchtime, no one ever asked for someone else’s homework. No one said anything bad about the teacher. No one was a dummy in our class

What I am trying to say is, maybe not everyone will attain the same goals, but why can’t everyone be given the ability to do so?

P.S. I haven’t thought about my 6th-grade math teacher in years until I wrote this. However, every time I hear a flute, I think fondly of my summer school math teacher from India who played a short song to show us how happy he was we all passed our course.