so crooked and rough that it is useless for lumber. In the same way, your teachings have

no practical use." Zhuangzi replied, "This tree may be useless

as lumber, but you could rest in the gentle shade of its big branches or admire its rustic

character. It only seems useless to you because you want to turn it into something else and

don't know how to appreciate it for what it is. My teachings are like this."

Zhuangzi, the Taoist philosopher, is supposed to have lived in China over 2,300 years ago.

He encouraged people to achieve their potential through effortlessness, by not resisting their

own natures. His famous story about the crooked tree appeals

to me for many reasons. Being in the forest industry, I know that a crooked tree is not

suitable for making standard commodity lumber products, but it can make high quality decorative

products which feature its natural beauty and individuality.

Such a tree has grown to a ripe old age by adapting itself to its environment. Whereas

the trees in the industrial forest are straight and look alike, the crooked tree grew alone,

or with a mixture of other trees of different ages and species. This kind of tree will resist

wind and disease better than the more uniform trees of the plantation forest.

# MISSING/DIFFERENT And so it is with people who follow their

natures and pursue their own path to self-fulfillment. They are more independent and more secure.

A true language learner must be like this crooked tree of Zhuangzi.

That is why we chose a crooked tree as the logo for our new language learning system

called The Linguist™.