The is an idiomatic phrase coined by Indochinese Thai vendors. It implies things are similar yet distinct, and often used to describe fakes, alternatives, or nuanced differences. The same is true with theory and practice. What we learned in theory should work in practiee. But any experienced engineer will tell you that's not the case.
My years in the Polytechnics certainly had their highs and lows. The highs were, of course, the projects I got to build in my second and third years. The low? A lecturer who was mediocre. Not incompetent, exactly—he knew the material well enough to recite it from the textbook. But his knowledge ended where the textbook ended. And he taught us electronics!
It was frustrating. Demoralizing. A class of eager students, hungry to understand, met with a teacher who could only point at words on a page. We learned despite him, not because of him. That mediocre instructor was a regrettable blot in my tertiary study—but in hindsight, he taught me something valuable.
Not about electronics, but about teaching. About the difference between knowing a subject and being able to share it. About the kind of educator I would try to become, years later, when I sat down to write my first book.
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