Being both a language learner and teacher, I am accustomed to mispronunciations and interesting uses of common words. I have committed quite a few of these linguistic mishaps myself, but this one takes the cake.
On Tuesday, I was talking to one of my students before class about Hurricane Sandy. Because the class had yet to start, we were talking in Spanish because it was more comfortable for her. Earlier that morning, I had read an article about a heavy snowfall in West Virgina and thought it would be interesting to tell her about that. Unfortunately for me, what came out of my mouth had nothing to do with a snowfall, resulting in an incredibly interesting mental picture for the both of us. The conversation went a little like this:
Me: "Y también han caído unas neveras tremendas."
Student: "Nevadas."
Me: "Sí, eso es lo que quería decir."
Student: "¿Sabes qué son neveras, verdad?"
Me: "Sí, pero como son palabras tan paracidas, me he confundido."
(Translation)
Me: "And some tremendous refrigerators have fallen."
Student: "Snowfalls."
Me: "That is what I wanted to say."
Student: "You know what refrigerators are, right?"
Me: "I do, but because the words are so similar that I got them confused."
The two of us had a really good laugh at my expense. It shows that everyone is susceptible to linguistic mishaps and that it's okay to make mistakes.
Word of the Day
English: refridgerator / Spanish: nevera
English: snowfall / Spanish: nevada
Showing posts with label Quotables. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quotables. Show all posts
Friday, November 2, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Butt-Scootin' Boogie
First of all, I apologize for not having written in so long. It's not that I haven't had stories to tell, it's just that I haven't had the time to sit and write them down. This story, however, deserves to be written down. I hope that my writing does it justice and it isn't one of those "you had to be there" moments.
I should preface this story by telling you that these students are 16-17 years old. Last Friday was a particularly interesting day in one of my classes. Half of the class had skipped to attend the festival in a nearby town, and the half that remained didn't feel like doing actual work. This could be attributed to several factors: it was a Friday afternoon, half the class was missing, there was snow on the ground from the previous day's snowfall, and just general teenage laziness. However, what they were lacking in willingness to work, they made up for in energy. It took me several minutes to calm them down and convince them that we were going to correct their homework. I couldn't get upset with them for being restless and complaining about working because at least they were complaining in English.
The activity we were correcting was one in which the students were given the beginning of a sentence and had to complete it logically. The first student was given the sentence-starter, "Animals in zoos would be better off if...". Knowing this student, I was expecting something like the phrase "they had more space" to complete the sentence, so I was a bit unprepared when the answer was "they ate more fruit", making the entire sentence, "Animals in zoos would be better off if they ate more fruit."
"Not all animals eat fruit," I responded
"Yes they do. All animals need fruit."
"Do lions eat fruit?"
"Yes."
It was at this point when I noticed something strange out of the corner of my eye. When I turned to look, I couldn't help but be surprised by what I saw. On of the students was seated on the floor with his feet in the air trying to propel himself across the floor with only the use of his arms. Yes, he was scooting across the floor on his rear end. I asked in the most intimidating voice I could muster while trying not to laugh, "WHAT...ARE...YOU...DOING?" In response to my question the student stood up, slightly embarrassed, with the "oh-dear-I-just-got-caught-by-the-teacher" look and was unable to give me an explanation. The student with whom I had just had the fruit debate responded with a straight face, "When you don't eat enough fruit, that's what happens."
The entire class lost control at this point and began laughing. I really wanted to scold the boy who was scooting across the floor for disrupting the class, but I couldn't because I was trying to control my laughter. When the laughter subsided, the student in question tried to convince the class that he had been trying to dance, but the damage had already been done.
This story is definitely one that I will never forget. Have you ever experienced a similar situation?
I should preface this story by telling you that these students are 16-17 years old. Last Friday was a particularly interesting day in one of my classes. Half of the class had skipped to attend the festival in a nearby town, and the half that remained didn't feel like doing actual work. This could be attributed to several factors: it was a Friday afternoon, half the class was missing, there was snow on the ground from the previous day's snowfall, and just general teenage laziness. However, what they were lacking in willingness to work, they made up for in energy. It took me several minutes to calm them down and convince them that we were going to correct their homework. I couldn't get upset with them for being restless and complaining about working because at least they were complaining in English.
The activity we were correcting was one in which the students were given the beginning of a sentence and had to complete it logically. The first student was given the sentence-starter, "Animals in zoos would be better off if...". Knowing this student, I was expecting something like the phrase "they had more space" to complete the sentence, so I was a bit unprepared when the answer was "they ate more fruit", making the entire sentence, "Animals in zoos would be better off if they ate more fruit."
"Not all animals eat fruit," I responded
"Yes they do. All animals need fruit."
"Do lions eat fruit?"
"Yes."
It was at this point when I noticed something strange out of the corner of my eye. When I turned to look, I couldn't help but be surprised by what I saw. On of the students was seated on the floor with his feet in the air trying to propel himself across the floor with only the use of his arms. Yes, he was scooting across the floor on his rear end. I asked in the most intimidating voice I could muster while trying not to laugh, "WHAT...ARE...YOU...DOING?" In response to my question the student stood up, slightly embarrassed, with the "oh-dear-I-just-got-caught-by-the-teacher" look and was unable to give me an explanation. The student with whom I had just had the fruit debate responded with a straight face, "When you don't eat enough fruit, that's what happens."
The entire class lost control at this point and began laughing. I really wanted to scold the boy who was scooting across the floor for disrupting the class, but I couldn't because I was trying to control my laughter. When the laughter subsided, the student in question tried to convince the class that he had been trying to dance, but the damage had already been done.
This story is definitely one that I will never forget. Have you ever experienced a similar situation?
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