As it turns out, I've been assigned as an assistant in Gerardmer not only to teach English, but to explain certain very special things to the French students here that no one other than an American can explain.
1. Geography. At least once a week, I'm asked if I go home to New York every day. I patiently explain that no, I live in Gerardmer because New York is far, far away, and it takes me six hours (six!) by plane to reach the United States. By plane, do I mean tunnel? No, I don't mean tunnel. Let's look at a map.
2. Religion. Last Friday, I decided to briefly talk about Hanukkah because it was, well, the first day of Hanukkah, and Hanukkah in New York means matzo, potato latkes, and extra-festive bagelries. But before I started drawing menorahs on the board, I asked if anyone in my class of ten and eleven year-olds was Jewish. Silence, then: "what's Jewish?"
3. The meaning of an accent. Many of my younger students think that I actually am French, since I speak it in the classroom, albeit with an accent. Who knows why I come from America; it's just where I'm from. They ask me when I learned English, and if I learned it in America. Many of them also ask me to translate their names into English, meaning that they want me to pronounce their names with an English accent (as in, turning "Thomas" from "toe-mah" into "tom-iss"). Everything is all mixed up in their little minds and they have no idea why I talk funny or how I know how to communicate with them or why their names change in pronunciation from one language to another.
Today was also picture day, and my students wanted me to be in their class pictures with them. We all lined up and said, "ouistiti!" (marmoset). This whole thing is a nice experience.
1 comment:
Just wait til you tell them that you sleep on a scratch patch! That'll really throw 'em.
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