Spot the difference

One thing I'll always remember from sixth grade was my social studies teacher, Mrs. Diamond. She looked old enough to have witnessed the crossing of the Delaware river and she ran a tight ship. Especially when compared to the cool, new, young math teacher who was closer to my age than to most of her colleagues, Mrs. Diamond scared kids.

I don't teach. I liberate.

"Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."

  - Michelangelo 

The Finger Prince

Teacher John: A "clue" is something that helps the police or a detective solve a case. That's why Sherlock Holmes is always holding a magnifying glass, so he can look for clues. For example, a piece of hair can be a clue. What else might be a clue?

ESL Student: The finger's here (motioning towards the tip of the finger).

Teacher John: That's right! Those are called "fingerprints." Fingerprints can definitely be a clue.

ESL Student: Teacher John, is there a "finger princess?"

He said "gao wan!"

If you know for a fact that nobody around you can hear/understand what you're saying, that's basically a free pass to talk about whatever you want. This applies to people who go hiking by themselves, adults who talk about "grown up things" in front of the kids, friends who have code words for other people, and people in the U.S. who speak any language other then English. This also applies for Taiwanese students in the presence of their English teacher who doesn't know any Chinese. The difference is, recently I am able to understand a lot of what they are saying, and they don't know!!

Directly Translated 3

I have to keep stressing the fact that the direct translations I'm brining up aren't actually translated incorrectly. They do have a tendency to be used incorrectly, though, so there are plenty of instances where it will be incorrect. Like this example:

Just like Aunties and Uncles, any person that is maybe a little bit older than you can be called "older sister" or "older brother." This especially includes cousins. While there is a word for cousin, it is much more common to hear an older female cousin referred to as, "older sister," directly translated.

Once, back in the days of the Squirrel Class,

Bittersweet

Lulu: Teacher John, my brother doesn't even know past tense yet.
Teacher John: Really??
Lulu: He asked me to help him with his homework.

Lulu is a 6-year-old Squirrel. Sweet.

Her brother, Yo-yo, is 10, and he's in the Friday evening class I recently took over. Bitter.

Wayne's World

To get ready to sing our Christmas song on Friday, I had some kids compete to see who could sing the last bit of "The 12 Days of Christmas" the fastest.

The winner: Wayne! (any challengers?)



-*PICTURE UPDATES*-

Kids say the darndest things

Ariel(yes, just like the Little Mermaid): Teacher John, yesterday my mother talked to Santa Clause on the telephone.
Teacher John: Oh yeah? What did she say?
Ariel: I don't know! My mother's English is very bad!