I have the joy and challenge of teaching some newly-arrived Saudi Arabian students this term. Some nuggets of knowledge from my two most opinionated, outspoken male Saudi students:
Day 1: "Cooking for women only".
"Fashion magazines for women only".
Day 2: "English? Very easy".
"I like read Shakespeare, Dickens". (in Reading for Beginners)
Day 3: "English in America and Australia? Same".
"I read there only 85 words different".
"Linguistics? That mean grammar".
Day 1 through 6: (in response to a "what does the word '____' mean?")
Random exclamations of the same word, words that sound similar, words that come next in the dictionary.
E.g. "What does the word 'comprehend' mean?"
"Comprehend".
"It mean comprehend".
"Compare".
"Conflict".
"Contradict".
"Agree disagree". (not sure where he was going with this - but it's a handy answer, apparently, for most questions)
Day 6: "Teacher, I want know your opinion about book Da Vinci Code"
"Teacher, what mean word 'hijack'?"
Day 7: with a look of utter resignation: "English very difficult. Every day something new".
I'm glad I didn't strangle them on Day 1, or Day 3. It seems they are coming around. And I have great anecdotes to share when I get home.
1 comment:
I always get a giggle (meaning: small silly laugh) after reading one of your blogs.
Good luck with the term and the new job! :)
Post a Comment