T.G.I.F.

Today is starting to be one of "those days" as an ESL teacher. It took one of my poor students 10 minutes to understand "Has your daughter flown before?" (We were talking about the vacation he was getting ready to go on.)

I tried to break the sentence down to help him understand. I tried to explain what a plane was (although he knows what it is, because he used the word earlier). I tried to talk ...about birds flying. I tried to talk about trips in the past. Nothing.

In the end, we changed the subject. When I asked if his daughter was excited to fly, he said, "Yes! This is only her second trip, so she is very happy! (He was completely unaware that he was answering my previous 10-minute-long question).

Sigh.

At least today's Friday. I need a refreshment of ESL Patience.

Shoplifting

Me: Have you ever shoplifted?
Student: Yes. Yes. Of course.
Me: (Thinking he must not understand) Okay. But, have YOU ever SHOPLIFTED?
Student: YES. Of course.
Me: You have?
Student: Yes.
Me: Oh. Do you shoplift a lot?
Student: Yes. Many times.

......awkward...... ...

(I did find out later that my student needs more help understanding the past tense, because he DID shoplift a lot.... when he was a small child. And apparently, it wasn't that big of a deal in his city.)

I took this moment to teach the phrase "Juvenile Detention Center."