Ariana Grande: The only good thing about America

The second week of classes has been going significantly more smoothly now that I am aware of what I’m supposed to be doing. That being said, it turns out that my task of “just making them speak” is kind of difficult. Speaking a foreign language in front of your school friends/an actual native speaker is daunting and a horrible thing to be forced to do. I sympathize greatly because I was in this position not long ago; however, I also know that the most dreaded, embarrassing activities are what really improved my French. So...bottom line is, I’m just glad to not be them.

But really, I enjoy the challenge of forcing them to participate while simultaneously making the situation somewhat comfortable. It’s allowed me to get creative/come up with some (hopefully) cool ideas that I’m excited to try after I’ve had my “introduction” day with all of my classes. (I essentially have a different group of students every period for two weeks). Introduction days are fine and probably necessary, but I’m ready to move on to actual lessons because I might strangle something if I have to answer one more question about McDonalds or Ed Sheeran.

Actually, at the end of the day on Monday (I have 6 classes in a row, which is...just a lot) I was so tired of questions that I cut the Q&A short. I also ended it because I wasn’t sure if the students were actually picking up on anything I was saying. They were just nodding and smiling at everything, which is what I do when I don’t understand or am not paying attention, so I became suspicious. I decided to do a quick dictation to see if I was talking to actual humans or the equivalent of a sack of potatoes. The dictation was:

I went to university in North Carolina, where I received degrees in music and in French. I like to sing and when French people say the word “squirrel.”

As expected, the outcome was hilarious. Highlights include:

About half the class wrote: I received the Grease in music and in French.

Yes. This Grease.

I like to sing and when French people say “sure.”

I like to sing and when French people say ????

I like to sing and when French people say “school.”

I like to sing and when French people say no words at all.      

The last one was my personal favorite. Since this was so entertaining, I’ve decided to start every class with a weird dictation and then make them pronounce the weird words/learn the vocabulary.

I then told the class to write down what they wanted to discuss/learn in the course (once again, avoiding questions). Here are some of my favorite suggestions:

From the kid who thinks Ariana Grande is America's sole redeeming quality: 

“American foreign policy interests me even if I’m not a fan of America. I don’t like America a lot. Or  I want to talk about Ariana Grande because she a good singer.”

The political savant:

“I’m interested in the battle between Donald Trump against Kanye West. I’m intrigued by the talk show like Ellen’s show or Oprah whatever. Is the political system look like “Scandal” series?

The one who didn’t remotely understand the assignment...or where Harry Potter lives:

“I would like to go to Orlando in order to visit Hogwarts.”

The Grinch:

“I don’t want to talk about politics. And the other assistant talked about Thanksgiving and Christmas year before so I don’t want to talk about this.”

I immediately threw the last one in the trashcan and informed her that Christmas would be discussed every period during the month of December regardless of how she felt about it.

But anyway, they really are great/respectful kids and a lot of them are fantastic at English. The rest of the week should be pretty easy and I’ll have more updates soon!