I really enjoy my Spanish and Italian 
conversation classes, so I thought it would be very interesting and instructional to try turning the tables. Both of my teachers are volunteers so I figured, what the heck, I can do this too. And wouldn't it be interesting to see how people learn English, and nice to feel like in some way I'm paying forward the kindness my teachers are offering me? A few weeks ago I began teaching an English class on Saturdays through the Espace Langues. Oddly enough, almost all of my students are scientists, so we can discuss some science-related topics before we really begin class and I can get a unique perspective. (How many other people are chatting it up with Moroccan electrical engineers and Venezuelan neuroscientists?) Also, a lot of them are native Spanish speakers which is cool too because sometimes I hear them translating stuff to each other and I kind of get it. Another neat thing about my class is that it gets me reading the news regularly from many international sources so I can decide what stories are most relevant since my students liked the idea of reading together, practicing pronunciation, exploring contextual/contemporary/idiomatic vocab, and discussing relevant topics.
In screening articles for my class, I’ve started learning how to pick out tougher vocabulary words and become more sensitive to their etymological origins. For instance, consider the opening sentence of an article we read today on the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree: "We New Yorkers are bound by countless traditions." Have you ever stopped to think about the many ways in which we use the word bound? Bound to do something, bound to something, bound by something... between all the literal and figurative uses, it's a bit mind-boggling to try to tackle an explanation. ("To bind" has a Germanic origin but shares the same root with "bandage" which appears in Latin languages.) Last Saturday I brought in an article about Obama's Nobel Prize acceptance speech. We were reading this article and I was starting to get the swing of what words I might expect them not to understand, but they got "arms" in the expression, "lay down your arms," (lay down was more the point in question) but later in the article someone didn't understand the word "weapons." Interesting, huh? Now, if you ask me, arms >> weapons in sophistication of vocabulary, but then stop to think for a second: armas = weapons/arms in Spanish. It makes so much sense! I love little moments like that.
conversation classes, so I thought it would be very interesting and instructional to try turning the tables. Both of my teachers are volunteers so I figured, what the heck, I can do this too. And wouldn't it be interesting to see how people learn English, and nice to feel like in some way I'm paying forward the kindness my teachers are offering me? A few weeks ago I began teaching an English class on Saturdays through the Espace Langues. Oddly enough, almost all of my students are scientists, so we can discuss some science-related topics before we really begin class and I can get a unique perspective. (How many other people are chatting it up with Moroccan electrical engineers and Venezuelan neuroscientists?) Also, a lot of them are native Spanish speakers which is cool too because sometimes I hear them translating stuff to each other and I kind of get it. Another neat thing about my class is that it gets me reading the news regularly from many international sources so I can decide what stories are most relevant since my students liked the idea of reading together, practicing pronunciation, exploring contextual/contemporary/idiomatic vocab, and discussing relevant topics.In screening articles for my class, I’ve started learning how to pick out tougher vocabulary words and become more sensitive to their etymological origins. For instance, consider the opening sentence of an article we read today on the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree: "We New Yorkers are bound by countless traditions." Have you ever stopped to think about the many ways in which we use the word bound? Bound to do something, bound to something, bound by something... between all the literal and figurative uses, it's a bit mind-boggling to try to tackle an explanation. ("To bind" has a Germanic origin but shares the same root with "bandage" which appears in Latin languages.) Last Saturday I brought in an article about Obama's Nobel Prize acceptance speech. We were reading this article and I was starting to get the swing of what words I might expect them not to understand, but they got "arms" in the expression, "lay down your arms," (lay down was more the point in question) but later in the article someone didn't understand the word "weapons." Interesting, huh? Now, if you ask me, arms >> weapons in sophistication of vocabulary, but then stop to think for a second: armas = weapons/arms in Spanish. It makes so much sense! I love little moments like that.
No comments:
Post a Comment