Real Quotes by Real Students – Credulous

Ever since my first day teaching, my students have said some pretty unpredictable, strange or just downright hilarious things. In class you learn to expected the unexpected, and I’ve found that a either snappy reaction to turn a comment on its head or good acting skills are my best friends in the classroom when put in a situation that leaves the classroom precariously on the edge of disorder. Funny, awkward or otherwise, these moments in class never cease to make me remember why I adore working with each and every one of my students (although sometimes the situation is not funny until afterwards) and having the chance to get to know them and their vibrant personalities.
As such, I’d like to share these snippets with you. I’ve been keeping track of them, and I’ll post them from time to time. Of course, they are all anonymous for the protection of the innocent. Here we go.


Since the beginning of the school year, I’ve maintained a masquerade with my students. H had me pretend not to speak German, and mostly I succeeded at masking my actual knowledge. Sometimes, however, I wasn’t terribly successful. It can be awfully hard not to react automatically to a language you’ve been learning for thirteen years. And thus arose situations like the following:

Remember, Richard from this story? Well, he set the stage here as well.

Richard: “Kannst du bitte herüber rutschen?” (Can you please scoot over?)

(I do it.)

Meng (the girl who sits in front of him): “Sie versteht dich?” (She understands you?)

(Richard shakes his head “yes” and I shake mine “no.”)

Meng believed me even though I had reacted to what she said in German.

Or like this one in the 9th grade:

As I was walking around the classroom, I overheard this snippet.

Joey (the class clown): N* kann sehr gut Deutsch! (N* can speak German very well!)

Uwe: Nein! (No!)

J: “Doch!” (Literally “however”, but functions as the fantastic one-word German comeback for expressing disagreement)

U: Nein!

The emphatic refusal to believe that I might speak German on Uwe’s part was priceless.

Many of my students now know I speak German…it’s not hard to figure out if you think about it, but there is still a sizeable population that remains unconvinced. Regardless of their opinion, they all speak only English to me, so I guess H’s strategy worked.

Deine,
N*