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.
Dessau has a good-sized Vietnamese population, and the parents of these families very often run shops that are full of just about anything you can imagine, from scarves to thread to tablecloths to cards to tools. One of the 8th grader’s parents has such a shop, and during the unit about jobs, he was trying to describe the store.
He said, “My parents store sells EVERYTHING…clothes, garden…Dingen…”
“Ding” is akin to “thing” in English. And this was one of those perfect situations where Dinglish* (no pun intended) came to the rescue perfectly.
Deine,
N*
*For those of you who don’t know, “Dinglish” refers fondly to situations where German (Deutsch) and English are mixed together.
The adventures of an English teaching assistant working and living in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
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