en espanol
The moment when somebody realizes I speak Spanish, and that really shocked look - I never get over the thrill of it. I just used it to torment the children who are cleaning our house. (Which is another topic which I shan't even begin here, but it's why I'm trapped in my room blogging away now.)
I can't wait until I've spent a few months in Mexico and Ecuador and really speak it extremely well - then I will floor people.
Because it's not just Aztec Boy who thinks in boxes only - it's everybody who sees my green eyes and assumes I'm monolingual.
Though, I only get that here. Any time I travel to Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador - people there assume I'm completely fluent (except for those pesky airport cops who search me because they find it suspicious). I get asked directions and such all the time. Funny.
Almost every time I go into the school office I help with communication - some parent is there who doesn't speak English and the staff is making it a problem. Today this poor guy came in and had just enough English to say he needed to pick up papers for his son, and the counselor and secretaries had NO IDEA what he was talking about - and they didn't even do basic problem solving to figure it out. I had to use my cattle prod to make things happen.
My accent is getting better. Sometimes too good - if I'm talking about something I've said before or written about, then people think I'm really fluent and they let at me and I have to beg them to slow down.
My students help a lot with my Spanish - teaching me slang and making me practice speaking and listening. I think it enhances my teaching of English. This one girl who is an ATROCIOUS speller couldn't remember "reverse." So I asked if she writes in Spanish, she does, so I was like, 'it's reverso but o to e." She got it right on the test.
Anyway, Aztec Boy told me today that Piolin was on an airplane and there were people talking trash about him without knowing who he was, sitting there. And when they got off the plane and needed help, he helped them. A flight attendant who knew all this was shocked.
Yay, Piolin!
I can't wait until I've spent a few months in Mexico and Ecuador and really speak it extremely well - then I will floor people.
Because it's not just Aztec Boy who thinks in boxes only - it's everybody who sees my green eyes and assumes I'm monolingual.
Though, I only get that here. Any time I travel to Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador - people there assume I'm completely fluent (except for those pesky airport cops who search me because they find it suspicious). I get asked directions and such all the time. Funny.
Almost every time I go into the school office I help with communication - some parent is there who doesn't speak English and the staff is making it a problem. Today this poor guy came in and had just enough English to say he needed to pick up papers for his son, and the counselor and secretaries had NO IDEA what he was talking about - and they didn't even do basic problem solving to figure it out. I had to use my cattle prod to make things happen.
My accent is getting better. Sometimes too good - if I'm talking about something I've said before or written about, then people think I'm really fluent and they let at me and I have to beg them to slow down.
My students help a lot with my Spanish - teaching me slang and making me practice speaking and listening. I think it enhances my teaching of English. This one girl who is an ATROCIOUS speller couldn't remember "reverse." So I asked if she writes in Spanish, she does, so I was like, 'it's reverso but o to e." She got it right on the test.
Anyway, Aztec Boy told me today that Piolin was on an airplane and there were people talking trash about him without knowing who he was, sitting there. And when they got off the plane and needed help, he helped them. A flight attendant who knew all this was shocked.
Yay, Piolin!
posted by NOLA at 7:11 PM
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