Lost in Translation

An interesting day at work yesterday. Fun, as a sunny Friday often is, and I've got really great students in all of my classes - none of them are divas or princesses, they like each other, and they work well together. It doesn't happen all the time, at least not in every class at the same time, so I try to appreciate it when it does! Not minding if I make an ass of myself in front of them probably helps. Yesterday I played Patio Lanterns for one class, and then taught them the "traditional Canadian high school dance"  - that awkward side to side shuffle, with maybe a little bit of hand-flailing...They were singing along by the end of the class. So. Fun!

Last class of the day is shorter on Fridays, just an hour. We usually have a pronunciation lesson, but before we started, one of the guys wanted to ask me a question. He had a notebook with a list of idioms and slang he'd heard, to ask about later. So we spent about 20 minutes talking about that, with other students piping up with their own queries. A good class discussion, really.

Right up to the part where someone asked me: "Teacher, can you use the word cock in a sentence for me?"

Me: O.o

Me: Umm.

Me: {stunned silence}

Me: Umm. Where did you hear that? Can you give me some context?

Student: I heard it on a TV show. The police arrested some guy for dealing cock.

Me: {whew!} You mean cocaine! Yes, yes I can use that in a sentence for you. But first, we should really talk about the pronunciation of that vowel sound! 

So we get that sorted, and he pipes up again: "Teacher, what's a dowsh bag?"

Me: Could you repeat that, please?

Student: A dowsh bag.

Me: Could you spell it for me, or tell me where you heard it?

Student: D-O-U-C-H-E-B-A-G

Me:  {bang head on wall}

So we got that sorted, too, and then I put an end to question period. I was too afraid of what they'd throw at me next! We worked on pronunciation for the rest of the class. Then I got to have a walk in the sun, a drink with some co-workers, and two of us went for poutine afterward. I had the bacon poutine. So very, very wrong. And so right!  But I'll be eating celery all weekend to compensate...Holy rich cheese-curds-and-gravy noms, Batman!

Because yesterday it felt like it might be summer, someday, and because this song makes me think of summer, here's a little Kim Mitchell for your Saturday: