Excuses, excuses, excuses!
I’ve been teaching Spanish at a local private school since September. One of the most amazing things that I’ve encountered is the numerous excuses for not turning in homework on time. One excuse was “I went camping so I didn’t have time to get it done”. As a brand new teacher, (I should say instructor, because teacher implies that I have been trained to teach. I have not.) to the school system I hadn’t given much thought to my own reaction to late homework. After entering grades for mid quarter and researching for this article, I have given this some great thought. I thought about this student’s excuse, and realized that it didn’t hold water, in other words, it wasn’t valid. I teach Monday thru Thursday. This means …show more content…
They can get by in a foreign land by speaking only English. Perhaps to some extent this may be true, but only because the native speaker either has taken the time, effort and money to learn English or they are really good at charades. But what happens if you need to go to the doctor, to the bank, or to the pharmacy, to the police or simply need to buy gas and don’t know how to say unleaded? Any of these scenarios could lead you to disaster if you don’t know the local language. Learning a foreign language does more then to teach you a new vocabulary. It also brings insight into that culture. Have you ever watched the news about something that happened in a foreign land and wondered why the people reacted that way? Many of my foreign friends, for example, don’t understand why people in the U.S. are so attached to their guns, especially in the light of so many school shootings. If they understood our history and our culture they would understand this attachment. Personally, I prefer a dog to a gun, but that is another …show more content…
As with the story above about my students, you make time. Do you watch tv for three hours a night? Do you sit down and have a cup of coffee? Then you have enough time to learn a foreign language. In as little as 15 minutes a day you can learn a foreign language. While driving to work pop in a lesson and listen and practice in the comfort of your car. While drinking your coffee play a language game on your iphone. Spend 15 minutes at home reviewing flashcards. You can place post-it notes wherever you will see it in the house. There are so many things you can do. The objective in language learning is not to sit in your room for hours studying it, but to be repeatedly exposed to it. Language learning can take up a little of your time or a lot, and the best thing is it can be done from anywhere! The truth is, if you say you don’t have time, you probably have time management issues or you simply don’t want to learn a foreign
I’ve been teaching Spanish at a local private school since September. One of the most amazing things that I’ve encountered is the numerous excuses for not turning in homework on time. One excuse was “I went camping so I didn’t have time to get it done”. As a brand new teacher, (I should say instructor, because teacher implies that I have been trained to teach. I have not.) to the school system I hadn’t given much thought to my own reaction to late homework. After entering grades for mid quarter and researching for this article, I have given this some great thought. I thought about this student’s excuse, and realized that it didn’t hold water, in other words, it wasn’t valid. I teach Monday thru Thursday. This means …show more content…
They can get by in a foreign land by speaking only English. Perhaps to some extent this may be true, but only because the native speaker either has taken the time, effort and money to learn English or they are really good at charades. But what happens if you need to go to the doctor, to the bank, or to the pharmacy, to the police or simply need to buy gas and don’t know how to say unleaded? Any of these scenarios could lead you to disaster if you don’t know the local language. Learning a foreign language does more then to teach you a new vocabulary. It also brings insight into that culture. Have you ever watched the news about something that happened in a foreign land and wondered why the people reacted that way? Many of my foreign friends, for example, don’t understand why people in the U.S. are so attached to their guns, especially in the light of so many school shootings. If they understood our history and our culture they would understand this attachment. Personally, I prefer a dog to a gun, but that is another …show more content…
As with the story above about my students, you make time. Do you watch tv for three hours a night? Do you sit down and have a cup of coffee? Then you have enough time to learn a foreign language. In as little as 15 minutes a day you can learn a foreign language. While driving to work pop in a lesson and listen and practice in the comfort of your car. While drinking your coffee play a language game on your iphone. Spend 15 minutes at home reviewing flashcards. You can place post-it notes wherever you will see it in the house. There are so many things you can do. The objective in language learning is not to sit in your room for hours studying it, but to be repeatedly exposed to it. Language learning can take up a little of your time or a lot, and the best thing is it can be done from anywhere! The truth is, if you say you don’t have time, you probably have time management issues or you simply don’t want to learn a foreign