Moments to remember….there are so many.
Friday, Arielle asked me “Miss, how do you say “lame” en français?” I asked her for more context since there are
many meanings of the word lame and I wasn’t sure where she was going with the
idea. Laurence, who was sitting right in
front of her, was making fun of her wanting to know and trying to get her to
stop. To explain the context, she said “Like
an activity is lame…”. Laurence continued to protest. Arielle put her hand to to silence Laurence
and with a completely serious look on her face and steady tone of voice, she
said “Hold on….we can learn something from this. I can learn to say it in French.” It was
hilarious. She was right. I am all about teaching language students want to use
and will use immediately. Well, this was an opportunity. Another funny thing was that I didn’t know
how to say lame in that context. Off to Word Reference I went. They didn’t have
anything there that I felt worked quite right. Arielle and Laurence continued their
bantering and it was funny to watch. Teasing….a French skill in itself.
This experience made me realize that I guess I
really don’t talk about things being “lame” or I would know the word. It is funny the things I learn from my kids
questions. Later on that day, I asked my
French friend about it and even he couldn’t come up with one word. We found a
way around it, but nothing exact. Does
that mean that the French don’t think things are “lame” like we Americans? Something to ponder…
.
Merci Arielle pour ta curiousité. Tu nous as donné un moment amusant! Alors, pour répondre à ta question, on dit « C’est
nulle, cette activité. ».
Empowering students with meaningful and fun
language that they will put to use in casual conversation. ….
This is why I teach!
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