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 Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:24 pm
Some folks in my third level Spanish class are just flat-out inept. Listening to them speak in class almost as painful as listening to a scratching chalkboard.
A fine example:
"¿Dónde está el barrio Mayberry?" becomes "Dahnday estay el bay-reeoh Mayberry?"
Okay, maybe I'm a bit too harsh when it comes to pronunciation, as not everyone has a knack for that. But there's still some of the basic things that were taught in Spanish I that folks still don't understand. Por ejemplo, some folks still can't tell the difference between estar ("to be", temporary, condition, location) and ser (permanent, profession, characteristics, time). One thing that really made me cry the other day, though, was when someone asked, "What does 'del' mean?" 'Del' is a contraction of de (of) and el (the, masculine); because "del" sounds much nicer than "de el". This was definitely covered in Spanish I, and has shown up in multiple readings and exercises.
My comrade told me that in her own Spanish class, when asked to count to ten, the student replied, "Uno, dos, tres, zapato." (Zapato is Spanish for shoe).
And this class is elective. They didn't need to take a third year of Spanish. Of course, I could again be a bit too hard on them; most, if not all, are in the class because it either "looks good for colleges" or "their parents made them." Sin embargo, they should at least memorize the material long enough to pass a test and then let it rot and whither away at the end of the year.
I almost feel sorry for the teacher. Whenever she laughs at one of my classmates' comments, she almost sounds hysterical (think Mrs. Puff). Of course, that's probably just me.
Yo digo (I say) that I almost feel sorry for her because I think she's going about this too nicely. If I were the teacher, yo se diría (a los estudiantes) to shape up, and that they should have learned this stuff the previous two years; if they need any help, they could come see me, where I would tutor them 'til their ears fell off. I tend to yell when I'm frustrated.
It's a good thing I'm not a teacher.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 12:15 pm
Oh man I remember German class, and just sitting there staring at people and saying, "Guys, it's German. It has some of the most fundamental pronunciation rules around being as it's so close to English. Get with it, for gods sake." And I can't count the number of times people would come up to me for help in that class just because they didn't want to do the work. Okay, I got it. I'm good at foreign languages(or maybe not a complete idiot), but that doesn't mean I need to help you cheat. >.<
I love the German language, and they just butchered it. Especially with the fact that they used the stereotyped accent of that harsh, yelling thing, which made no sense to me seeing as they -chose- German. It's not harsh; the only time it's harsh is in WWII movies made by the US.
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 9:24 pm
Devious Delilah Oh man I remember German class, and just sitting there staring at people and saying, "Guys, it's German. It has some of the most fundamental pronunciation rules around being as it's so close to English. Get with it, for gods sake." And I can't count the number of times people would come up to me for help in that class just because they didn't want to do the work. Okay, I got it. I'm good at foreign languages(or maybe not a complete idiot), but that doesn't mean I need to help you cheat. >.< I love the German language, and they just butchered it. Especially with the fact that they used the stereotyped accent of that harsh, yelling thing, which made no sense to me seeing as they -chose- German. It's not harsh; the only time it's harsh is in WWII movies made by the US.
I wonder if they know that English is a branch of Germanic?
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 12:06 am
Terri Cherri Devious Delilah Oh man I remember German class, and just sitting there staring at people and saying, "Guys, it's German. It has some of the most fundamental pronunciation rules around being as it's so close to English. Get with it, for gods sake." And I can't count the number of times people would come up to me for help in that class just because they didn't want to do the work. Okay, I got it. I'm good at foreign languages(or maybe not a complete idiot), but that doesn't mean I need to help you cheat. >.< I love the German language, and they just butchered it. Especially with the fact that they used the stereotyped accent of that harsh, yelling thing, which made no sense to me seeing as they -chose- German. It's not harsh; the only time it's harsh is in WWII movies made by the US.
I wonder if they know that English is a branch of Germanic?Of course they don't. I used to argue with people much like this: "You know English is a Germanic language, right?" "No it's not! It's derived from Latin!!" "Most languages are, but it's Germanic in origin." "It can't be! That's stupid." "You're stupid. Romance languages, Germanic languages and Slavic languages are all derived from Latin... But they're still their separate groups." "Whatever." It's pointless. *shakes head*
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