a few good quotes

There comes a time, when you've lived in a particular place, when you begin to understand them. It's true. I didn't realize that I had reached this stage until Jenni came and I had to translate English words to her.

We just begin to hear the mistakes that they make, and know what they mean. I actually think that it is a hindrance to my students' education because I can understand them when otherwise they shouldn't be understood. It does sometimes help with communication in the classroom though, because I don't have to ask "what?" 400 times.

I have a new great level 6 class on Wednesdays now, and I have a couple of funny kids in my teenager class tonight. They say some FUNNY things. But I can't laugh in their faces, so I'll do it discreetly on here:

"Teacher, the girl that lives in the water and has the tail, what do you call her?"

-Zin, (22)trying to find the word for mermaid

"I'm not a mermaid."

-Walcott (14), when i asked him if he liked to swim

"It's so clean you could sell it."

-Cat (20), when I asked her if she had been doing her workbook

"Teacher, I don't want to be an astronaut, but I want to walk on the moon like Michael Jackson."

-Ricken (16)

"I am good at making love."

-Remus,(13) though this actually was more of a pronuniciation issue. He was trying to say that he's good at making other people laugh. And he was more right than he knew.

My old level 6 class played the game Things, with the topic-- "things you should never do in the shower." Here were some of the answers:

• dance
• open the door and take a photograph
• not let the water touch your body
• put the soap in your mouth
• read the newspaper
• iron clothes
• driving
• saw a bomb (Billy knows the definition of "saw" and "bomb" but I don't know why he said this)
• wear headphones
• wear glasses
• play computer games
• eat rice
• use mobile phone
• wear clothes
• court a young girl
• jump through a fire circle