The quarter is over.

[elbales]

I now have two weeks to catch my breath prep like my ass is on fire crazy for the summer session ESL class I'm teaching.

sUrE, It'Ll be A pIEce oF CakE...*thud*

Comments

[ebrin.livejournal.com]

i had to tutor esl this afternoon because my normal student wasn't there and the esl student's normal tutor wasn't there. i hate esl, fully and without question.

[elbales]

great, more students for me then!
why do you hate it?

[ebrin.livejournal.com]

heh, sure. you can have them.

i think i hate it because my patience/frustration line is drawn at not being able to simply speak and be understood. i mean, with english speaking students i can have infinite patience explaining terminology or grammar or how to spell certain words, because i know that i'll be able to formulate some way of getting the info across. but with the student i had yesterday the simplest explanation wasn't getting understood. like how 'a' sounded different to 'e'. that i have trouble dealing with.

if that itself makes sense.

[elbales]

Yes, it does. It is difficult working with people who learned to talk using a language that isn't even built around the same sounds as English. The two things that save me, that let me totally relate to them, are that I went and studied abroad in Japan and experienced that utter frustration of having to speak virtual baby talk because that's all my grasp of the language allowed, and having a Czech friend whose name incorporates a sound which, to this day, I cannot quite pronounce properly.

That, and a sense of compassion that (and this seems miraculous and wonderful to me) seems to keep growing the older I get.

All that said, everyone has a gift for something different.

[amanandhispoems.livejournal.com]

*covers Elizabeth with a soft magic blankie*

[elbales]

*snuggles the blankie*

So adorable...

[amanandhispoems.livejournal.com]

Dear God. I ♥ that icon too.

Re: So adorable...

[elbales]

^_^