It must be done: the once-a-year Well Woman check up. My doctor – advertised as English-speaking – happens to have a sign in both Japanese and English in the ante room behind a heavy curtain. Automatically, my eyes went to the English first: Take off your shorts and assume the position. “Gulp” is right.
Crimes Against the English Language
Incidentally
Today, a student – who had been making whistling noises through his pencil cap, belching answers, and ignoring instructions he full well understood – reacted to my closing his workbook for him by calling me a bully. That’s all right; in my head, I called him something much worse. He may one day regret that […]
Smart
Yesterday, I taught a student who couldn’t hear the difference between “straight” and “street.” Since our lesson focused on Western hospitality – “how do you take your coffee?” “street!” – this issue came up several times. First, I attempted to correct his pronunciation to no avail. Then, on a piece of scrap paper, I drew […]