I wasn't sure if it would work out to seat Luis next to Francisco, but I gave it a shot. Luis doesn't connect well with other students and I figured it would help him to have a friend nearby, even if that friend is rather scattered most of the time. When it came time to finish the notes on literary terms that we had started the class before, I checked in with Luis. "Do you have your notes on story terms?" I asked.
"Huh?" he replied. Clueless.
"Your notes. From last class."
Nothing.
"The notes. In your notebook."
Nothing.
"Notes," I tried again.
Nothing.
Then, Francisco decided to help me out. "Las notas," he explained to Luis.
"Ohh. Las notas. Right here," Luis exclaimed and pulled them out.
Now Francisco translates all of my instructions into Spanish for Luis. Notes into notas. Page into pagina. These translations crack me up for obvious reasons, but they also help me realize that sometimes the speaker matters more than the words spoken.
1 comment:
I have three students who speak spanish, so I'm trying to get some free spanish tutoring each day. I say a sentence and they help me fix it up. I teach a guy who speaks Russian too.
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