Being a teacher is probably the hardest thing I've ever done. It's exhausting. When I get up every morning I have to become a mother, a counselor, a nurse, a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, and a strict disciplinarian to 140 high school babies. Occasionally I feel like ripping my hair out. Quite often I feel incompetent. But then my kids provide me with little nuggets I can chew on for a while that make me fall in love with them all over again.
Here begins my cute kid story #1.
So my students were working on a worksheet about reflexive verbs. (If you don't know what these are, it's alright. Understanding French grammar is not imperative to the story). They were talking quietly and working together while I was walking around helping them with any questions, when, out of the blue, Little Billy (names have been changed to protect the sometimes-innocent) says, "Nous nous maquille. C'est la vie." Translation: "We puts on makeup. That's life."
There are lot's of things wrong with this statement. First, it's not grammatically correct. Next, Little Billy is a thug. He's got tattoos, sags his pants, and is an all forms of the word a "tough guy". I wish I could say that I'm a brilliant French teacher and I had taught the kids to make funny jokes in French, but unfortunately I'm not that teacher. This kid, after further examination, had no idea what he was saying. He saw some words on his paper that sounded cool when he said them all together and then he blurted them out.
But maybe Little Billy had a point. I know I "puts on makeup" every day. Why? I'm not really sure. I mean, I could make up a bunch of reasons like, I need to look professional at my job, I like the colors of the eye shadow I have, a lot of my makeup was given to me and it would be rude not to use it, you get the point. But when it really comes down to it, for me putting on makeup (and many other things I do) are just things that I do because, well, "that's life" and that's what we do.
And even though Little Billy does not "se maquille" every day, he get's it.
C'est la vie.
Where do I even begin? So many things to love about this post...
ReplyDelete1) You said, "Understanding French grammar is not IMPERATIVE to the story." BAHAHAHAHAHA! (<-- I'm a nerd)
2) I think I saw "Little Billy" in the hall the other day putting foundation over his tattoos. Maybe French class is helping him turn his life around. lol
3) I love how you changed names to protect the "sometimes" innocent. hahahaha
You're so witty and clever! :D Loved this!
Ah... The insight of ignorant children. :)
ReplyDeletePer request, here is the pronunciation of "nous nous maquille, c'est la vie":
ReplyDelete"new new mah key, say la vee"
That one's for you, mom!
i would pronounce it nos nos, say la vi. which in spanish would mean we we and in english say and then la and then vi, which isn't a word.
ReplyDeleteremember when we threw out our makeup?
Yes I do! That was so long ago. It was really refreshing.
ReplyDelete