As I watched Marvin handing in his geometry exam, minus the proof, I demanded to know what period he had lunch. As luck would have it, we were free together. I told him to eat and then meet me so we could go over the exam together. He said he is forgetful. I told him he better not forget and jokingly pinned a note to his shirt, reminding him to show up. (Another boy I was also meeting asked me to pin a note to him too. They might be in high school, but they are still babies.) He said he might forget anyway. I told him that if he forgets, I won't forget to call his mom and since we have a three day weekend, I didn't think he would start it that way. Well, good old Marvin was true to his word and did not show up.
Unfortunately for Marvin, Mrs. POd is also true to her word and made the phone call before leaving work on Friday. Marvin thought he would be safe because his mom's command of the English language is limited. What Marvin did not know was that Mrs. POd has a limited command of Spanish but this limited command includes words like "el necessita ayuda en matematicas" and "no bien en el exam de hoy". My grammar sucks and my accent is really worse but Marvin's mom got the point. The parents seem to appreciate my broken Spanish attempts to communicate. We'll see what Tuesday holds. I'm betting Marvin shows up for help.
2 comments:
Yeah! I am not the only one sounding like that to my Spanish speaking parents. I've also been known to tell them, "when I call dad at work and tell the boss that your teacher is on the phone, what more will dad need to hear?"
"El dia, tu nino no es bueno en escuela, mana es importante es bueno en escuela. Los libros (reading) i los mathematicas es mucho importante por tu nino en el tiempo de nino es el hombre."
It's not pretty and it's not perfect, but it works, and the parents are more willing to try their broken English with me!
I emailed you.
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