Things My Students Say

This evening, I've thought about a few of the things my students have said that have surprised and/or entertained me. Here's a sampling.

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Marriage:

Thanks, columbian.com.

- Bob, an older man who works every day (except for holidays) once said, when we were talking about regrets: "My biggest regret in life is that I got married."

- Steven, a younger man (in his 20s, maybe 30s, it's really hard to tell with people here) has mentioned, at various times, the following: "I got married because I thought that's what people did when they got to my age. I didn't realize they had a choice! So now I tell single people: DON'T GET MARRIED!"

Plastic surgery:

Thanks, medwow.com.

- Isabel, a very sweet, older woman with a contagious laugh, once mentioned this when we were discussing physical appearances: "Both of my daughters had plastic surgery. They used to be ugly, and now they're both so-so."

Mr. Bean:

Thanks, mrbeanwikia.com.

- One of my students last term, Potter, is a happy, portly ten-year-old. He's very energetic and knows what he wants. One day, I showed a Mr. Bean clip in class to introduce the topic for the day. Potter, almost every day afterwards, would request that we watch a Mr. Bean clip. Here's an example of one of those conversations; if you dare, you can listen along by clicking here:

Potter (at the beginning of class): "Teach-ah, Mist-ah Bean please."

Me: "Potter, we can't watch Mr. Bean every day."

Potter: "Ah, teach-ah, every day Potter want Mist-ah Bean and every day teach-ah nooooo."

At this point, he covered his head with his jacket and leaned helplessly back into his chair. Poor little diva fella.

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Don't get me wrong, I have plenty challenging moments here, but I love gems like these.