Do you have a fag?

I have to admit, I love TESL classes. Yes, they mean a lot of work. Yes, it is a lot to absorb in just four weeks. But they have been so much fun. Dr. K is a great professor. This lady knows her stuff, and she makes classes interesting and easy to understand. (Why can't all teachers be like this?)

Anyhow, this week's focus has been on grammar--and it's over! But one of our long-term projects that's due the end of June--after summer semester is over--has to do with teaching grammar in the classroom. We're supposed to come up with various activities to help teach one aspect of grammar--verb tense, prepositions, adjectives, etc. Well, she mentioned several different books and websites that we could look at to get ideas for this project.

During this time, she mentioned one of the books that is obviously geared towards British rather than American English. The book contains an example of "Chutes and Ladders" which is a game that pretty much everyone knows. Well, one of the spaces includes the question: "Do you have a fag?" To American ears, it's either hilarious or discriminating, but it's really referring to a cigarette. I just had to laugh. The confusion that poor students must have if they end up with teachers from both the UK and the US. Oi. Makes my head hurt!

What's funny about that activity book is that it reminded me of a theme that's been going through our classes. Dr. K once misspelled something on the board, and she attributed that to "British" English, instead of owning up to her mistake. And apparently, she's done that to her ESL/EFL students before! :) So funny! So now, whenever we make a mistake in class, we just say, "Oh, that's British English," or, "those stupid Brits always messing us up!" Maybe you just have to be there...


PS. I bought a Zen Micro Photo with 8 gigs the other day and it should be coming with a week or so--hey, with free shipping, I can afford to wait! :)