What is your next line???

[Hikage]

The name of the game here is ... "What's your next line?"

Allow me a little background.. I teach in a middle school - a tough one, but not like an inner-city. Classes and students can be rough, but not unmangeable. I teach foreign languages... French, Spanish, and Russian to 8th graders. Most are around the age of 13. While I was teaching last Friday, a student raised her hand and made an announcement that left me completely baffled for something to say....

"Mr. A.... Josh is eating your text book."

What's your next line?

-Hikage

[Tom Yum]

"Mr. A.... Josh is eating your text book."

What's your next line?

-Hikage

"Kids, Josh is special. But not as special as your next homework assignment, which is due tomorrow morning....."

What's your next line?

[aseepish]

"See kids? This is what happens when the government cuts fibre from the school lunch program."

[aseepish]

Русски трудный язык!

:d

[Tant01]

Do you enjoy getting your stomach pumped?


Wiping his ass from the inside?


What wine would go best with text?

[Hikage]

Русски трудный язык!

:d

Actually its pretty easy. If you were an alien comnig to the planet, you'd want to learn Russian first. It's the easiest language in the world to learn, based on the number of exceptions and predictability of grammar rules. English is the worst and Chinese is the worst to spell.

-Hikage

[aseepish]

Once upon a time (as a freshman) I took a year of Russian. I would have continued, but the second-year course conflicted with a poli-sci course that I needed to take, so I switched to Chinese. Chinese has no conjugation so you don't have to worry about case, gender, tense, and so on. But yeah, writing in Chinese is hard. All though by the end of my year in Russian I still couldn't spell Здравствуйте.

After spending four years as an ESL/EFL teacher I have come to the conclusion that I am SUPER glad that I was born to native English speaking parents.

[Hikage]

All though by the end of my year in Russian I still couldn't spell Здравствуйте.

That's why I always use "Privyet." I'm not home right now to referrence my book, but when I get there, I'll post the top 10 reasons to learn Russian. You'll appreciate it. You have to have studied the language to get it. Sorry you stopped.

Even though you stopped, the alphabet never will never leave your head. When I was over there, I taught the alphabet to a few people that I went with and they were able to read most of the signs and other important things because they were English cognates.

-Hikage

PS> I went back and edited this message. Sorry, I didn't realize how little sense it made when I wrote it.

[Hikage]

Top 10 Reasons

Ok, as promised... here they are. The top 10 reasons to learn Russian, from the back cover of Live From Moscow.

10. The alphabet is the hardest part. Really.

9. Those funny-shaped letters make great tattoos.

8. Big Brother would want it that way.

7. Dostoyevsky makes for good light summer reading.

6. Russian has 75% fewer calories than the leading foreign languages.

5. Learn the meaning behind those little wooden dolls.

4. Understanding Russian grammar is guaranteed entry into the "Mensa" society.

3. The word for "hello" has 13 letters.

2. Knowing two alphabets increases your brain capacity.

1. The book is cool.

-Hikage