Wind In My Head: Prain Engrish Campain
Wind In My Head
Friday, October 01, 2004
Prain Engrish Campain
Yesterday, during one of my classes, a girl saunters into the class while I was in mid sentence. Annoyed. But I thought maybe she left something behind, but she marches up to me and goesGirl: I wanna talk to you
Me: I'm in the middle of a class here
Girl: But my tutor asked me to talk to you NOW. I want to study overseas next year.
Me (Letting my eyes take in the entire class): BUT I'm in
the middle of TEACHING a class NOW
Girl: So when can see you?
Me (Slightly exasperated): Tomorrow maybe?
Girl: Today cannot ah???
Me: No, I'm busy.
Girl: It's very important, you know??
Me (Pissed off): Tomorrow. I'm very busy today.
Girl: Tomorrow what time ah???
and after I tell her, she just marches off without a thank you much to the incredulity of my class.
I came to the conclusion that there are just some people out there with zero social skills and are absolutely rude. Who were they brought up by? Jungle folk?
Anyway, today, she comes to see me. And this takes the cake.
Me: Where in Australia do you want to apply to?
Girl (mishearing me and thinking I asked her why she wanted to apply to
Melbourne) : Orh, I don't like Singapore. Dowan to study here ready.
Me (trying to be polite): No, I meant, where do you want to go.
Girl: Orh... the university of Melbem.
Me (resisting the urge to tell her to f*ck off): Oh, you mean the
university of MELBOURNE
Girl: Yah, Melbem.
If left up to me, I wouldn't send her there. I mean, she can't, for the life of her pronounce the name of the uni right, has zero social skills (have I mentioned that already?) and wants to go there because it's not here. A reason, that if my child used to argue a case for me to send him or her away, just would not cut it.
And it's somewhere I have wonderful memories of. If she can't pronounce Melbourne, how is she going to pronounce the Baillieu library, or the Babel building or the Sunderland lecture theatre? Mutter. Nope. Can't. I can't in all good conscience send her there and say she is there because of me. I can't take credit for something like that because my conscience wouldn't be able to actually take it.
Unfortunately, I have to be the impartial one here, and get her focus results to the university and leave it up to them. Perhaps if I focused my discontent enough through telepathy, maybe they'd get the hint. But knowing my luck, probably not.
12 years of our education has produced someone like her. And sometimes we wonder why we worry.
Ondine tossed this thought in at 09:37
5 thoughts...
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At 5:28 pm
Terz said... Aren't you allowed to toss her poor-English-speaking scrawny butt out of class?
Jeez.-
At 6:10 pm
Angeline said...
They should all take pronounciation classes in primary one and two. I did and it really helped!
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At 11:13 am
Beach-yi said...
Oh my gosh...more spoilt little princesss coming to Australia...hiazz...pity.
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At 7:30 pm
alphaev7 said...
noooo. don't let her corrupt my beloved uni!
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At 5:35 am
AcidFlask said...
I have a similar ugly singaporean story about an ex-classmate.