Wednesday, fifth period. French 1.
(I ended up covering a week of French classes. It was one of those assignments that I picked up at 11:30 PM Sunday night for two days, and then it got extended into the full week. Sometimes the gigs happen like that.)
The teacher had left them a list of things to do in their Google Classrooms that I only got passing glimpses of. (It included this article about France.) So, I wasn't sure what they were up to when one group was urging a classmate to repeat something. In French.
Okay, so I took French in school. A while ago. But I think I know more than the French 1 students do. Still, I couldn't figure out what it was they were trying to say.
It sounded like "gen-tel-main". I interpreted it as je t'aime. I repeated this back to them. They said that was it. The boy asked what he was saying. I translated: "I love you".
No, that's not what they were going for. (Not shocked.)
The way they were asking the boy to repeat it? The way they were going about trying to say something? Yeah, they were trying to swear. They were trying to get the boy to say something not polite.
They pulled up Google Translate. I hovered over their shoulders, watching. They ended up with je t'emmène. "I'll take you."
Huh?
With me watching, they couldn't very well go for what they actually were trying to say. They acted like that was it. Sure. Whatever.
Everyone else seems to learn how to swear in other languages, but those lessons seem to pass me by. Otherwise, I would have had a better idea of what they were actually trying to say. Because, that? Nope. That was what one says in front of the teacher when the teacher is paying attention.
Their teacher, who is actually French, likely has a better idea of what they were trying to say. So, I sketched the scene for her in my note, and she can figure it out. She's the kind of teacher that goes over the sub note with the class (she said she would). I can just imagine how that conversation is going to go.
It's always fun to encounter these kiddos later when they learn that I do actually write these things down. Especially when they thought it was play time with the teacher gone. *cackles*
No pic of your sketch? lol
ReplyDeleteNot that kind of sketch...
DeleteHa! I like that they don't know you actually write it down! I just finished a novel (no recommendation, it wasn't very good) where the woman was surprised to realize (at age 31) that the people who were supposed to chart progress were actually charting progress, or something like that, I forget exactly what, but you get it!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, sometimes I run into kiddos after having them in class, and they're not happy that I wrote down what they said and they had consequences for it. LOL.
DeleteThe kids thought they were getting away with something. lol
ReplyDeleteThey don't know me very well.
DeleteThe first thing you always want to learn is the swears.
ReplyDeleteOh no, there really is such a thing as a permanent record! With sketches, too!
ReplyDeleteJust some passing embarrassment. Which is enough for me ;)
DeleteOne of my daughter in law Grandma was born in France.
ReplyDeleteOh to learn the swear words in another language. Nothing new there, it kills me that they think they can pull the wool over your eyes.
ReplyDeleteThey don't realize it's all been done before. They think they've invented it. Every time.
DeleteInternational swear words. Some of the best learning.
ReplyDeleteThe important learning.
Delete