Odds & Ends

Things have been a wee bit busy round these parts, hence my silence of late. And so, I’m going to lump several updates together here. I wouldn’t want you tossing and turning in suspense on your beds at night!

First off, flags. The best flags from each class of students were put in a large pool. The sophomore oral teachers then whittled down the selection to the 10 best flags (you’ll notice two representatives from my class, letters F and G).

This cream of the crop was then circulated amongst all of the foreign teachers, who voted to select the five best. These five students have won dinner at Pizza Hut with the oral teachers.

Secondly, solving the riddle of student mistakes. Usually, the trick to figuring out the mistake is thinking of a word with a similar sound that has a more appropriate meaning. Strategy number two is to think if there is some idiom that could have been misconstrued or misunderstood, thus leading to the mistake. Strategy number three is to throw up your hands in surrender and confusion.

Strategy number three is my response to a “blandness wife and mother.” For the life of me I can’t figure out what the student was aiming for. The only possible guess I have, using the first trick, is “blameless,” but this word still doesn’t make much sense in context.

As far as throwing rabbits around, trick number one is the key. In hopes of protecting the environment, I believe the student meant to write that we should not throw “rubbish” everywhere. The other option would be “wrappers,” but based on my experience with my students’ vocabulary, rubbish is the more likely choice.

Strategy number two is the best approach to the dream of becoming a bacon. Likely, the student has read the idiom “bring home the bacon” in some English publication like Crazy English, and has now gotten that mixed up to the point where the bacon is no longer your earnings, but a person earning a lot.

My last little tidbit for you is the reason for my absence of late. Come Monday, I’ll be hopping the pond and heading to the States. Hence my days of late have been filled with make-up classes and other business to be taken care of before jetting off for a week. When I announced the fact that I’m going to America for one week to attend a wedding in my classes, several students asked me if it’s for my own wedding. Seriously. Trust me, my students do not use nor understand sarcasm. So in case there’s any confusion out there, I am not going to America to get married. I will, however, be enjoying good company, good coffee, good wine, and good food…all things that should make for a terrific week.