In English class I was teaching 9th graders the grammar form “Is A B-ing C now?”, as in “Is she playing the piano now?”. I devised a group game where each member of the group in turn picks up a card with a basic verb on it, like “sing”, and they have to blurt out a sentence in the target form as fast as they can, i.e. “Is he singing a song now?”, which the next person in the group would answer affirmatively or negatively, then that person takes a card, etc. I had the groups racing each other to see which could get the most sentences in two minutes.
So I’m wandering the room, acting as a floating referee, and I announce there’s thirty seconds left. The pace increased to a frenzy. Then I heard this exchange from one of the groups:
Sweet, Innocent 9th grade Japanese girl 1 (shouting at the top of her lungs): ARE YOU TOUCHING YOURSELF NOW?!
SI9GJG 2 (also shouting): YES, I AM!!!
At which point, I kind of lost it but managed to make the laughter into a big snort. The girls (who of course they had no idea of what they had actually just said), turned to me in shock and demanded to know what was wrong with their sentence. “Nothing.” I said, explaining that I’d just stifled a sneeze. Hay fever season, you know…
Corrupting Japan’s youth, one language-learning activity at a time…
Oh my gods, that’s truly incredible! Incredible, that is, up until the parent-teacher conferences eventually occur, and you’re grabbed by your collar and belt, and summarily hoisted out of the nation. But worth it!
Comment by Davecat — May 9, 2011 @ 10:27 pm