A side post...

So, I have not finished writing about my Christmas vacation. I haven't even started to talk about my little weekend trips that I have taken since January. I need to break from that a bit and talk about English practice with my adult students. We say kids say the darnedest things.

Well, so do low level ESL students.

Since last week, I have had some lazy/free time at work. The students at La Escuela Oficial de Idiomas have been taking their first round of speaking, reading, and writing exams. These exams are not the official ones to earn the level certificate. Those exams will be in May or June. Because of this, I have been hanging out in the teacher's lounge or in the library. My hours present an opportunity for students to have some last minute practice before the test. Not many students have showed up as they see it as a free hour. Some students, however, have taken the full advantage. One of the intermediate 1 students has come a lot. He likes to talk and doesn't have many opportunities to talk in class since his class is large.

Exams are continuing this week and I thought that he would be the only one to show up. Today, seven intermediate students came, because they have their tests on Wednesday. It was quite an interesting time...

Of the seven maybe four of them dominated the conversation. I was not surprised, because they are the same four students who always talk in class. One of the guys lived in England for a while so his English is excellent. He talked about his travels and his street slang. He used some British slang that I had never heard of (like carrot). He explained how the mix of formal English and slang is a tricky combination for English learners. He told a long story about a drunk English woman who attacked him the the men's bathroom in a pub in England. Supposedly, she was aggressively pursuing him. I think I had to cover my embarrassed face the entire time. So funny.

Well, he told us this story, because another student asked me to teach him how to flirt. He caught me completely off guard. I did not know what to tell him. He asked me to prepare a lesson on flirting and by his wide innocent eyes, I knew that he was not joking. I told him that I'm not an expert on flirting, because I'm shy.

He sad "well, you know something..." So apparently, after my Mardi Gras lesson, I will be preparing a lesson on flirting. Great. I will be extremely embarrassed, but I think the material will be useful for the students. I'll let you know how it goes...

Chau!