A student kept referring to “aerobic language” and “aerobic people” in his mini-quiz.
Of course, he meant “Arabic.”
Welcome to the Midwest, everybody!
Aerobic
Opinions, art, debate
Opinions, art, debate
A student kept referring to “aerobic language” and “aerobic people” in his mini-quiz.
Of course, he meant “Arabic.”
Welcome to the Midwest, everybody!
Clarissa's Blog 
A student in a university? That is actually scary, yet it fills me with hope; if he can get a place at a university (albeit one on the other side of the Atlantic), why the hell shouldn’t I be able to?
LikeLike
Do you know how many times the word “Arabic” appeared in the textbook and on the board?
Many many times.
LikeLike
Lulz. To be brutally honest if he can’t spell the word Arabic at this point in his life, it is the fault of nobody but himself
LikeLike
I made a similar mistake once in high school Japanese. We were given a listening exercise, and I didn’t know the formula for writing “X language” in Japanese, which is “Language-Go”, making Arabic, “Arabia-Go”. In the listening exercise, Linda-san said she was going to Eh-Ro-Biku Class with Mohammed-san, and I assumed “Arabic”.
It was Aerobics. *blush* Stupid me.
LikeLike
Well, I’m totally going to use this the next time I teach pharyngeals–student, since Arabic is an aerobic language, you will need to make use of parts of your throat never before exercised.
LikeLike
It’s great this will serve a useful purpose. 🙂
LikeLike
This isn’t a problem confined to the Midwest. I’m certain you already know that, but are merely making a joke. It’s pretty sad how poorly educated some people are and I do not think the fault lies entirely with the educational system either.
LikeLike
Oh, of course it isn’t just the schools that are letting these kids down. Their irresponsible parents are to blame, first and foremost.
LikeLike
“Oh, of course it isn’t just the schools that are letting these kids down. Their irresponsible parents are to blame, first and foremost.”
Parent’s do serve as role models for their children, if that is what you mean by blame. As for whether they are irresponsible or not those were not my words, but yours. The parent’s across the street raise their children and are responsible for their children…they influence and have the greatest role in their children’s lives.
LikeLike
What I mean is that a parent has to be a source of knowledge about the world to their kid. There are parents who send their kids to school without teaching them to read even! My students couldn’t name the countries the US shares borders with. Where are the parents, I ask?
This is all too shocking to me.
LikeLike
Why do you assume the parents have any more knowledge than the students do? I would place the responsibility on the parents on many issues. On this one, though, I would place it in the educational system.
LikeLike
I don’t want to offend anybody’s sensibilities, but, seriously, what do the people who have no idea where Canada and Mexico are located even doing having children? I’m talking about extremely basic concepts here. Just the most basic, primitive kind of knowledge about the world.
Altogether, I’m still completely stunned at how parenting in this country is seen as completely divorced from the results of said parenting. A globe costs 18 bucks. That’s all it takes to buy it and stick it in a kid’s room. How hard can that be? Everybody has money for a TV set but not for a globe?
I’m upset right now because yet again I had to spend half of the lecture explaining who Martin Luther is and who Protestants were instead of moving on to the actual topic of the course. I can’t believe I’m standing in the middle of the Bible Belt and not a single kid in the classroom of 43 knows who the Protestants are. So I’m upset.
OK, I feel better now that I have vented.
LikeLike
Then we are in agreement, except unfortunately that it is not all that shocking to me. How I wish that were not true.
LikeLike
I just encounter this 3 times a week in class among college students, and every time it stuns me anew. These are great kids, very curious, very interested in everything. Why has nobody been feeding their curiosity?
LikeLike
The education system isn’t designed to promote curiosity, but to memorize facts, regurgitate and forget. The acquisition of a high grade is paramount, rather than true understanding and the acquisition of how to learn.
LikeLike
You are right. It’s s struggle to get the students to stop writing down every word I say, raise their heads from their notebooks, and just think.
LikeLike
I think the answer to that is a little more complex. Some of my professors were better than others, but I’m not suggesting that is the root of the problem–only part of the problem. There’s also some truth to what Patrick says below.
All I can say is that so often in my experience I’ve felt as if I’ve been standing in front of a vending machine and when I put the money in and make a selection what I get in return is an electrical shock, instead of the item I’ve selected. If one experiences that type of situation frequently well understandably it wouldn’t take long to learn to not put money in.
LikeLike