10/1/09

Smythe, Oregon - The New Melting Pot.


As most of you know, my kindergarten class this year has 25 students. Of these kids, five don’t speak English. These children get to visit the ELL (formerly ESL) teacher each day for 30 minutes where they enjoy a small group atmosphere and are provided many cool opportunities to learn some basics of the English Language.

One day last week when these children were gathered together to follow Mrs. Jones (the previously mentioned ELL teacher) out of the room, I overheard little George ask his neighbor Frank a question.

“Hey, WHERE are 约翰, 乔治, 죤, Джон and 弗兰克 going? (I changed the names to protect the innocent.)


“Aw, they’re just going to figure out what language they're speakin'.” Then Frank turned to me, “Mrs. Smith, exactly how long will that take?”

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

Only 30 minutes? How do you teach them when they don't speak English?

Anonymous said...

At least you don't have to worry about grading term papers by those ESL kids. I had a kid who told me "Jaguar eat hemself about once a week"

SkylersDad said...

Wow, that has to be tough to teach non-English speakers.

mommakin said...

I taught ESOL to adults for years - I loved it. It's probably not ESOL any more, either. It was ESL when I started...

Vodka Logic said...

约翰, 乔治, 죤, Джон and 弗兰克

Thanks for the laugh.

Trooper Thorn said...

Growing up in Southern Ontario in the 70's, we were pretty homogeneous and all English speakers. I think each class had one Chinese kid, one East Indian kid and there might have been two black kids i the whole elementary school.

Just over 30 years later, my kids' school is a tapestry of colours and langauges. Amazing how the shift was so rapid.

ChiTown Girl said...

That's so cute!!! I'm still waiting for MY kids to learn some English (instead of Englewood ebonics.) Trust me, it's a challenge every day.

Brian Miller said...

lol. sometimes i wonder what language my kids are speaking...

K Dubs said...

I have a friend that came to the US from Greece. She learned English from the TV. I think classes are much better :)

Lipstick Jungle said...

In our small town we have to take SSL because our school is literally 43% Hispanic! And I am in MINNESOTA! While the Spanish speaking kids go to ESL (ELL), the English speaking kids take Spanish.

Bugs a lot of people. Not me. I dont have to take a class now, just have to ask my kids! ;)

Stacey J. Warner said...

we have full classes of ESL students...ah the joys of public school in Los Angeles!

Natasha said...

Aw...I love this ..thank you for that ....my 2 year old is talking up a storm ...some I get right away and other times I wonder if we've traveled to another country...the adventure never ends

Mrs. E said...

And just how long will that take?!

Kudos to all you teachers dealing with ELL or ESL! Sometimes I struggle to deal with the English speakers!

Beth said...

It is going to take FOREVER! :)

We have the funnest languages - Urdu, Vietnamese, Icelandic.... It is amazing how well they do learn English.

Lynn said...

Indeed! Just how long Will that take?
I once had a Vietnamese kid tell me that We do say some Vietnamese words here in America.

Coke, Pepsi, and Hotdog!


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Anndi said...

Um... if it used to be English as a second language, what is it now?

I remember in 7th grade, a girl named Paulina came to our school. he was from Poland. Our math teacher took it upon himself to include testing the rest of the class Polish words on our math quizzes... you can imagine how well that went over with our parents.

Scope said...

As a geek, I totally took the names to a translation site to figure out who you were talking about.

Anne said...

So funny... here is MY funny for the day...(hope to blog it this weekend, but knew you'd appreciate it today)

NO JOKE... one of my first graders brought a lunch to school that consisted of ONE DIET COKE & 18 MARSHMALLOWS! That was it! Do I even need to mention I took it from him and said to buy a hot lunch?

Anonymous said...

What a challenge with 5 no-English speakings!

Mike said...

Our company has about 25 employees and 10 of them don't speak English! haha!

Anonymous said...

ha....how long will that take, gosh so cute;)

its like those bill cosby specials kids say the dardest things..lol

Kathy B! said...

The ESL kids are the ones I volunteer with every week. They are like a walking comedy hour. I think their personality grows exponentially to compensate for their lack of linguistic prowess. Makes for good times :)

That Janie Girl said...

And you answered???? ;) Love ya!

Joanie said...

It must be challenging with kids who don't speak English. I know it was always a challenge with my patients. Thankfully, I could call a translator (most of the time), but to have the kids in class not understand. I feel for them and for you. You teachers are a special bunch!

Pseudo said...

At the last ELL workshop I went to, I learned it takes 7-8 years for someone to learn a second language well enough to write well academically. Since your students are starting at K, they have pretty good odds by high school....

Barrie said...

Ha! Ha! Ha! You just never know what a kid will say! Thanks or sharing.

WeaselMomma said...

Maybe the Weasels need to go to ELL, because they never seem to comprehend a damn work I'm saying.

Cora said...

Ooh. That's not easy teaching kids who don't speak English. I've been there.

Fortunately, kids are like sponges. They'll be all Americanized by their peers in no time!

Live.Love.Eat said...

LOL. The things you hear huh?! 25 kids in a class is a bit much, no?

Sharon Rose said...

Gosh, I love your class!

Bethany said...

I have a few kids this year that don't speak English (or if they do, not much!) so I understand your pain. It's cute how the kids view the situation though.

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