Jen in China: The Long Con

This year, teaching has been completely different than it was before. This is because my students started the year not speaking a word of English. I’ve never had this before. Even when I taught kindergarten last year in Korea, my entire class could speak English. In fact, 10 of the 12 could read too.

Not having a common language with my class can be difficult. I have a bilingual co-teacher who bridges the gap between me, the students, and the other teachers. However, she can’t be everywhere, all of the time.

Recently, the kids decided to teach me to speak Chinese. They’ve taught me to count, to say hello, and a few short phrases. This is actually pretty useful. Not only do I learn some Chinese but, it is a bonding activity for us. The kids get to feel useful and they see that learning a new language is work for everyone, not just them.

So, when a few boys started teaching me a new word, I didn’t think anything of it. I tried to say the word properly and in the correct tone. However, every time I made an attempt, the boys giggled like mad. This continued for a few days.

I asked the boys what the word meant. No one would say. I thought the word was someone’s Chinese name. It sounded something like “bean-to” or “bean-yo,” depending on which child said it. Anyway, my pronunciation of the word made the kids laugh every single time.

After a few days, the boys and I were still practicing. They could tell that I was really working hard to say the word properly. I also kept asking what the word meant. One boy, Daren, finally took pity on me. Daren said “Bean-yo means…” and then he looked around for a moment, confused. Then, Daren stuck his finger up his nose and took out a big wad of snot. He then looked at me, smiled and triumphantly announced “Bean-you means this!” while waving his snot at me.

Yes, I’d been diligently practicing the word for snot for almost a week. All I can say is well played boys, well played.