Language Overload
I have two teachers, one teaching once a week (focusing on writing) and the other teaching twice a week (focusing on oral language). They couldn’t be more opposite. One is cool, and moves through things slowly and carefully. When I don’t get something right, she patiently shows me yet again. When I do something right, she says, “Good,” and moves on.
The other teacher is much more excitable. She comes in on fire, and doesn’t cool off throughout the whole lesson. She seems to have mountains of work for me to accomplish each time we meet. When I do something well, she claps (literally!). When I make a mistake, she might laugh. Either way, I might feel just a little put on the spot.
After classes with the second teacher, I always feel that I am suffering from “language overload.” It seems that I’ve had to take in so much during the time in class with her, but it is all raw and unprocessed. It takes me the next few days to “recover” and feel that I have absorbed anything of what she has said. I will have phrases that she taught me going over and over in my head, but I might not know what they mean at all.
After I spend some time away, I can start processing through it all. I will talk to friends, asking them questions. I revise my lessons at home on my own. I scour the dictionary. I ask the other (slower-paced) teacher to clarify sometimes. At the end of the day, it works out. But it can seem like a walking through whirlwind getting there.
Well… off to class!
Posted by in 05:18:06
