I have 7 children in my class this year that are ESL, or English as a Second Language. My first installment of "kids say the darndest things" will be based on just my ESL kids from this school year. I might be able to post as many as 10 of these segments once I get into things I've heard over the past five years.
First off, I have a little boy who talks like he's 40, even though he's only 4. The following comments are from him:
(In Spanish) Thank God my mom got me these new shoes without laces. I was getting tired of sitting out at recess for playing with my laces during class.
(In Spanish, directed at me) You have a big head, and I will paint it red, yellow, and blue.
(In English) Him: Mr. Lucas, I need to peep! Me: You need to pee? Him: Jes, I need to peep!
I also have another girl, and she sits by me at lunch and peppers me with questions like "que es esta?" (what is this?) and "como se dice" (how do you say?) because she wants to know how to say things in English. She's learned straw and plate and table and milk, etc. etc. etc. That being said, la cuchara in English is a "poon" rather than a spoon, and el tenedor in English sounds suspiciously like F$#^ rather than fork. She may say something like "Where is my fork and spoon?" and it sounds more like "Where es me F#!&ing poon?" It's actually really cute.
The same girl took awhile to catch onto English, so at the beginning of the year, when I asked her how she was doing, she responded with "mi mamá está en mi casa", or "my mom is in my house". Again, this is really, really cute when it happens, even if your question is never answered.
I think my favorite so far was my little boy who was talking in the hallway, which is something we are not allowed to do when we are walking. I asked him "Izaiah, why can I hear your voice?!?" He jumped at the sound of his name, and then looked down quickly. He was upset about being in trouble, but I wanted him to answer me, so I asked him again... "Izaiah, why can I hear your voice?" Still looking down at the floor, and beginning to tear up, he quietly responded, "Because you have ears." He wasn't trying to be sassy, it was just the logical answer to my question. I laughed about that one for about three days :).
These are so cute! The things kids say are just adorable. Love it. :)
ReplyDeleteHaha! What Izaiah said there at the end about you having ears is priceless! Absolutely priceless. I bet you had a hard time holding a straight face.
ReplyDeletep.s. I love how Izaiah is spelled!