<\/p>\n
Humor is not necessarily constrained by language. And some students thrive on the \u201cgot ya\u201d moments. I was teaching a group of two students, a husband and wife. Now, you have to understand that the husband had a general tendency to be a bit reserved.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We were in the midst of a pronunciation exercise, which consisted of practice at a slower speed, (classroom English), then at native speed, after some explanation of particular pronunciation quirks. The students had finished pronouncing the target sentence at native speed rather well. The ensuing dialogue went something like this:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Teacher: \u201cAre you American?\u201d (Asked in Russian for the fun of it.)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Husband: \u201cI have been there a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Teacher: \u201cYou were there a long time? Really? Interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wife: \u201cHe is big lier.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Husband: \u201cI have been there for three weeks.\u201d (Amid a lot of laughter.)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On the one hand, you had to be there to fully appreciate the \u201cgot ya\u201d moment in that little exchange. You would have had to see the likely gullible expression on my face, and read my student\u2019s mind as he quite probably thought the Russian equivalent of \u201cgot ya\u201d amid inward and outward chuckles.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The main point of this little sort of tale is that this student, though at about an intermediate low level, was ready and willing to try a bit of dry humor on his poor teacher. Language doesn\u2019t stop our students from messing with our heads, so let\u2019s not allow it to get in our way as we teach. Relax and have a little fun with your students; online or offline. If the context allows and a \u201cgot ya\u201d moment presents itself, use it. It\u2019s a teachable moment, and it lightens the mood of the class. And, hey, it\u2019s just plain fun; as teaching should be, right?<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Got Ya! Humor is not necessarily constrained by language. And some students thrive on the \u201cgot ya\u201d moments. I was teaching a group of two students, a husband and wife. Now, you have to understand that the husband had a general tendency to be a bit reserved. We were in the midst of
+ Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"sync_status":"none","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,13],"tags":[85,86,84],"series":[],"class_list":["post-492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-experiences-and-advice","category-for-language-teachers","tag-humor","tag-stories","tag-teaching"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/www.hollytreeenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/English-Like-An-Eagle-2.jpg","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/english-like-an-eagle\/id1534350389","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_play":{"key":"google_play","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG9sbHl0cmVlZW5nbGlzaC5jb20vZmVlZC9wb2RjYXN0","label":"Google Play","class":"google_play","icon":"google-play.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG9sbHl0cmVlZW5nbGlzaC5jb20vZmVlZC9wb2RjYXN0","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"pandora":{"key":"pandora","url":"","label":"Pandora","class":"pandora","icon":"pandora.png"},"rss":{"key":"rss","url":"","label":"RSS","class":"rss","icon":"rss.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2wxVzF27hyETfyop2KgzEs","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"},"itunes":{"key":"itunes","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/english-like-an-eagle\/id1534350389","label":"iTunes","class":"itunes","icon":"itunes.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.hollytreeenglish.com\/home\/feed\/podcast\/english-like-an-eagle","embedCode":"Adventures in ESL 1: Having me on<\/a><\/blockquote>