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Native teachers without linguistic talent | ||
Tags: Talent | Language Teaching | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5333 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes  Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 97 of 106 31 August 2013 at 9:46pm | IP Logged | ||
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I guess in my ideal world, the kids would be followed quite closely, and when they start to struggle in a
subject, they would get help immediately, either in the shape of a private tutor, or in a small group with other students who struggle with the same subject. And if at the end of the year they still struggled, they would be offered a month for free at a super cool summer school where those who needed more math would get 3-4 hours a day with math, and preferably as practical math as possible, mixed in with bathing, football, barbecues, baking or whatever other activities might make them really beg to be sent to the summer course. Likewise with French, where a few hours with studying would be matched with meeting lots of cute French girls or guys, and lots of French music and good series ( and when I say good I don't mean Le Pere Goriot, but something exciting and age appropriate). Those who had difficulties learning to sow could learn how to design their own clothes, go to fashion shows, and also do lots of outdoor activities, those who needed help with chemistry would do so many fun experiments that they would come back and rule the chemistry class while displaying their tan and the six pack they acquired playing their favourite games. And those who were particularly talented in some subjects would also get the opportunity to get extra challenges all through the year, and not have to be sacrificed on the altar of equality. With my own kids I have been able to stimulate their interest in languages by sending them to Spain where they can party their way to great Spanish. I would have sold every valuable item I have got if I could have sent my youngest one to the kind of math camp that I described though. Every child can learn if they are just taught the right way. Edited by Solfrid Cristin on 31 August 2013 at 9:48pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5008 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 98 of 106 31 August 2013 at 9:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well, Cristina, your ideal world is the world of every child with parents who care. (And your daughters are surely among us, the lucky ones :-) )But there are families where either parents don't care and just throw money at the child before going back to work or some extreme cases just provide the material minimum and go back to drinking.
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| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4706 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 99 of 106 31 August 2013 at 10:06pm | IP Logged | ||
This would be awesome, but you would need shitloads of money to do it properly. In the Netherlands, there used to exist such a thing as the "Plusklas" (Plus class) which was a special class for gifted students where they'd do special activities once every so often to challenge students that were getting really bored in primary school. My mother used to aid in teaching these, but all these types of initiatives are always super under-funded. It's the same with special needs education. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5008 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 100 of 106 31 August 2013 at 10:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well, those with special needs usually have "an advantage" when it comes to the tight funding. The government knows that if those with special needs don't get a special approach, they will simply fail. At first at school, that will totally ruin their self-esteem and that both will ruin their lives and the kids will only cost the society instead of taking part in making it richer as much as their condition allows. But when it comes to the clever kids, they will just take care of themselves. That is the theory. In reality, most talents become average after some time. They get tired of struggling, of feeling underappreciated, of not being taught as much as they would want to, of being the weird ones.
From one point of view, it looks totally logical and correct. Those kids with special needs got a disadvantage from nature and should get all the help they need. And I agree. But it is as well really unfair. All the kids are to get the best education possible except for the "too clever" ones. Discrimination based on high intelligence. It damages firstly the children and secondarily the society. No society has got enough talents to just throw them away. I think many parts of the Cristina's plan can be done on a tighter budget as well. Sometimes just being appreciated and encouraged is all one needs. And even less largely awesome summer plan can be a huge motivation. I think the extra challenges, however, wouldn't fill the void in a normal class. It's better than nothing but where is the constant competition against people starting from the same line? Where are the stimuli teaching you humility when you are simply the best and the one getting the extra work for clever kids? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| mrwarper Diglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Spain forum_posts.asp?TID=Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5225 days ago 1493 posts - 2500 votes Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2 Studies: German, Russian, Japanese | Message 101 of 106 31 August 2013 at 10:59pm | IP Logged | ||
You just took the words out of my mouth :) I agree economical difficulties may arise, but sure enough where there's a will there's a way... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6596 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 102 of 106 31 August 2013 at 11:00pm | IP Logged | ||
And that's before I think of the people from my school and having to see them not only during the school year but also when I want to fucкing relax. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5008 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 103 of 106 31 August 2013 at 11:10pm | IP Logged | ||
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Ok, than an ideal summer plan for young Serpent: Those few hours of work on what is needed after having breakfast at 11 a.m. and than swimming and sun bathing on an empty beach, reading fun books (preferably in Finnish), picknicking with the few carefully elected close friends and other than that not being disturbed by people.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5333 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 104 of 106 01 September 2013 at 12:43am | IP Logged | ||
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Serpent: I see your point, but this would not be summer school for everyone. This would be an offer for those
who was heading for disaster, but who with this system could regain their confidence. And there is no rule which says we could not start class at 11.00 :-) As for the cost, yes, it would obviously be expensive, but if we calculate inn the cost of paying welfare for those who failed totally, the cost of crime done by drop outs who cannot read properly and find it easier to steal than to get a job, for treatment of those who become drug addicts because their life is one failure after another, the cost of Child Protection services for children without hope, or the children of parents who fail today, we would probably save a ton of money. And obviously, if we could teach them a couple of foreign languages along the way, so much the better. I have dropped out of school repeatedly. I know of no one with my track record who did not end up in prison or as a drug addict or dead or in the very best of cases on welfare for their entire life. The only difference between me and others in my situation is that I had a mom who was willing to walk through water and fire to make me succeed, who sent me abroad and gave me the self confidence which springs out of being fluent in four languages at the age of 15. Equipped with that self confidence I stormed through high school in one year with good grades, and ended up with one of the highest educations in the country, and now have a good job doing something I love. If we could bring that success to all the others who struggle in school, it would be worth every penny. Who says there is no salvation in foreign languages :-) 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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