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ESL forum > Message board > What silly mistakes have you made in a class?    

What silly mistakes have you made in a class?



colibrita
United Kingdom

What silly mistakes have you made in a class?
 
Just to lighten the mood a bit.

I once told a student that a person who sculpts is a scupltorer.


30 Oct 2009      





Sulany
Brazil

I once said that a "mole" was a kind of hat!!!LOL
 
 

30 Oct 2009     



zailda
Brazil

I started as a Spanish teacher and then started teaching English one year later. I had many Spanish classes and only two English ones, so I started an English class saying:

Hola, muchachos! Como est�n?

Another time I had 5 English students with dificulties learning (especially the possessive pronouns) and they were going to have a test in a few days. So I prepared a special class and decided - as the last emergency measure - to translate the pronouns on the board and ask them to copy.

So I did but instead of copying they were staring the board looking astonished. Then I also looked at the board and realized that instead of Portuguese, I translated the pronouns in English directly into Spanish.

30 Oct 2009     



mr.dgdln
Turkey

Mine is worst of all, I �m afraid.
it was my first lesson. first lesson and with the adult learners! incredibly hard for a trainee teacher Smile
 
the first lesson I was supposed to teach The English Alphabet.  I wrote the alphabet on the board and turned to the class. They were looking sceptically at me:)
 
and Guess what!
 
I wrote the Turkish Alphabet on the boardLOL ( we have nearly the same alphabet with English but of course we don �t have w / x / q )
 
it was worse when one of them said there supposed to be "w,x,q"Embarrassed

30 Oct 2009     



libertybelle
United States

Well, when you consider the fact that we are all very talented people because we are all fluent in at least 2 languages Thumbs Up
that �s probably where most of our mistakes come from!

I asked my 3th grade class:

How do you say poster in English??
and they all had their hands in the air.

I thought, "wow! they are really good, as they all answered POSTER!

I asked them how they knew the answer, and they replied, because you just told us!!! LOL

Sometimes I don �t know which language I �m speaking!!!!

30 Oct 2009     



frenchfrog
France

Me: "Please, don �t forget to put the tables on the chairs!"
Students: "Hmmm, are you sure it is not the other way round, Miss?" 
LOLLOLLOL

30 Oct 2009     



julianbr
Italy

a student was once scratching for a piece of language .. so I proffered .. �I used to be � .. as in I used to be something.. no? ..

anyway .. the poor guy �s face became sullen and stayed that way for the rest of the class.. I thought it was a little strange .. but ...

anyway .. it transpired that the guy thought instead of saying

� I used to be �

 that I had actually asked

�Are you stupid? �

... hahahaha .. the poor guy never believed my explanation .. Embarrassed ...


30 Oct 2009     



mr.dgdln
Turkey

@julianbr
it was really funny. I laughed my head off!!! LOLLOLLOLLOL

30 Oct 2009     



Olindalima ( F )
Portugal

Well, I can remember some, but they are related to Portuguese language, they won �t make much sense: I frequently write a few words in Portuguese if someone starts speaking Portuguese.
But, once there was a funny situation with one of the students - he was very talkative and never paid attention to what I was saying. One day I asked him to come to the board, but he didn �t even notice. So the other fellow sitting next, pretending he was helping, told him, in a very low voice, that I had asked him to bring me one of the umbrellas. And the poor boy stood, picked one of the umbrellas and brought it to me. You can imagine.

30 Oct 2009     



anitarobi
Croatia

I have a tendency (not very customary, thank God) to switch syllables or letters. Sometimes while I talk, but mostly when I write. It happens when I �m really tired, you know - the way it does when you type and you �re tired so you write stuff like yuo instead of you, etc. I can �t think of an example, but I have to tell you mixing up letters in some words can become very embarassing, not to mention when kids see it written. Frenchfrog, the tables and chairs thing is often on my lips, such as open your pencils and take your booksWink...
I picked up the special trick for my accidents - �I was just checking whether you were listening carefully! � and it works.

30 Oct 2009     



priorita
Ukraine

mr.dgdln, it �s really super: it was worse when one of them said there supposed to be "w,x,q".
Well, I once said, that everybody struggles for the sun under his place (instead of "for his place under the Sun").
The next phrase wasn �t mine, but also funny. One student describing his best friend said that this friend "is a gay boy". He meant cheerful, but the friend began to protest against this fact.

30 Oct 2009     

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