As we walked to school on that first day, my mother (with my sister in the pushchair) and I, she said "If you want to go to the toilet say, 'excuse me' to the teacher."
Of course, with the strangeness of it all, I forgot what it was I was supposed to say. Naturally, I needed to go to the toilet and I remember wondering what I should do. In the end I just left the classroom without saying a word, all the time afraid that the teacher was going to call me back, come after me, smack me, I don't know.
Just in case you're thinking that I could have used some other words, I could not, because I didn't know any words, not English words, anyway. The only foreign child in the class and quite unable to exchange a word with anyone.
After I had been at the school a week, my mother asked, "Do you understand anything the teacher is saying yet?"
"Yes, everything," I replied.
"So, what did the teacher say today?"
"Oh, nothing interesting. Exactly the same as yesterday."
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corioboria
- http://www.healthworx.co.uk
- Tuesday, 10. Oct, 2006 @ 14:34:37
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FlowersInMyHair
- Tuesday, 10. Oct, 2006 @ 15:40:44
Because I was the only foreign child, I picked up English very quickly, and then you couldn't shut me up.
There are a lot more foreign children about now, and although it's easier for them in a way because they have schoolmates who speak their language, it is also harder for them to learn English.
Your daughter sounds lovely.
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avrilo
- Thursday, 12. Oct, 2006 @ 16:45:39
What nationality are you? Do you still speak with an accent? It must have been unerving going to a foreign school and having to learn a new language.
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FlowersInMyHair
- Thursday, 12. Oct, 2006 @ 19:23:07
I'm Polish. I don't speak with an accent at all, well, except a trace of a local one, which I can't seem to get rid of no matter how much I try. Not that I'm against local accents, it's just that I don't like mine. Why can't I have been brought up in Geordie land? I could listen to that accent all day long.
I don't recall any distress at starting school, so I don't think it was so bad. I had a lovely and understanding teacher. -
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avrilo
- Friday, 13. Oct, 2006 @ 19:59:18
That's good you had a lovely teacher.
I think when we took over Mr Mzudo's blog we discussed our Polish ancestry. My grandmother was polish, spoke little English and cooked kosher, Polish food.-
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FlowersInMyHair
- Friday, 13. Oct, 2006 @ 20:34:12
Yes, what became of Mr Udzio I wonder? We had a most enjoyable exchange about our roots on his blog.
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avrilo
- Monday, 16. Oct, 2006 @ 18:46:53
Maybe he created another blog where it wouldn't be taken over by chatty women!
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FlowersInMyHair
- Tuesday, 24. Oct, 2006 @ 12:27:45
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RapunzelRapunzel
- Tuesday, 17. Oct, 2006 @ 12:33:08
i think that's what most people think when they go to school anyway! oh, that did make me laugh he he x
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FlowersInMyHair
- Tuesday, 24. Oct, 2006 @ 12:29:24
I'm glad it made you laugh. It certainly made my mother laugh too. She was very fond of telling that story for a time.
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My daughter is at nursery at the moment where half the children don't speak English at home. I've often wondered what life must be like for those little kids, coming out of their comfgortable homes into an alien, foreign environment. But I guess they adapt, I guess we all do.
I've told my daughter to try to be kind to everyone, even when they don't understand you. I'm sure she will, she's a dear soul