A whole Other Language

Sometimes I think my students speak a foreign language. I am currently in a school with students from a different area than where I grow up and the slang that they use is sometimes as hard for me to follow, as it would be for them if I started spouting learning theory. Slowly but surely, though, I am starting to learn the language, like the fact that “cook” doesn’t have anything to do with dinner. What has become the most obvious is that I need to accept help and admit when I don’t get it. They may laugh and think it’s funny that I don’t understand, but the next day they appreciate it when I can follow what they are trying to say. Everyday with these students is a learning experience in so many ways, and this is giving me a little taste of what it must be like to come from another country and not understand the language. It’s an interesting perspective that I never expected to get, but would never trade.