DC's teacher says axing...

[Anonymous]

Good post, 19:05.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mother was an elementary teacher in a parochial school for over 20 years. She was born in Japan, and consequently had a lilting accent. More specifically, she had the stereotypical Asian r/l issue. She also occasionally had other issues with spoken language due to the fact that English was her second language. She worked very hard to correct these issues, practicing at home and with family members. She had parents who responded to her the way many on this forum are reacting, and it hurt her deeply as it felt like a personal attack on her identity. Yet this did not stop her from always giving her heart and soul to her students.

At her funeral, hundreds of former students came from as far back as her first teaching years. Every one of them told us how much she touched her lives, how they learned more from her than any other teacher, and how they always remembered her and her life lessons. Several of her "complaining parents" attended her funeral as well. They came to us in tears, saying how much they appreciated what she did for their children.

Not one of those attending spoke of her accent, her mis-pronunciation of words, or the fact that she wasn't speaking the Queen's English. They only remembered the life lessons she taught them and that she gave her heart and soul to her students in everything she did.

How sad that you might be denying your child the chance to have his/her life touched by a devoted, caring teacher just because of a stupid word. She might be a terrible teacher, or she might be the best thing that could ever happen to your child. I guess you won't know.

Lovely. I just received a postcard from a HS teacher who attended my wedding years later. Teachers are dear, dear people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mother was an elementary teacher in a parochial school for over 20 years. She was born in Japan, and consequently had a lilting accent. More specifically, she had the stereotypical Asian r/l issue. ....

This is not the same situation at all. Your mother had an accent from speaking a different language and she worked hard to make herself better understood.

The teacher in question is a native speaker of English who apparently hasn't been informed about her mispronunciation and no one wants to tell her.

You also have no idea about the teacher's other qualities or what will happen if the issue is directly addressed, so please spare the guilt trip about what the kid might be missing out on if the mother has the audacity to mention the problem and seek a solution.

Consider that the teacher is missing out on an opportunity to improve her elocution and her students' understanding, something any good teacher would want to take a crack at.

[Anonymous]

Not a guilt trip unless you have a reason to feel guilty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mother was an elementary teacher in a parochial school for over 20 years. She was born in Japan, and consequently had a lilting accent. More specifically, she had the stereotypical Asian r/l issue. ....

This is not the same situation at all. Your mother had an accent from speaking a different language and she worked hard to make herself better understood.

The teacher in question is a native speaker of English who apparently hasn't been informed about her mispronunciation and no one wants to tell her.

You also have no idea about the teacher's other qualities or what will happen if the issue is directly addressed, so please spare the guilt trip about what the kid might be missing out on if the mother has the audacity to mention the problem and seek a solution.

Consider that the teacher is missing out on an opportunity to improve her elocution and her students' understanding, something any good teacher would want to take a crack at.

In your opinion it's not. As evidenced by the PP in this thread who hates her son's Polish teacher and other PPs, some people consider mispronunciations to be inexcusable for any teacher, whether or not English is their first language.

[Anonymous]

There were also posts about college instructors from other countries, a Polish teacher who occassionally mispronounced words occasionally and still had an accent, and other posts complaining about people not speaking "pure American English."

[Anonymous]

a language is a map of our failures. i know it hurts to burn.

[Anonymous]

???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My professor (with a phd) who teaches me how to be a teacher says ax instead of ask.

You disgust me.

This horrifies me.

I don't know what kind of phd the professor was but s/he was still wrong about saying ax instead of ask. Unbelievable!

[Anonymous]

I once corrected a white American saying "had went" in a toast masters meeting. I was the grammarian of the day at the meeting. He didn't seem to care that I (a non-white, non-native speaker) was telling him that he made a grammatical mistake. From his reaction, I bet no one had ever told him that before and I hope he'd pay attention the next time(s) he used the phrase again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I once corrected a white American saying "had went" in a toast masters meeting. I was the grammarian of the day at the meeting. He didn't seem to care that I (a non-white, non-native speaker) was telling him that he made a grammatical mistake. From his reaction, I bet no one had ever told him that before and I hope he'd pay attention the next time(s) he used the phrase again.

You were at a meeting of a group specifically for public speaking, and the group encourages correction of grammatical mistakes.

[Anonymous]

23:57 Yes, but that was your role and you went directly to him. I assume you did not sit and talk about his misuse of language behind his back to get as many people at the event to agree that he was in the wrong, as some are suggesting the OP do.

Imagine if a new client gathered a bunch of your other new clients, and complained to your boss and her supervisor that you were completely incompetent shouldn't be doing your job because you mispronounced a word or because you spoke with a dialect, without viewing any of your work or credentials. I am sure you would be furious and insulted. I would.

That is very different from doing what you did. Approaching someone as a respectful adult is very different from storming into the principal's office and demanding that your child's new teacher take diction lessons because she says aks instead of ask. I would expect that anyone who did that will be immediately be labled as the PITA, nutty mom, no matter what her intentions are.

[Anonymous]

08/28/2011 19:05 Subject: ReC's teacher says axing...

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My mother was an elementary teacher in a parochial school for over 20 years. She was born in Japan, and consequently had a lilting accent. More specifically, she had the stereotypical Asian r/l issue. She also occasionally had other issues with spoken language due to the fact that English was her second language. She worked very hard to correct these issues, practicing at home and with family members. She had parents who responded to her the way many on this forum are reacting, and it hurt her deeply as it felt like a personal attack on her identity. Yet this did not stop her from always giving her heart and soul to her students.

At her funeral, hundreds of former students came from as far back as her first teaching years. Every one of them told us how much she touched her lives, how they learned more from her than any other teacher, and how they always remembered her and her life lessons. Several of her "complaining parents" attended her funeral as well. They came to us in tears, saying how much they appreciated what she did for their children.

Not one of those attending spoke of her accent, her mis-pronunciation of words, or the fact that she wasn't speaking the Queen's English. They only remembered the life lessons she taught them and that she gave her heart and soul to her students in everything she did.

How sad that you might be denying your child the chance to have his/her life touched by a devoted, caring teacher just because of a stupid word. She might be a terrible teacher, or she might be the best thing that could ever happen to your child. I guess you won't know.

I disagree. Your mother was trying her best to speak the language correctly. She is not to blame for the slight nuances in pronunciation due to her native language. This teacher that the OP is talking about is not speaking correct English. There is no excuse for this . She has poor English and by vitue of the fact that she is the teacher, is making it acceptable to her class. Period. This is unequivocally unacceptable in a classroom.

[Anonymous]

Whoops. I'm the above poster and just caught 22:46's post. Glad I'm not the only one who sees it this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am blown away by this. You must have an enormous amount of free time on your hands--and no need for self-improvement--if you think a mispronunciation is worth this kind of time and effort.

My husband had a teacher in elementary school who said "poim" instead of poem. He actually did come home pronouncing it that way. His parents (one of whom was a teacher) laughed, corrected him, and moved on with their lives.

A little perspective, people.

I'm blown away that you're blown away. How often did the teacher day poim? Several times a day for the whole school year, the way a teacher says axing? If I were either of those teachers, I'd hope someone would have enough courage and concern to correct me instead of talking about me behind my back and leaving me to repeat the error to another generation of students.

Wow, I hadn't realized that "poim" was that offensive--I thought it was a perfectly acceptable regionalism. My mom's family--highly-educated white Virginians--all say it this way.

I'm the original "poim" poster, and this is really the point, isn't it? It's a big country with lots of people who speak in lots of different ways, and there are lots of opinions on what is acceptable. It is insane--and ignorant--to focus on a single perceived mispronunciation. Please, OP, try to see the forest for the trees. Is this teacher reaching your child? Is your child engaged and stimulated? Is your child learning and enjoying it?