Thursday, February 3, 2011

Elementary, My Dear Watson

Sometimes I have to remind myself that I work at an elementary school.  Usually this is brought on after asking a student for the third time in a row to please take the scissors out his mouth.  Then there are other times where I'm reminded against my will.  Such as this morning, when I overheard two teachers talking:
"Any poop or pee yet today?"
"Nope, but it's still early."
A few minutes later, a boy came racing inside from recess amidst a furious temper tantrum, screaming, "Pu du cul!  Pu du cul!" at the top of his lungs.  Understanding that this was something rude, but not quite sure of the literal meaning, a teacher took it upon herself to mime out the meaning for me.  Miming is a great tool for teaching foreign languages.  I mime hats, weather patterns, animals and pencil cases on a regular basis.  Today I realized the efficacy of this method first hand as the teacher first held her nose and crinkled her face up in disgust, and then pointed to her rear.  I gathered then that pu du cul roughly translated to stinky butt.  Add that to my ever-growing arsenal of vocabulary I would never have learned if I didn't work at an elementary school.

6 comments:

  1. HA HA!! Thanks for teaching me a new word! Now I know just what to call my dog! :-)

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  2. You are definitely getting a much more... "well-rounded" French vocabulary than I am. :)

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  3. Its strange that French children use "bad" words in normal conversation, most words that in English are offensive don't seem so bad in French.
    http://rozinbrittany.blogspot.com

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  4. I can't tell you how many times a day I hear kids yell, "Putain!" in school (the French equivalent to our "F" word, for you non-French speakers, although it doesn't carry much weight anymore. Probably more like "damn"). It offends me because I find it disrespectful to teachers and classmates, but no one else seems to bat an eye. Yet teachers will be quick to correct a student who uses the informal word for potatoes in school ("des patates") instead of the formal "pommes de terre." What a strange culture of language! And don't even get me started on the Académie Française!

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