Another large group: can't quarrel with success!
I come to the sunny second floor of the Library several
minutes late, during introductions, and propose that as the group of 26 continue to
introduce themselves students divulge how they procrastinate. The reason I am late is that I’d put off leaving for class by
reading a
friend's opinion piece in response to a New
York Times article about procrastination. It takes a while before the students, from the Middle East, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa,
and Latin America, understand that procrastination means doing something to
avoid what they should be doing. After I mention that as a way of
postponing his work the narrator of Italo Svevo's novel The Confessions
of Zeno confesses
that he kept track of any number of last cigarettes, my co-teacher Ela
confesses that before attempting what she should be doing she brushes her
cat. Sharing Ela's humor, Jaume claims to have a Ph. D. In
procrastination. We split into three groups, the most advanced students
without a teacher. Each group discusses the longest article, about how useful
clichés are, and two short articles, six in total, that they will present
to the large group when we get back together.
Clichés, everyone agrees, help with learning a language. These shortcuts, they point out, are used by politicians and often, as in the case of “I have a dream,” can become slogans. Their dream is to speak English well. In my small group we talk about how to answer the question, How are you? It all depends, they say, on who you’re talking with. You might ask the question of a colleague and then walk away without an answer. In the USA, one needs to be careful to avoid giving too much information (TMI), and it is best to say fine so there will be no further questions. Clichés are ridiculed for their mediocrity, although sometimes they display enough creativity to become mottos. In the large group, after Irene summarizes the article, Elisabeth asks whether clichés are true; the answer, supplied by Anna Maria, is that like stereotypes such as that Italians speak with their hands (she is sitting on hers), clichés are too unspecific to be true. Elime mentions that in some cases they are not true; she does not agree that what doesn’t kill you makes you strong.
Elime, a leader of the leaderless group, presents a short article about how the Texas Senate will decide whether lemonade stands run by minors should become legal. The question is why they are outlawed: in the article the answer given is for reasons of health.
Dusan who quickly studied up easily summarizes a short article about how mushrooms have been shown to lower the risk of cognitive decline in a study among Chinese men and women in Singapore. We wonder whether the weekly requirement of five ounces of mushrooms is measured before or after cooking. Natsu, who graduated from an aviation school in California, is not at all surprised by the mother-daughter pilot duo described in another short article as entertaining their passengers on a recent flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta. Apparently there are now many female aviators in Japan, but not enough, and one of her friends, a petite and elegant woman, is always shoved into the seat of co-pilot rather than commander. Teresita recently flew to Panama with a woman as pilot. At first she was worried, but on reflection decided that women are (stereotypically) more careful. Anna Maria volunteers that women have to try harder. Elisabeth flew with an all-male flight crew, which she found weird.
Clichés, everyone agrees, help with learning a language. These shortcuts, they point out, are used by politicians and often, as in the case of “I have a dream,” can become slogans. Their dream is to speak English well. In my small group we talk about how to answer the question, How are you? It all depends, they say, on who you’re talking with. You might ask the question of a colleague and then walk away without an answer. In the USA, one needs to be careful to avoid giving too much information (TMI), and it is best to say fine so there will be no further questions. Clichés are ridiculed for their mediocrity, although sometimes they display enough creativity to become mottos. In the large group, after Irene summarizes the article, Elisabeth asks whether clichés are true; the answer, supplied by Anna Maria, is that like stereotypes such as that Italians speak with their hands (she is sitting on hers), clichés are too unspecific to be true. Elime mentions that in some cases they are not true; she does not agree that what doesn’t kill you makes you strong.
Elime, a leader of the leaderless group, presents a short article about how the Texas Senate will decide whether lemonade stands run by minors should become legal. The question is why they are outlawed: in the article the answer given is for reasons of health.
Dusan who quickly studied up easily summarizes a short article about how mushrooms have been shown to lower the risk of cognitive decline in a study among Chinese men and women in Singapore. We wonder whether the weekly requirement of five ounces of mushrooms is measured before or after cooking. Natsu, who graduated from an aviation school in California, is not at all surprised by the mother-daughter pilot duo described in another short article as entertaining their passengers on a recent flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta. Apparently there are now many female aviators in Japan, but not enough, and one of her friends, a petite and elegant woman, is always shoved into the seat of co-pilot rather than commander. Teresita recently flew to Panama with a woman as pilot. At first she was worried, but on reflection decided that women are (stereotypically) more careful. Anna Maria volunteers that women have to try harder. Elisabeth flew with an all-male flight crew, which she found weird.
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