Petit à petit, Yuan fait son nid.

Lesson 54 Modesty 

My second level French class began three days ago but, unfortunately, I don’t like the new teacher at all because of her self satisfaction and her conscious pseudo rectitude.

Well, she says that she has a 27 years teaching experience. And she does speak a very good French; even better than Dick. But I believe that having the right attitude when teaching, even more when your students are adults, is more important than the pronunciation. Her arrogance and proudness is somehow overstepping. Jose says that these behaviors might somehow derive from her lack of confidence about herself. 

In our first class with her she was prompt to show us that she learned six or seven languages; that she is a professional piano teacher; that she had won many prizes for her career; her teaching was blablabla… 

She seemed so qualified that all of us were amazed by her self proclaimed achievements. But as for myself, I don’t really understand why she learned seven languages. For myself, one or two or three, or even four language are for daily use and if I don’t have the opportunities to use it what could be the use of learning one …

Normally, in our class the teachers are only allowed to talk to the students in one language which is French. But our new teacher was so eager to show us that she could speak English, Spanish, Arab, Italian… than she would talk to this person or to another one in pure English or in pure Spanish or in pure Arab or even in pure Chinese… Because she is planning to learn Chinese and Russian later… Now she could understand and speak, “你好“、”这个“、”那个“, and pronounce it well. 

I can tell you that sometimes it definitely surprised us a lot.

But even if she can speak six or seven languages, none of us like her. I mean not only me but also all the others. Compared with Dick, we feel so sad… ahhh…all of the good luck had been used up.

Before, in Dick’s class, we were very happy and so eager to come to his class everyday; now, we are all slightly depressed as we are entering in her class and we just want to kick off the day quickly. 

Something that is even more ridiculous to me are the rules she made for us. For example, she said that we could only enter the class between 8:15am and 8:45am. If we arrive before 8:15am we have to stay in the corridor or wait in other classes. Why? Because before 8:15am, she eats her breakfasts in our class… She says that the teachers’ office is too small for her. So she much prefers to eat in the class, alone, and therefore, because she takes the whole space for herself alone so we can not enter the class before 8:15am…Sweet! 

Ok, another important thing is that we can not be late in class either, which is a little bit more understandable. But she said that her class begins at 8:30am and so after 8:35am, or 8:40am, even if you come to the class, you would be marked “absent” in her paper which means that you would not get your attending money for that day’s class… 

She said that being late is really serious and a lack of respect for her. But a lot of people here have children and sometimes they have to be rushed to send their children to the kindergartens. Or other things could retain them for a few minutes, which she would not take into consideration? No! Unacceptable for her. 

There are other silly rules, like we can not use pencils in the class. We have to use a pen. Why? Because with a pencil, as she said, it is very easy to correct our mistakes which is not supposed to be good for us… 

Well, yes indeed, we came to learn French; we did not come to make friends with this teacher. As long as she can prove that she is a good teacher it is OK. But… as a teacher, knowledge is not enough; you also need to have a little bit of wisdom and modesty. Take Dick, his modesty and his smile predispose people to like him a lot. As for this woman… erhhh… we can not feel any warmth or likeness from her, and we have to spend 4 long hours with her everyday. It is a little bit tough, isn’t it?