Saturday, January 9, 2010

FAQs from Students

While I was writing my post “FAQs from Friends and Family”, I couldn’t help thinking about the questions I get asked from the students I teach. I thought I would share some with you:

Are you American?

Do you like Americans?

Are you offended when someone calls you American?

Does McDonald’s (actually they pronounce it MAC- Donald’s) taste better in America?

Have you been to New York?

Students seem much more fascinated with “America” than Canada.

Do you know Drake?

After having been asked so many times, I looked him up and discovered that he is a Canadian actor and hip-hop artist (and, seemingly, the most famous Canadian celebrity among British youth).

Do you know Mr./Mrs.________ (Canadian teacher at their school)?

Do you have school in the winter in Canada?

Can you say something in “Canadian”?

Have you seen a polar bear?

Are you Janine from “East Enders”?

I have been asked this question several times now. “East Enders” is a popular television series here. I have never seen it, but apparently the students at my new school think that I am the actor that plays one of the characters on the show…despite the fact that she speaks with a British accent.

Were you on “One Tree Hill”?

After speaking with another Canadian supply teacher who has also been mistaken for an actor, I am guessing that they somehow equate our "American accents" with Hollywood.

The funniest comment:

After telling a Year 5 class that I am from Canada, I informed them that I was from the “capital of Canada” and asked if anyone knew what that was:

“Toronto!” No.
“Vancouver!” No.
“Mexico!” ?!

I find it hilarious how little most Londoners know about Canada. But if you think about it, I didn’t know a whole lot about England before I came here!

2 comments:

Viajera said...

MEXICO?!!! LOL! They're too cute.

It's true: Alas, Canada is not considered to be as "sexy" as the States. When adults hear that I'm from Canada, they are delighted intrigued, but they really don't even know what to ask, I think, so these kids have a huge leap on them all.

Theresa Milstein said...

Students are great for comic relief.

I'm from New York, and now live in Cambridge, MA. When this comes up, I can't tell you how many times students have asked if I know their relative who lives in New York, as if it's a tiny village rather than being populated by millions of people.