Classes have ended for this term and we are in final exam period. Students have been non-stop sending in work. Final term projects are finally in my hands. And once again my students have given me some lighter moments to lessen the pain of the hours spent in marking.
The most recent contribution to mirth and merriment came in eruv Shabbos from a student who wrote to thank me for the class and to remind me that he is aiming for an "A" in the course because he is planning on attending an "IV league law school." I know that many universities are bleeding money right now thanks to the recession, but I didn't know things had gotten so bad that they were on IV therapy right now.
There was the student who wrote a report about an apartment complex in which he stated: "The complex has 2900 tenets. Some of these tenets are better than others." Well yes, some tenets are definitely better than others.
Then there was the student who was answering a complaint from an angry costumer (don't you just love spellcheck?). The word "costumer" appeared 13 times in the letter. Prior to this I was not aware that costumers were of such importance in the business world. As the student said: "The costumer is always right."
Then there was the student who was writing, I hope, tongue in cheek when he stated: "The proposal under consideration has broad appeal; it will help women more than men."
This time of year I am convinced that they don't pay me enough to have to read what I have to read.
8 comments:
Heh. Glad you find humor in this stuff... Since I generally have to edit things for print, I find it a lot more frustrating.
"Costumer" is one of my favories -- shows up in ads in just about every single issue of every frum publication. They just never get it.
Prof.K
You might be suprised to know that the very students giving you this agita Know the ENTIRE year that you are not paid enough to have to read what you read.
I've only seen "costumer" in the bathroom of an Israeli-owned restaurant (please leave the bathroom clean for the next "costumer"...um, yeah...). It cracks me up every time I see it. However, I'm not grading that restaurant on their (lack of) English skills! If I were an English teacher, I think I would face endless frustration.
An IV league school? That's PRICELESS.
Glad you can laugh. As for me, if I see one of my kids bring home such **** in elementary school, I won't put up with it. My $10-$20K better be paying for some red pens early on in the game. If not, I own a number of red pens and am not afraid to use them. Better sooner than later.
But aren't they called Ivy League because they were part if the #4 (IV) league in sports? That one doesn't seem so bad to me. (Of course, the student might not have know that...)
Sephardilady, I often edit my kids' papers before they go to school (with the teacher's permission) and I'll point out the errors without fixing them -- particularly there/their/they're errors! On Chumash tests, English spelling and grammar aren't corrected or marked off for, but they certainly are in English subjects.
The broad appeal one took me a moment, but I think that's my favorite.
(Oh, and did you really mean to write that you received the paper on "eruv Shabbos"?)
MiriamP,
The transliteration from Hebrew to English can be a real balancing act. I'm presuming you meant that "eruv" should have been "erev." So what do you do when you pronounce erev in Hebrew so that it is eruv? And the word that some use "eruv" for I pronounce "ayruv." But yes, for clarity, it was "erev Shabbos."
MiriamP,
The "IV" League attribution is a myth. The term came from the age of the "ancient eight" universities whose walls were covered in ivy.
Post a Comment