SOUTHWESTERN CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL - How much French did anyone really learn from Jon Giacco (sp?), the little guy on the right?
I remember his English, was, well, not as bad as my French, but pretty bad. It turns out, of course, that he really spoke Italian best, but what the hell.
Somehow, I survived three years of French, maybe even four, I've blocked most of it out. My first experience in 9th grade I've written up for the book. (The sweaters that our very female teacher wore in that class were, magnifique!)
Ironically, I took more French in college (another D on the transcript) but when I went to France, damn if a lot of it didn't come back - after 30 years!
Avez-vous vin rouge?
I avoided Mrs. Cook (seated) who taught Latin, and Mr. Pfaff taught German. Spanish suffered from some kind of inferiority complex - part social because Spanish speakers were (are?) far down the social scale for most Americans around Jamestown. If you spoke Spanish, you were either a Spanish student, or Puerto Rican. And being Puerto Rican was pretty low on the Swedish totem pole. (How's that for mixing races and metaphors?)
What do I remember most about those foreign language classes?
Going to the blackboard to write sentences. Teachers who require that should be shot, or made to sing on American Idol, or both.
Soon I'll write here about math teachers, another group of people who believe that a little public humiliation at the blackboard is good for the soul - and encourages learning.
Not.
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