superpower

Last week was parent-teacher conference time.  It's the time of year where I meet parents and say things like "Johnny has trouble focusing in class" when I really mean "All it takes is for Johnny's neighbour to be diligently writing an assignment, and Johnny is mesmerized by the pen's movement. And it isn't even shiny!"  Or  else I say "Jimmy likes to participate in class discussions."  and finish the statement with "even when we're not discussing anything as a class" under my breath.

For the record, I said neither of these things to anyone. Ever.

I must say that I am thankful that both students and their parents respect that which I represent; the educational system. No one criticizes what I do (not to my face, anyway ... or to my boss for that matter ...) and no one blames me for their students' misbehaviour. Parents usually ask, "What can I do to help?"  HUGE change and blessing from my time back in Toronto.  I love it.

Thankfully, this sentiment doesn't apply at my school.

Actually, the biggest "problem"  - if we can call it that - that most of us face here are the Eastern parents saying we don't give enough homework, and the Western parents telling us we're giving too much.

Suffice it to say, parent-teacher conferences here usually go fairly well.

What gets interesting at times, though, is the fact that many parents here do not speak English, so a translator is needed.

Translating to me is nothing new. I've done it many times before. In fact, at one point, I thought it would make an awesome career.

Until I actually did some and realized how tired my brain gets.  Yeah, probably not going to happen.

Anyway, there was a pretty neat moment this time around. One set of parents came in where neither spoke English, the father spoke Korean, and the mother spoke Chinese and Korean.  So whatever I said went through a Chinese interpreter to the mom, who, without missing a beat, translated everything into Korean for the father's benefit.

Seriously fascinating.  And she was amazingly quick and unhesitating. I can't even do that.  I had very little idea of what was being said ... 

Oh wait. Never mind. It was whatever I'd said ... 

What I meant was I understood next to nothing, but it was really cool to watch and admire this woman who was so familiar with the two languages that she could switch back and forth effortlessly.

I recently had my students write on the following prompt:  "If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?"

My answer (actually, one of many)? The power to move between languages with ease.  I seriously am in awe of this woman.  She's my hero. 

And I don't even know her first name.