It's pretty much official that I am a celebrity in Torre del Mar, Spain. I went into my first class today, third grade. The class had not started yet and since it was my first time in there I thought I would chat it up and see how their English was before the teacher got there.Me: Hello, my name is Alex. I am from the United States.
Chica: "¿¡conoces Hannah Montana?!"
Otra chica: "¿¡ La conoces?!
Me: Si la conozco. ( I just made the critical error of mixing up "saber" with "conocer." )
Chica: (squealing) aaaaaaaaahhh. ¿Tu eres famosa?
Me: No I am not famous. I meant I know of Hannah but she is not my friend in real life.
Chicas: (sighing)
There are more questions about Hannah and comments on how much they all love her. I decide I really can't talk about Hannah anymore so I ask them if they want to see some pictures of where I am from in the United States. I tell them I am from New York and I whip out 3 postcards I grabbed in the airport before I left (one is of the statue of liberty, one of times square and one of the skyline). I am INSTANTLY swarmed. They scream "¡¡¡¡FIRMAME!!!!" All of a sudden the number of students surrounding me doubles, triples, and then quadrouples. Girls and boys alike flying out of nowhere. They are tugging on my shirt, standing on their chairs to see me, shoving pens, notebooks, napkins whatever they can find in my face for my autograph. I am finally understanding why celebs hate paparazzi and wishing that I had a team of security to fight them off. The teacher walks in as I am clearly powerless amongst her 9-year-olds. In an attempt to assume authority I say, "¡sientate! Después podemos ver las fotos." The children disperse to their seats and I can finally breathe. Then I taught them the different parts of the body in English. Not sure if they still think I am a celeb or not. I guess I will find out next week when I return to that class.
Chica: "¿¡conoces Hannah Montana?!"
Otra chica: "¿¡ La conoces?!
Me: Si la conozco. ( I just made the critical error of mixing up "saber" with "conocer." )
Chica: (squealing) aaaaaaaaahhh. ¿Tu eres famosa?
Me: No I am not famous. I meant I know of Hannah but she is not my friend in real life.
Chicas: (sighing)
There are more questions about Hannah and comments on how much they all love her. I decide I really can't talk about Hannah anymore so I ask them if they want to see some pictures of where I am from in the United States. I tell them I am from New York and I whip out 3 postcards I grabbed in the airport before I left (one is of the statue of liberty, one of times square and one of the skyline). I am INSTANTLY swarmed. They scream "¡¡¡¡FIRMAME!!!!" All of a sudden the number of students surrounding me doubles, triples, and then quadrouples. Girls and boys alike flying out of nowhere. They are tugging on my shirt, standing on their chairs to see me, shoving pens, notebooks, napkins whatever they can find in my face for my autograph. I am finally understanding why celebs hate paparazzi and wishing that I had a team of security to fight them off. The teacher walks in as I am clearly powerless amongst her 9-year-olds. In an attempt to assume authority I say, "¡sientate! Después podemos ver las fotos." The children disperse to their seats and I can finally breathe. Then I taught them the different parts of the body in English. Not sure if they still think I am a celeb or not. I guess I will find out next week when I return to that class.
See, pictures "visuals" are so important to kids and they work well to get their attention
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