Job Discussion Forums

[nomad soul]

Taking a cue from another forum thread...

Who said being a teacher is dull. What are some of your funniest moments while teaching in KSA?

I recall one rather humorous moment. A colleague received a student's doctor's note (in English), which read:

Diagnosis: Chicken box

I was in the room when the student brought the note in. My colleague and I were trying hard not to laugh when the student dryly stated that she'd had chicken box.

[Gamajorba]

Absolutely brilliant.

I had one student help me (under his own initiative) to get the class to settle down, and he shouted this:

"GAYS! FOCUS!"

No one knew understood why I found it so funny until I showed them a translation and explained it...cue 13 guys roaring with laughter for 5 minutes

[fledex]

I always push the limits and play music when I think I can get away with it. One day I had the words projected up on the board for students to follow while I watched and highlighted the words as the song went along. Toward the end of the song, I turn around to see two big guys in military uniform waltzing arm-in-arm at the back of the class. Their eyes went wide open, as if they had just been caught. One of my funniest teaching moments ever.

[bigdurian]

Had one kid, total waste of space, asking me if I knew what 'zip' meant in English. The whole time he's doing this he keeps on playing with the zip on his jacket, zipping it up and down the whole time.

I replied that I did know what it meant and that he couldn't stop playing with his.

Everyone got the joke and the rest of the class cracked up. myself included.

It was one of those moments. Teenage boys, got to love the humour.

[buravirgil]

"Peace be up in you."

I tried to explain "upon", but to much incredulity.

[Unrung School Bell]

I had a game with a spinwheel with all the letters of the alphabet and a deck of handmade cards with prompts. It was a class all of young ladies. The prompt was "something to do in bed". The letter spun was F. All of about a dozen girls shouted out the same word.

[MixtecaMike]

My uncle has been several kinds of vegetables this year.

[jaffa]

A security guard student was snoozing through the lesson and I let it go because I was about to leave and couldn't care less. Then he woke up, yawned, looked round at the clock and said, "Break time, teacher!"

[nomad soul]

We were doing a lesson on nonverbal communication, so I asked the girls to show me gestures used in Saudi culture.

One student excitedly said, "Miss, you have to learn this one," as she made a gesture.
I imitated the hand movement. "What does it mean?"
Another student blurted out, "It means you're gonna kick their a**!"

My delicate Saudi flowers...

[radient one]

In an exam, students had to give "Wh_______?" questions to provided answers. To the answer "Ahmed works at a supermarket", one student's question was: "What is work?"

[Gamajorba]

[sicklyman]

So, during a listening activity, I wander down the back of the classroom and see that Mohammed is writing something diligently in the inside cover of his textbook. As he wasn't the most focussed of students, this sudden attention to literacy intrigued me.

Lo and behold, he had inscribed "F*** the English and f*** the English language." The poor guy, having misspelled the word "language", had crossed it out and was busy rewriting it correctly.

Priceless.

[johnslat]

And yet - there are those who'll still say that Saudis are poor students.

Regards,
John

[nomad soul]

[nomad soul]

I introduced my students to "Bob," a small chubby, squeezable grinning monkey that's used as a stress relief toy. The girls excitedly passed Bob around, cooing over him, and taking selfies with him. After Bob had made his rounds, so to speak, I asked the class what they thought of him. One of my students slyly remarked, "Miss, Bob is a bad boy. He has been with lots of girls."