Job Discussion Forums

[jesse27]

Maybe the Brits out there can help with this.

I teach first and second grade students. The textbook the school uses is by Longman, generally pretty good ESL publishers. The language is British English (I'm American), but it's not a problem. Americans and Brits don't misunderstand each other when one says "mommy" and the other "mummy."

The problem is this: in the next chapter we're covering normal classrom items; a pen, a pencil case, a marker, etc. One of the objects, a rubber eraser, is described simply as "a rubber." In the U.S. we would call it "an eraser," but if you asked for "a rubber eraser" everyone would know what you're asking for. If, however, you ask for just "a rubber," people will think you're asking for a condom ("rubber" being a popular American slang words for condom).

The student exams are based on the textbook, so I have to teach this. But I don't want to teach the students something that might one day cause embarassment. Explaining the difference between an American rubber and a British one would be beyond their language skills (nor do I think it's appropriate to discuss it with kids anyway). I'd like to tell the English coordinator that one country's proper English is another country's dirty slang, but I don't particularly relish that conversation either.

Any thoughts? I know it's kind of a funny problem, but I still have to deal with it.

[vikdk]

What�s so embarrassing with condoms?? � in my apartments there�s a free condom machine � they are everywhere � kids know what they are!!! Too much HIV here for teachers to be prude over the word rubber

[The Red Baron]

Why mention condoms at all? Teach both words..rubber..and eraser. Simple, really.
In Australia, "Durex" is a brand of stickytape. In England it is a brand of condom. Work your way around that one.

[Don McChesney]

Use 'eraser'.
Most erasers are now silicone, and not latex rubber, so keep it simple. In a few years it will be 'delete' only, on the keyboard, as pencils become a curiosity.

[tw]

Are these primary/elementary first and second graders? If so, then they are a bit TOO young to learn about condoms. But if they are junior or especially senior secondary/middle school students, then I don't see any harm in mentioning to them that the word "rubber" is a slang for condoms in the West. After all, sex education is now slowly being introduced to Chinese students (though mainly in post-secondary level). You will get a lot of embarassed giggles, but I think as long as you keep a serious face, they will not feel that you are being "perverted" (especially if you are a male teacher).

On a side note, because Chinese students tend to favour American English, you should try to introduce American variations of terminologies as much as possible, e.g. "eraser" vs "rubber", "apartment" vs "flat", "truck" vs "lorry", etc.

[chicagojoe]

I don't think condoms are as taboo a subject as they would be in American schools, since the Chinese government indoctrinates their populace on birth control as much as the Catholics don't. That being said, condoms are everywhere in China, from the aforementioned vending machines to the rows and rows in the check out lines at Wal-Mart.

OT: Remember the Woody Allen movie ("Radio Days") where the kid brings a condom to Show and Tell?

[Mysterious Mark]

A friend of mine once tried to convince an office full of sceptical Chinese English teachers that Australians - never mind the rest of the world - say rooster instead of c*ck. "But I like c*ck!" "Did you know China is shaped like a c*ck?" And so on...

They finally agreed with her when she showed them a dictionary entry.

(I'm not even allowed to spell the word on this forum!)

[Brian Caulfield]

This sounds like a case where the school nurse should be called in for an explanation.

[Super Mario]

Try explaining to a girl named Fanny, heading to Australia, why she needs to change her name.
BTW US and Aussie Fanny mean different, though anatomically proximate, areas.

[erinyes]

In reality, how many of them will end up traveling to America? By the time they do, they will be old enough to know what a condom is anyway. Depending on how old they are, I wouldn�t even bother confusing them by telling them different names.

Besides, I think there are more places in the world that call it a rubber, so why not go with what the majority think?

Incidentally, I teach senior 1 - some of my studens are 15 of 16 years old. We did a unit on English around the world, and I picked up a few things just sitting on their desk and told them the different names all around the world... I got to the rubber and asked them what it was. Sure enough, they said "rubber". I said, yes in England and Australia you can say rubber. In America rubber means something else, something very different."
They asked what it was and I said, "I am your teacher, and I can't talk about it in class with you." They kept asking, but smiled and I refused, and acted a little embarrassed.

I wouldn't tell them, but I thought t was great because I saw many of them writing down the word in their notebooks - presumably to look it up. I'm sure they ALL know now, and I didn't have to tell them a thing! Best HW I ever set.

[latefordinner]

erinyes:

[Starry Night]