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Margot73
Joined: 16 Feb 2007
Posts: 145
Location: New York City
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 Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 7:41 pm Post subject: Drugs: A sensitive topic for Latin American students? |
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| I teach in the US, but most of my students are Latin American. It surprises me which topics are and are not sensitive for them. Last week they were talking about gays and all the students looked comfortable (except for the Catholic nun in my class who looked like she was about to have a stroke.) But I made a joke about George Bush and cocaine one time and they looked SHOCKED and quite uncomfortable? Any thoughts? |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
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| Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:32 pm Post subject: |
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| That wouldn't be a problem in my Mexican university class; the students would be the ones making jokes about cocaine, not me. |
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lozwich
Joined: 25 May 2003
Posts: 1536
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| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 2:15 am Post subject: |
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| Not something I would joke about where I am. Given the situation, I don't really think its a joking matter anyway. |
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John Hall
Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 452
Location: San Jose, Costa Rica
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| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 3:05 pm Post subject: |
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| It all depends on which Latin American country they are from. My Costa Rican students would probably laugh, but Colombian students wouldn't. |
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danielita
Joined: 06 Mar 2006
Posts: 281
Location: SLP
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| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:32 pm Post subject: Re: Drugs: A sensitive topic for Latin American students? |
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| Margot73 wrote: |
| But I made a joke about George Bush and cocaine one time and they looked SHOCKED and quite uncomfortable? Any thoughts? |
It is impossible to list what topics are OK and which are off limits for Latin American students, just as it would be to make a list for North American students. It varies from person to person. Every student and class is different. Your Bush and cocaine joke may have gone flat this time, it might work with a different group of students. You may find that other groups refuse to discuss homosexuality. It really all depends. I will assume that these students have immigrated to the US from their respective countries. The big problem is that we often don't know the whole story as to why they are here. Some of you students may have had to flee their country due to threats/kidnapping from a drug cartel. If that is in their past, cocaine is nothing to joke about. |
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naturegirl321
Joined: 04 May 2003
Posts: 9041
Location: home sweet home
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| Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:13 am Post subject: |
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| My students, at a private all girls school would deny it, say bad people do it, but admit to drinking. Maybe my uni students would be more up for the conversation. |
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hlamb
Joined: 09 Dec 2003
Posts: 431
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2007 7:58 pm Post subject: |
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| I haven't found any topics that are completely off limits. It seems to depend entirely on which students are in the class and how the information is presented. Someimtes the same topic will be a hit with one class and a complete flop with the next. Know your students and you can start to get a feel for what will work and what won't. |
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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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| Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2007 10:54 am Post subject: |
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| Very true, the better you have a feel for your students, the more likely a topic may be a hit. It's good to give students choices too, kind of like a menu, though of course it can be more work for you until you build up a library of material. I have enjoyed teaching classes sometimes centered around topics the students choose. At a women's university we had a lot of female issues; stalking, dating, harassment at work, career choices for women, etc.. |
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