I want to preface this by saying that I went into this class with prior knowledge. It's an NZSL class - New Zealand Sign Language - and I took an introductory class a few years ago, so the first class was nothing new to me. I knew the alphabet off by heart and could whip through it faster than the teacher (She's deaf, and English is her second language. NZSL is her first, and she had to pause a couple of times and think about what letter came next in sequence).
ANYWAY. So I get there and I'm probably the best at the alphabet in the class, not because I'm like, super smart or anything, but because I already knew it. So that's what we're learning, and rather than be bored, I'm having a lot of fun with it because there was a cute guy (Lee) sitting next to me who was coming to it for the first time, and he pretty much picked me as his "go-to girl" for when he wanted to check a sign and the teacher was busy
But even he picked it up super fast. NZSL is super intuitive as far as most of the letters go, even more so than ASL (And I taught myself the ASL alphabet too in my spare time. This is what I do, I like to learn. Sue me.) And he was, as I said, coming to it for the first time, pretty nervous, pretty unsure of himself...
But he got STUCK IN to the practice exercises. She paired us off and had us spell out our names to each other, for example, and then had us go up to the board one by one and picked a person for each of us, they signed their name and we had to write it on the board. Really simple stuff. We were super gung ho, we had a couple of turns each because we were having a lot of fun with it, you know? We paid money for this class, and damned if we weren't going to get the most out of it we could!
And then you come to these three other women. I don't know why they were there - I mean I assume they paid their money like everyone else, but what I don't know is why. Two of them refused to even try to learn it and try it without looking at the handout for every letter, despite how EASY it was. It's hard to explain via text without visual aids, but suffice it to say, Lee was whipping through the whole alphabet at my speed within ten minutes, you know? First time trying and he picked it up so quickly, like most everyone in the room. I get that not everyone picks things up so easily, but their refusal to put the handout down and even TRY without it as a crutch, really annoyed me. Like... what are you going to do when there's a test??
And one woman, this is going to sound horrible but I hope she doesn't come back. She flat out refused to even participate in any of the group exercises designed to enforce the alphabet. Her excuse was "I don't know the alphabet yet, I want to learn it before I do anything." Well there were a dozen people in that room, and I was one of only two that knew it going in. She wasn't the only one who didn't know it - but she was the only one who refused to even try. Is she going to pull that every week? Refuse to participate in class, and then show up the next week and only use the signs we learned the week before or something?
TL;DR: Why pay the money for this class and refuse to do any of the fun stuff? Why waste everyone's time by refusing to join in? The teacher is spending more time coaxing and cajoling you to have a go, than she is TEACHING us, and I for one am not okay with that!!
Sorry to ramble guys, I just needed to get that off my chest.
ANYWAY. So I get there and I'm probably the best at the alphabet in the class, not because I'm like, super smart or anything, but because I already knew it. So that's what we're learning, and rather than be bored, I'm having a lot of fun with it because there was a cute guy (Lee) sitting next to me who was coming to it for the first time, and he pretty much picked me as his "go-to girl" for when he wanted to check a sign and the teacher was busy
But even he picked it up super fast. NZSL is super intuitive as far as most of the letters go, even more so than ASL (And I taught myself the ASL alphabet too in my spare time. This is what I do, I like to learn. Sue me.) And he was, as I said, coming to it for the first time, pretty nervous, pretty unsure of himself...
But he got STUCK IN to the practice exercises. She paired us off and had us spell out our names to each other, for example, and then had us go up to the board one by one and picked a person for each of us, they signed their name and we had to write it on the board. Really simple stuff. We were super gung ho, we had a couple of turns each because we were having a lot of fun with it, you know? We paid money for this class, and damned if we weren't going to get the most out of it we could!
And then you come to these three other women. I don't know why they were there - I mean I assume they paid their money like everyone else, but what I don't know is why. Two of them refused to even try to learn it and try it without looking at the handout for every letter, despite how EASY it was. It's hard to explain via text without visual aids, but suffice it to say, Lee was whipping through the whole alphabet at my speed within ten minutes, you know? First time trying and he picked it up so quickly, like most everyone in the room. I get that not everyone picks things up so easily, but their refusal to put the handout down and even TRY without it as a crutch, really annoyed me. Like... what are you going to do when there's a test??
And one woman, this is going to sound horrible but I hope she doesn't come back. She flat out refused to even participate in any of the group exercises designed to enforce the alphabet. Her excuse was "I don't know the alphabet yet, I want to learn it before I do anything." Well there were a dozen people in that room, and I was one of only two that knew it going in. She wasn't the only one who didn't know it - but she was the only one who refused to even try. Is she going to pull that every week? Refuse to participate in class, and then show up the next week and only use the signs we learned the week before or something?
TL;DR: Why pay the money for this class and refuse to do any of the fun stuff? Why waste everyone's time by refusing to join in? The teacher is spending more time coaxing and cajoling you to have a go, than she is TEACHING us, and I for one am not okay with that!!
Sorry to ramble guys, I just needed to get that off my chest.
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