While not a teacher in the true sense of the word (ie meaning I teach at a formal school for pay) I help a lot of my Mexican friends to learn English. The problem I constantly have is that I cannot get them to just accept English words and phrases without needing a translation into Spanish. Everytime they see a new phrase they want me to translate it into Spanish, but a lot of these phrases are very English-sounding and would not sound good in Spanish.
When I learned Spanish (which I speak so well that the Mexican customs agents thought I was of Mexican parents) I learned it by trying to figure out what phrases mean in the context of Spanish only. I then imitated these phrases, and I guess I went too far, because some Mexicans say I speak with such a high-level vocabulary that there's no way I didn't learn Spanish in school (I didn't; I spoke my first word of Spanish at the age of 20, I'm 22 now).
I try to explain to them how I did it, but they insist that they need a translation into Spanish or they will not understand. I tell them that I never needed any translations into English, but they just write it off as me being "intelligent". Also, I try to tell them, "do not say any phrases you have never seen or heard before" but they do anyway, and make such horrible mistakes as "how are your fathers?" (I only have one father! English doesn't have a masculine dominance like Spanish does!) And my favorite was when I was with my girlfriend and one of them asked me "you two are boyfriends?" (NO! We're boyfriend and girlfriend, she's not a man!) I also try to explain to them that in your brain, you should get the idea down that "orange" for example means "orange" and not "naranja". I try telling them to think of the words "orange" and "naranja" as synonyms rather than as translations, but it doesn't work.
Nothing I do seems to get through to them. They want everything translated, they literally translate phrases into English making horrible, sometimes embarrassing English in the process, and through it all they get frustrated with me thinking that I'm just too smart for them. How can I convince them to learn English in context, without translations, and without saying any phrases unless they know them?
Thanks
When I learned Spanish (which I speak so well that the Mexican customs agents thought I was of Mexican parents) I learned it by trying to figure out what phrases mean in the context of Spanish only. I then imitated these phrases, and I guess I went too far, because some Mexicans say I speak with such a high-level vocabulary that there's no way I didn't learn Spanish in school (I didn't; I spoke my first word of Spanish at the age of 20, I'm 22 now).
I try to explain to them how I did it, but they insist that they need a translation into Spanish or they will not understand. I tell them that I never needed any translations into English, but they just write it off as me being "intelligent". Also, I try to tell them, "do not say any phrases you have never seen or heard before" but they do anyway, and make such horrible mistakes as "how are your fathers?" (I only have one father! English doesn't have a masculine dominance like Spanish does!) And my favorite was when I was with my girlfriend and one of them asked me "you two are boyfriends?" (NO! We're boyfriend and girlfriend, she's not a man!) I also try to explain to them that in your brain, you should get the idea down that "orange" for example means "orange" and not "naranja". I try telling them to think of the words "orange" and "naranja" as synonyms rather than as translations, but it doesn't work.
Nothing I do seems to get through to them. They want everything translated, they literally translate phrases into English making horrible, sometimes embarrassing English in the process, and through it all they get frustrated with me thinking that I'm just too smart for them. How can I convince them to learn English in context, without translations, and without saying any phrases unless they know them?
Thanks