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05 May 2009

How do you teach a bad word?

Last night I was out with my boyfriend L., who wanted to practice his English. We started talking and I was surprised that I didn't have to speak as slowly as I did in the past. Our conversation flowed normally, like I was talking to a friend back home.

He was explaining a project they are working on in his company. The project is abstracting uranium from a country in Africa. I wasn't paying too much attention, maybe I was watching the amber liquid in my glass vibrate as the people walked by, but all of the sudden I heard it. The N word.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Apparently they have lots of uranium," he went on without noticing my pause.

"No. Stop. What country did you say?" I asked again.

He looked confused. Then said it. There it was again. The N word.

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. How do you spell it?"

He wrote out in his notebook n-i-g-e-r. (Note: pronounced /niːˈʒɛər/ or /ˈnaɪdʒər/)

"Oh! Niger! Okay... Whew... Now, I'm going to explain something to you."

I told him that the N word in English is right up there with some of the most offensive words ever. No one should use it. Sometimes rappers use it in songs, but besides that no one says it.

He looked confused again. I realized right away we were having a cultural misunderstanding because Chile is not the most pc country ever and while I may not have an emotional response to Chilean swear words like culiar, probably no one will look at me sideways if I all the sudden start saying it. However, in the case of the N word it is much different. People will not care where you are from. If you say it, it is offensive.

After a few minutes of my explanation he nodded in agreement, "Alright. I won't say it. But, I should probably tell my coworkers because they all say it too."

*****

Now, I ask myself, how do you teach bad words to someone who is learning ESL? What do you say to them? Do you give them a list of the words and say "You should never say these words, but in case you hear them, this is what they mean"? What would you say?

8 comments:

CancunCanuck said...

This comes up in my classes with some frequency, especially from young people who listen to American rap or pop music. I'll usually give them some idea of what the word means then go on to explain how it is used and the cultural implications. I let them know that most of those words are extremely inappropriate and using them at the wrong time or place could get them into big trouble. I do want them to understand them, they are a part of the language, but teaching English is not just teaching words, it's teaching them how and when to use or not use them. If a tourist says something nasty to one of my students, it's important that they know that they were insulted and how to respond effectively. Being in a city where most of my ESL students work with American tourists, you KNOW they hear all the bad words, they've got to know what they mean! The worst is trying to explain sexual words or phrases that they catch in rap songs, those explanations are usually put off until after class. "Teacher, what does shizzle my whizzle mean?" (Sometimes I don't even know the answer, lol, I don't speak a lot of rap myself).

In a similar vein, it took a long time for me to get used to the non-PC language of Mexico. It's not "offensive" to most Mexicans to refer to someone by the colour of their skin or some defect or other, the first time someone referred to a tourist as "el negro" I thought I would die. There is a chocolate candy bar here called "El Negrito" that has a picture of a kid with a large afro, I find it mildly offensive now but the first time I saw it I almost went through the roof! I'll always be "guera" or "white girl" while living here.

(Photo of a Negrito cake packaging)

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nVATZe4Tvww/Sa4X2iwbiCI/AAAAAAAAATk/ywCHYtkg-Y8/s320/IMG_0806.JPG

Crossing Borders said...

One time, one of my students asked me how to properly pronounce the word fuck. It was so hilarious. We laughed about it, and then I proceeded to tell him the cultural things that come with saying the word, how to say it properly, and when most people use it. Then I left it at that, because my students want to learn English, not to be lectured on potty words, ha ha. ;)

I always preface that I am about to use a foul or off-color word to my students, and tell them when to/when not to use them, and what they mean.

HOWEVER, as far as ethnic slurs go, I would teach them, but also follow your example, by expressing how culturally inappropriate it is to say them, especially in mixed company.

Right now, some Japanese youth are obsessed with saying the word "nigger". It was the same when I lived in Mexico. Of course it pissed me off to no end, but I just kept repeating over and over again that this was one of those words that you just don't say, even as a joke.

On an aside, I always thought that the spelling of the two words were different. Some of my friends do say the word, but they do not say "nigger", they say "nigga". I don't think I have ever heard a rap song where "nigger" was used.

I could be wrong though!

This is a very interesting topic!! Good job!

Amanda said...

Sara, this is a really good topic. In some ways, I think these words need to be taught, if only to expose ESL students to the actual meanings of the words, and give the tools about when and how to use them (if they should be used at all). Whether we like it or not, ESL learners will be exposed to that type of language. Almost like we need a "foul language" chapter. haha.

Miyaunna, my understanding (and granted, I don't really know much) was that the "a" replaces the "er" in the spoken word, and the spelling was altered to reflect that. I've seen the same thing in the words "playa" or "sista."

Eileen said...

As far as swear words go, I tell them I'm going to say a bad word and curse like a sailor. As far as epithets or homophobic speech, if their level is high enough I talk to them about how we have something called hate speech in the United States, and that it is actually regulated by law because we feel so passionately about it. This was a big challenge to me when I was teaching English in Chile, to sufficiently explain the weight of really offensive words in English when many Chileans would use the foulest words they could think of unabashedly on a Friday night when out at their favorite picada. Or you know, call their girlfriend gorda, or their best friend guatón. They might understand not to do it near you, but they still won't get why it makes people angry, I think.

One way I've been able to explain the ingroup/outgroup use of the N word, a little is to ask them if it's okay for me to complain sometimes about my mother. They say sure. Then I ask them if they can talk trash about my mother. And they recoil in horror! No! they can't say things about my mother, and they can't call her my vieja, either. Then I ask them if they're black, or from LA or Detroit, etc and they are like, of course not, look how pale I am, how Chilean. Then don't say it, I explain.

And you know what, in the end it doesn't really ever get across, but it might make the wheels in some people's heads start spinning, and sometimes as a teacher, or cultural ambassador or what have you, it's the best we can do.

Abby said...

Eileen that's a great idea about using the mother example. I'm going to try that out. I agree that it's hard to get the "offensive" word thing across here in Chile since most people swear and talk un-PC all the time.

Cincinnati Chile said...

Try having the last name Zuniga and living in the US. I'm just glad I wasn't set on hypenating my maiden name and it having hte last name of Brown-Zuniga. No one here pronounces it anywhere close to su-nye-gah.

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