A Student Profile

During the first week of classes, since I hadn't had time to go over the phonetics material, I had all my students answer some basic questions about themselves and their background in English studies. Plus, I wanted to know about their hobbies and interests so I could get a better idea who I would be dealing with for the semester. In the last question, I asked my students to give me a "random (fun) fact" about themselves. I got lots of crazy, silly, funny and great responses. Some told me what they're most scared of, or a funny story about travels, or something genuinely random. It was a lot of fun to read through their mini bios.

Here are some of the more original or humorous responses:

I am...

• clumsy [lots of these!]
• afraid of clowns
• afraid of butterflies
• afraid of lizards
• afraid of knives

I can't swim.
I hate elevators.
I hate pineapples.

One is a Japanese pop-culture blogger.

One wants to go to Boston's Berklee College of Music and to be professional musician.

One makes jewelry to sell online.

Two have been in bit roles in movies.

One used to play for a professional soccer team.

One wants to be a guitar teacher and/or a famous musician.

One is a hip-hop dancer, competitor and choreographer.

One collects giraffes.

One is an Air Force reservist.

Some of their own words:

• “I have no sense of direction. It's been 4 months that I'm living in Paris and I still have problems to find my apartment.”
• “Last year I woke up at 3.00am to watch the Superbowl.”
• “When I was 8 years old, in my uncle home [in England], someone phoned and I had to answer the phone, but I didn't understand anything because I didn't speak English.”
• “A funny fact about me? Is 'I eat brains with spinach' a good answer?”
• “My life is an adventure. I am an adventure.”
• “I have A LOT of clothes but I never know what to where! I always say 'I have nothing!' but it's not true at all.”
• “I don't know if this is really funny or even interesting but the only motivation I had when I sit for the BAC was that my mum promised to buy me a cat, that I'm still waiting for...”
• “I'm a cupcake addict. I make cupcakes every week. I like creating new flavors and making funny icing.”
• “I sing in English while I take shower.”
• “I like to making cakes, and I do it well, specially spacecakes but keep it secret!”

They span a range of ages too; more than I anticipated. They're all between 16 and 24 (one of each extreme age) and most are the "typical" 18 years old, but there slightly more who, together, are 19 to 21. 

It's an interesting demographic and makes for an interesting group to work with. They've also had a pretty diverse range of experiences in their lives and education.

So far, so good. Let's see what the rest of the semester brings. Only 5 more weeks, in all!