Comic relief

It's been awhile since I've truly felt "stressed." But this week, deadlines, presentations, and various emergencies have given me that tense feeling in my stomach.

On the other hand, now that I'm used to my instructors, I feel much more relaxed with them and my classmates. It reminds me how important it is for students to feel safe in the classroom, especially when learning a foreign language.

My grammar instructor takes an intense approach to teaching, but at the same time her emotional character provides moments of amusement.

Yesterday, for instance, someone in a nearby classroom was speaking rather loudly and boisterously, but not very coherently...
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Tatiana's eyes widened.
"Girls,...that person...that intonation!" She teaches Phonetics too, so she listens for these things.

The talking went on. The speaker was presumably Chinese since there are many of them in the department.

"Oh, how I would love to give that student a lesson in intonation!" Her curiosity got the best of her.

"Excuse me for a minute, I just have to take a peek to see who is talking." We sat and snickered, glad for the interruption.

Soon, she was back, hanging her head.

"Oh girls, I'm so ashamed! The person speaking is a Russian instructor!"