How we learn
on January 20, 2008
in gv
Event: A colleague teacher comes out of the class to grab a dictionary, asking whoever happens to be around, “What’s English for na odczepkę?”, and rushes back. (We know that feeling of going blank when a student asks and our own resources seem to dry up. A dictionary may not be readily at hand.) We just shrug, but after a while offhand comes to mind, so we jot it down in big capitals on an a4 page and push it through under the door to the classroom. A minute later the same paper re-appears at the door, saying the cue is of no use. Understandably so, since the Polish phrase in question is multi-contextual and highly idiomatic. Its English equivalent doesn’t have to be that complex.
But that’s not the point here. What’s interesting is the whole event, someone in need and our reaction to it. It leads us to an instant search and investigation, triggers a series of actions. In seconds, OmniDictionary, a sophisticated Internet tool, feeds us back with two pages of various uses of offhand, predominantly an adjective, together with a considerable list of alternatives. The adverb offhand comes as the second entry. Later we learn that the noun sop also carries a lot of meaning related to the original Polish phrase, and there is idiomatic a lick and a promise, adding yet another colour. That’s learning at its purest.
Observation: What is affective is always effective.
