Asimov's SF, August 2007 by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-07-10T14:01:33+00:00

TEACHERS’ LOUNGE by Tim McDaniel

Tim McDaniel teaches in the International ESL program at Green River Community College, in Auburn, Wash-ington. He’s also taught at the University of Washington and at several other local community colleges. He taught English for ten years in Thailand, first as a Peace Corps volunteer and later as a lecturer at Khon Kaen University. This life experience is put to good use in his investigation into how to save the world by paying attention to what goes on in the…

“It’s an invasion, I keep telling you,” Mark said from his desk. He pulled another essay off the stack and sighed.

Cathy, sitting at the central worktable, ignored the comment. “Have you ever used Concentration in your classes?” she asked him, blinking rapidly behind her thick glasses.

Mark hardly glanced up, though he raised his head slightly as if he meant to. “No,” he said. “Who’s got time for games, with the passive voice and past perfect to get through, and with the world coming to an end? Anyway, it’s not really a higher level activity.” His red pen hovered above the paper as he read the essay, poised like a hawk catching an updraft, searching for prey below. His beaklike nose contributed to the image.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Cathy said, writing a large “16” on the back of a stiff five-by-eight card with a blue magic marker. She brushed a stray strand of yellow-brown hair back from her face. “Although one of my old classmates told me she uses it in her AEP class over at the U. It’s hard to find activities that both the human immigrants and alien students will enjoy, so I use this one all the time, and the students seem to really like it. I use it for reviews a lot.”

“They’re making plans,” Mark said. “The only reason this initial group is here, why they’re learning our language, is to make it easier to administer us after they take over. They told me as much! One time their leader, Lit, just out and said—oh, man, look at this! How often can one student confuse ‘fun’ and ‘funny’? We’ve gone over it and over it!”

Cathy turned the card over. “This time we’re doing opposites,” she said, writing “Heavy” on the card. “Here’s ‘Heavy,’ they have to find ‘Light.’ And I’ve got ‘Dark,’ too, so there’s two ‘Light’s.’ I think it’ll be fun for them when they remember the word ‘Light’ has two meanings.”

“Ummm,” said Mark, crossing something out. “The point is, we’re the only ones who seem to suspect anything!” He wiped sweat from his forehead. “I mean, except for the xenophobe nutjobs who want to seal the borders, and, I don’t know, bleach the immigrants. But who would listen to them? And why should they?”

“It’s fun for the students who need the vocab review, and it’s also challenging enough for the top students, who don’t really need to review it, but who can have fun just because they get to play and guess, and it’s suspenseful.

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