Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Studying Languages at Abraham Lincoln

Photo: Leandro Feal

Some years ago I studied French at Lincoln and had to pass an interview. I had been warned that the questions would be political and prepared my answers. I will not repeat the paragraph that I recited, I'll just say I passed without any problems.

Years pass and we forget these things, that story was buried deep in my brain until a few days ago when a friend called me and told me his own adventures in studying English.

It turns out that no one told him he would have an interview, much less about the political slant. So he sits down calmly with the professor who would test him.

“Good afternoon.”
“Good afternoon. Can you tell me the names of the Five Heros?”
“Ummmmmm… it’s. I’m sorry, I don’t know.”

The interviewer frowned and looked down.

“Can you tell me the main points of the Battle of Ideas?”
“No, I don’t know.”
“What does the media war against Cuba consist of?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what you mean.”

The professor glanced around, saw that the environment was “clean” and said:

“Son, is there anything political that you know?”
“Yes, but not what you are asking me about.”
“Look, you can’t enroll, go home, study hard, and come back.”

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

i would like to hear the answer to these questions.