Okay, we have probably all had this problem before and felt the anger followed by the accompanying guilt: speaking to someone in a different language.
This can be literal. I have had classes where I am talking to ESL student and they keep nodding along as I talk to them. Finally, I say something along the lines of “So, what do you think?” or “Can you complete this portion of the project?” They stare at me blankly. They nod and say “Yeah, sure,” but nothing happens. Instead, I am sitting there, staring at them expectantly, and they are staring back at me just as expectantly. I realize that they have been lying and that they have NO IDEA what I am saying. I end up swallowing the urge to scream in frustration and instead smile at them, before returning back to my own work. Thank you retail, for teaching me .
However, similar situations can appear simply when someone doesn’t “speak the language” of a certain genre. For example, maybe your grandmother wants to see a photo or learn how to run some computer program. You know that she doesn’t “speak that language,” but the frustration grows inside your stomach until you want to bang your head against the wall until you fall unconscious.
After each time, you pray (or at least I do) that no one realized how frustrated you were. You hope (or I do) that no one was left feeling like an idiot or that they aren’t angry at you.
This makes me realize how literacy is not just about a language like English or Spanish, but being able to comprehend what is happening or going on around you.
