Umm...
At the beginning of the lesson, I always ask the students how they are, have they done anything exciting etc. Normally, a semi-effortful response. Today, I had a MtoM (Man to Man; one student books up the whole lesson for more money but more personal contact time):
Phil: So how are you?
Female Student: Not great. I spent all morning in the hospital. I found a lump on my breast and I went to see a doctor. But it's Okay, he told me there's only a 5% chance it'll develop as cancer.
A few points to note here:
1. Japanese people are very reserved; 'breast' is the most taboo word I've heard yet*.
2. I would've thought she'd be more comfortable telling a female instructor. I should add that this is the first time I've ever met her.
3. Why is she telling me this?! This is a topic that some close friends would find difficult.
I'm not being insensitive, it was just very unexpected.
4. What should I have done or said? Saying 'good' seems so slight, and 'moving on to the lesson' seems trivial. Especially when I'd picked 'giving instructions for using an ATM'.
What would you've done?
*if you've been paying attention, someone said 'sex' in my first VOICE, but that was a less personal connotation.
3 comments:
Hello, I really should have thought of something to say before saying this. But you asked me to leave a comment so it's your fault.......Bye.
would you like a second opinion?
I would have been very sympathetic and asked if there were was someone else she could discusss this with? And then continued with the conversation about what she likes to do with her time off from school /work.
I'm sure you handled this well.
I think this shows the trust that your students have in you... it must be the confident vibes you give off.
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