dictionaries and instructors

[Alina Israeli]

There are instructors in whose vicinity only the most dedicated  
students can learn something. I would not need an instructor to tell  
me that there is A dictionary, maybe there is a better one than the  
one I am using. But if I have a question knowing that there is a  
dictionary, the instructor should answer it IF he knows the answer, of  
course. I've known one instructor who got his training as a language  
teacher in one of British military branches, his favorite model was  
rote repetition, something that we do not perceive as the best form of  
instruction. In other words, I don't think your drill sergeant should  
be a model for the rest of us. It's not just a question of spoiling  
fun. I have hudreds of dictionaries in my possessions (not a  
hyperbole), and I know that at times they are not super-accurate. In  
fact, at times I make it my business to find their discrepancies. So I  
hope questions will continue to adorn the listwerv.

AI

Jan 26, 2011, в 10:14 AM, William Ryan написал(а):

>  I was taught Russian in the British Navy by a man who regularly  
> responded to questions by saying "I had to look that up - why can't  
> you?". However, such an approach here would spoil a lot of our  
> coffee break fun, and some queries, however basic, have sometimes  
> led to interesting and informative exchanges.
>
> Will
>

Alina Israeli
Associate Professor of Russian
LFS, American University
4400 Massachusetts Ave.
Washington DC 20016
(202) 885-2387 	fax (202) 885-1076
aisrael at american.edu

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