The Language Barrier

On Tuesday, I took my students to the library to use the various reference materials. Their task? To find meaningful, historically accurate definitions for a list of key words having to do with World War II or the Holocaust.

It was alarming how quickly I realized that my students had NO IDEA how to use an encyclopedia. They're fumbling around, wailing, "MISS, this word ISN'T IN HERE," looking for "Nazi" in the "C" volume of World Book. I cannot make this up.

At first, I contemplated fashioning a "HELP ME" sign and posting it on the window, but then I figured I should at least see if they know the alphabet. Most of them do, they just don't like to let on.

Since they were struggling so with the print version of the encyclopedia, I let some of the kids get on the computers and use Britannica.com. One kid, who daily confirms that there ARE such things as stupid questions, looks up the word "Aryan." He mutters to himself as he writes on his paper, "the...language....of...the...Jews." I immediately looked at him and spluttered, "Whhhaaat?" To which he replied matter-of-factly, "Aryan. It's the language of the Jews." And, before I could say "No it's not," or "Where the hell did you find that one, Sherlock," the kid at the next computer says, with the air of a long-suffering academic, "Jews don't speak Aryan, STUPID, they speak JEWISH."