Tyler Morgan's Evening Job By Brenda B. Covert

¹     In order to afford a new riding lawnmower, Tyler Morgan took a temporary job at the technical college teaching English to immigrants. How hard could it be? He felt more than adequate for the task. Though he was employed as an accountant for a carpeting manufacturer, he had been speaking English almost since birth!
 
²     A colleague from the legal department suggested that he would be out of his league teaching anything to anybody, but at five o'clock he said farewell to that disagreeable old buzzard and took off for his first class. He stopped for a burger and fries on the way, having first synchronized his watch so that he could be punctual. About to make a difference in the lives of newcomers to America, he felt exhilarated!
 
³     He walked into the classroom and into the gaze of fifteen pairs of eyes. The exhilaration he had felt earlier suddenly vanished, and Tyler felt nauseous instead. What was he doing in front of a class? He should have kept to the safety of his cubicle back at the office!
 
⁴     Since it was too late to bail out now, Tyler had no option but proceed. "Good evening," he said with a catch in his voice.
 
⁵     "Good evening," the people responded with various accents. There were Latinos, several Asians, a few Europeans, and one person of Arabic descent.
 
⁶     Tyler checked his watch. One minute remained before class officially started. "I'll just get myself situated," he said, walking to the chunky teacher's desk, "and then we'll get started." A thought struck him. "You do all speak some English, don't you?"
 
⁷     There was a noticeable pause, and then he heard several people say "sí" and "ouí" among those who said yes. Gradually he perceived that they were as nervous about the class as he was!
 
⁸     Tyler decided to sit on the desk. He laid his materials beside him. One was a book, a compendium of aphorisms and idiomatic expressions. One aphorism that he planned to share with the class was a famous quotation from Edmund Burke. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." He might save it for a later date, when they could participate in a discussion.
 
⁹     His trainer had told him to avoid idioms, since they cause non-native English speakers trouble. However, during Tyler's studies he had discovered that there were about 15,000 idioms commonly used in everyday speech as slang. The English language is full of idiomatic expressions!
 
¹⁰     One example was the term "sacred cow." Americans use it to mean a long-standing institution which is immune to criticism. The term originates in India, where the cow is said to be literally worshiped. Other idiomatic expressions are illogical, like "the pot calling the kettle black," or grammatically incorrect, like "to boldly go where no man has gone before," the grammatically correct version being, "to go boldly (without splitting the infinitive) where no man has gone before." It seemed only logical that English idioms be included in this educational process.
 
¹¹     Yes, Tyler thought, teaching the meanings of idioms would be fun. On the other hand, he hoped to avoid cultural idiosyncrasies that might offend some immigrants. He intended to explain that the American gestures for "peace" and "okay" are not meant to be obscene, since his students would no doubt see those signs flashed many times. Otherwise he would stick to breaking down the language barrier.
 
¹²     Having collected his thoughts and calmed his racing heart, Tyler raised his eyes to the classroom and had an immediate recurrence of nausea. He pressed his palms flat on the surface of the desk; the tangible feeling of support steadied him, and he began the first lesson.
 
¹³     Before he knew it, an hour and a half had passed. After Eduardo Santamaria had relaxed enough to participate in class, the others had followed suit. As the adults filed out the door, Mr. Santamaria reached out to clasp Tyler's hand and offer him devout thanks for explaining funny English slang and to assure him that he was going to be a good teacher.
 
¹⁴     "No worries, be happy!" Mr. Santamaria advised Tyler.
 
¹⁵     "Graciás," replied Tyler. "Thank you."
 
¹⁶     Teaching English was no picnic in the park, but the experience and the resulting riding lawnmower would be well worth the effort.

Copyright © 2009 edHelper

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Date ___________________

Tyler Morgan's Evening Job

1.   What was Tyler Morgan's day job?   Accountant   Carpeting manufacturer   Legal aide   English teacher	2.   Which of the following is not true?   In America it is not obscene to hold two fingers up in the form of a "V."   An aphorism is American slang that non-natives find difficult to understand.   Tyler made it to class on time.   A sacred cow is anything considered to be beyond criticism.
3.   Why did Tyler take the job of teaching English to immigrants? Choose the best answer:   To prove to his coworker that he could do it   To make a difference in the lives of immigrants in America   To afford lawn care equipment   To get to talk about aphorisms and idioms	4.   What does the phrase "idiomatic expression" mean?   Idiotic things we say   The spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring a cause   Characteristic peculiarity of habit or structure   Phrases or sentences that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words but must be learned as a whole

Name _____________________________

Date ___________________

Tyler Morgan's Evening Job

5.   What is the definition for the idiom, "it was no picnic in the park"?	6.   What supporting information could be added to the end of paragraph 3?   He wondered what Ginger, his pet Chihuahua, was doing at that moment.   Crowds had always made Tyler nervous.   There was safety in numbers.   He suddenly realized that he had ketchup smeared on his chin.
7.   The riding lawnmower that Tyler had his eye on costs $1,837. If he makes $48 an hour teaching English, how many hours will he have to work to earn enough to purchase the lawnmower?	8.   Tyler can't possibly cover 15,000 idioms. If he discusses three percent of them, how many would that be?