Some of you might recall that in 1999 I was granted a Master of Arts degree in English. Afterwards, I started a career in college English teaching--where I instructed hundreds of students in academic writing, literature, ESL, and technical and business writing. I think of these experiences as my life’s greatest accomplishments.
And this background will help you to experience the full impact of the story I am about to relate.
Last Saturday Jason and I had to take the kids on somewhat of a long drive. On the way home, they started asking if we could stop for fast food, and--being the health-conscious mother that I am--I replied, "We’re just going to make dinner at home."
Except it sounded a bit more like, "We’re just gonna make dinner at home."
From the back seat I heard an authoritative Grade Two voice say, "There’s no such word as 'gonna.'"
"Gonna?"
Of course, Ben was right. I would never WRITE the word "gonna" (except for the purposes of this post--and even this makes me feel a little uncomfortable), but as I thought about it in that split second after being corrected, I came to the shocking realization that I SAY "gonna" all the time.
(You can probably guess that Jason thought this was hilarious and had difficulty controlling the van the rest of the way home because he was laughing so hard.)
I acknowledged Ben’s correction and complimented him on his excellence in understanding English usage, but I’m not sure how flattered he was by my compliment, seeing as how I am obviously someone who has much to learn about the language.
So how does a person go from teaching English to having her speech corrected by an 8 year old?
I have no idea. All I know is that I’m gonna try my best to say "going to" from now on. It's worth a try, ain't it? ;)
1 comments:
Well, Lisa, it takes a brave person to not only acknowledge the fact that you were corrected by an 8 year old, but proclaim it to the world :0)
It is hard to be corrected isn't it, especially by one's children.
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