La Tutora Sabe Más Que Tú

Tutor | Learning | May 27, 2013

(I tutor students for the SAT (Verbal), History, English, and Spanish.)

Parent: “Excuse me; are you my child’s tutor?”

My Boss: “No, your child will be working with [My Name]. She currently has a student, so please wait downstairs with [child].”

Parent: “Hmph. I’m paying so I think my child deserves a fair share.”

(I finish with my student and I go downstairs to greet the parent and my student. All goes well until…)

Parent: “Wait, you’re the one who tutors Spanish? You’re a cracker; you can’t speak Spanish!”

Me: “With all due respect, I can, in fact, speak Spanish. I happen to be better at reading and writing, but I’m not terrible.”

Parent: “Ugh! You couldn’t speak Spanish if you wanted to learn from Dora!”

Me: “Mira, tu hijo/a ya está esperando. Ahora, [Child’s Name] va a perder más tiempo con mi. No tenemos tiempo para tonterías. He pasado un año en España, enseñando ingles a niños en un colegio. Mi vida diaria era más española. ¿Y ahora, me dices que no puedo aprender español? ¡Vaya tela!”

(Translation: Look, your child is waiting. Now, your child will lose more time with me. We don’t have time for foolishness. I lived for a year in Spain teaching English as a second language to children in school. My daily life was Spanish. And now, you’re telling me I can’t learn Spanish? I can’t take it anymore!)

Parent: “I… um… well, that’s not fair! She’s a [White slur] and knows another language!”

My Boss: *to the parent* “Just leave. You’ve done enough damage for the day. Thank you and goodbye.”

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