First off, a big shout out to everyone around the world who is reading these missives! Nearly a dozen other countries are showing up in the stats! Thank you! Danke, Grazie! Domo Arigato!
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| Thank You! |
No matter what subject I teach or where I am teaching, I always try to slip in the award-winning movie Life is Beautiful sometime during the year. If you've seen it, let me know in the comments what it is about the movie that affects you so, good and bad. I wish I knew enough Italian to enjoy the movie in the original language, it sounds so musical. I can understand enough to watch it in Italian with English subtitles and follow it all right.
The reason I mention the movie is because I had a pretty cool thing happen in class a few weeks after we watched it. My students were quietly working away at an assignment and one of them sneezed. Normally this elicits several "Bless You's" from other students and a "Thank You" in response from the sneezer.
Today however the student who sneezed said, "Grazie," like Joseph, the son in the movie. Then someone in class whispered, "Danke. You're supposed to say Danke." And a few of the students nodded and smiled. It was kind of a touching moment. Right then I knew the movie had become something personal to them, a treasured memory that they would cherish for many years to come.
If you haven't seen the movie yet, go see it! I'll wait right here with a cup of tea and hanky. It's a holocaust movie, so if that isn't your cup of tea, well, you should see it anyway. It's a great movie.
There is a pivotal moment where the young son Joseph (who is an Italian Jew) is eating with a bunch of German children inside of a concentration camp. He is masquerading as a German and is getting his first good meal in a long while. But when he is served dessert his manners come to the fore and he says 'Grazie' to the waiter, which means 'thank you' in Italian. Oh no! But he is pretending to be German! He should have said Danke! The German waiter knows something is amiss and leaves to raise the alarm and get someone to haul this impostor child away. The father, Guido, is nearby, serving food as well and has a few moments in which to think of some way to save his son's life.
When we watched the movie earlier in the year, I timed the day's viewing to stop right at the moment when Guido is trying to figure out how to save his son's life. Students screamed their outrage! How could I stop the movie right then! I assigned them homework: Put yourself in Guido's shoes and try to figure out how to save your son.
The most amazing thing happened the next day. Several students came to me and said they couldn't wait till class and they watched the movie online. That's when you know you have their attention! I even had one student cry at the end of the movie, she was so emotional. The movie really stuck with them.
Again, if you haven't seen it, go see it! Let me know what you think, good or bad. The first half of the movie is a little silly, the second half more serious. I have a few favorite scenes. Go ahead in the comments and let me know what your favorite scene is.
Two pictures for today, both from one of my favorite moments in the film:
"First prize is a tank!"
"These guys get to play the part of the mean guards who yell all the time!"
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