Languages

Day two of teaching wasn't bad, one sixth grade class (Teach them music vocabulary? I got this, no problem) and the rest fifth graders.  I still can't bring myself to nap at school, that's gonna take some time.
  One of the questions the students constantly ask is "Do you speak Chinese?" I can say "a little bit" in Mandarin.  My coworker made a deal with me today: I help him improve his English, he'll teach me some Chinese.  I always check the reactions of the people around us, to avoid a Big Fat Greek Wedding type scene, but so far they haven't steered me wrong.  The students think it's funny when I speak Chinese, it does sound weird.  The thing that's so intimidating, if you're not familiar with Mandarin, is that changing the tone of your voice changes the meaning of the word.  There are five tones for each word.  Ma, for example can mean mom, horse, sesame seed, scold, or make a phrase into a question.  We learned at orientation that the word for "dry" also means the F-word, depending on the tone.  So you could go into a shop wanting dry noodles, or just sound really really desperate for noodles. 
Here's what I've learned so far:

Hello
Goodbye
Thank you
I want to go home
Computer
Today
Tomorrow
Water
A little bit
Teacher
Coffee
Good
Good morning
English
No

I've also taught my coworkers the importance of emphasizing "isn't," as in "the weather isn't like this all the time" and how to properly pronounce "peanut candy."

This post got a little profane, sorry about that.

Tomorrow is all sixth graders, and Wednesday is a planning day.  Have a good Labor Day, and please don't post pictures of your cookout food.  I am craving cheeseburgers right now, and a picture of Dad at the grill might send me over the edge, ha ha.