English teachers should teach taboo words to students.

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Oleg
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Re: English teachers should teach taboo words to students.

Post by Oleg »

I don’t think that school is an appropriate place for learning taboo words, and that is why they are taboo.
The teacher should give you grammar and learn you use it properly. For the rest of material there are a lot of dictionaries and books by hand. Don’t make your teacher blush.
JaneEyre
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Re: English teachers should teach taboo words to students.

Post by JaneEyre »

learners of a foreign language learn the bad words before anything else because they hear them used in a way or the other especially in movies. i have a cousin of mine who used such words before even learning how to build a sentence, when i asked her who tuaght her such words, she said ' my friends at school say it'.
this is not to say that learners will be fully aware of every taboo word in a language because you know they are learners.

today's generation don't need anybody to teach them that because they learn it themselves.
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Krisi
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Post by Krisi »

Krisi wrote:NO! For what? Students are already learning this outside.
words normally develop/transform outside the school so teachers should use the proper words to use in school where students are expected to finish there degree with a well rounded or balanced personality.

I personally think those taboo words are only used by people who are already close to each other so, for me it's not really important whether we learn it or not. What is important is to be able to express our opinion properly to promote greater understanding between each other.
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duytrung
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Re: English teachers should teach taboo words to students.

Post by duytrung »

When I learnt E at school, I wasn't taught. But I myself had to look up taboos because I meet different kinds of people and they asked me about the taboos.
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emresenoglu
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Re: English teachers should teach taboo words to students.

Post by emresenoglu »

It's better to learn as much as taboo words, from anywhere....
Ninaleeing
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Re: English teachers should teach taboo words to students.

Post by Ninaleeing »

In my opinion, English teachers may teach their students what taboos are so as to avoid offendng others or causing embarrassment, but I don't think they should teach taboo words in classrooms. Why?

Just as TalkingPoint clearly pointed out, "Taboo words are words used in bad language, such as "damn" or "tits." Hence, they are not appropriate to teach in classrooms. In fact, there is no need for them to teach such words. Students learn those words quite fast without teaching. To my surprise, they just know how to say them. Therefore, why bother to teach them taboo words, when there are so many other things to teach.
chinalin
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Re: English teachers should teach taboo words to students.

Post by chinalin »

I am an English teacher, and sometimes hear my students using 'taboo' words, or even just slightly inappropriate words. I do not think it is my job to teach these words, but as the students will hear them when watching movies, I feel that I need to let them know which words are OK to use in general conversation, and which are impolite, or even very rude.

The reason I do this, when the need arises, is because some years ago, I was getting my hair cut, and my hairdresser who speaks only very little English, told one of the girls who works in his salon to 'f*** off". I could not explain to him why he should not speak to her like this, because his English is not good enough, but later, I got a friend whose English is better, to go with me, to explain to him the meaning, and the reason to not use this expression in the salon.

He was terribly embarrassed, and apologized to me a lot. He had heard the expression while watching movies, and had no idea of the meaning, or that it is not considered polite language.

So, although I do not actively teach these words in class, I do try to make take advantage of an opportunity to point out that not all English words they may hear, particularly when watching movies, are polite, or even appropriate to use in general conversation.
adin
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Re: English teachers should teach taboo words to students.

Post by adin »

A good English teacher is supposed to tell his students that there are many English words that are also use in different situation like The taboo words. By telling the students, they will understand why people use those words and in what condition the words are spoken. That's it. It is like teaching religion. We teach good and bad sides of lives and we will never ask them to do the bad ones. They understand what should be done instead.
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