Re: Some news

From: DNE44 <dne_at_dslextreme.com_at_hypermail.org>
Date: Fri, 11 Oct 2002 00:00:15 -0000

Well, I would have gone for $45 myself, but good news nonetheless. If
my Italian were less rusty, I would offer a hand.

- David

--- In OliveStarlightOrchestra_at_y..., "tschibasch" <tschibasch_at_y...>
wrote:
> Hello, folks.
>
> As many of you know, I have been volunteering at Santa Monica
College
> as a foreign language tutor, in a few of their language needs.
>
> A few days ago, I got a call from a twenty-something woman who said
> she needed help with Italian. She is a student at SMC, and was
> referred to me as an expert in many foreign languages. She was
eager
> to see me to get some help! And she was willing to pay.
>
> It may be true that I have studied a lot of languages, but the fact
> is that I have never studied Italian. Latin, French, Spanish, and
> Romanain, YES. But Italian, NO.
>
> Rather than tell her that it was not something that I knew, I
> paused. "Hm, well Italian is not my first choice, you know."
>
> She was disappointed.
>
> After a moment, I spoke up. "But, why not?"
>
> Now she was excited again!
>
> We set up an appointment. She would come by my place at 7:00 PM. Of
> course, she now asked for my rate. I told her that I would charge
her
> $30 per hour. This seemed like a good deal to me, since I never
> studied any of this language! After all, there is some fraud here.
I
> have never studied this language. But I need to keep the wolves
away
> from my door! I have not worked since May! :-( And I do know other
> Romance languages, and have a good grasp of Linguistics.
>
> She could hardly contain her excitement at this "low" rate of $30
per
> hour, and said that she would come by. Most tutors charge $50 or
$60
> for such one-on-one service, in case you didn't know...
>
> An hour before her arrival, I had some coffee on, and I pulled out
> all the books I had with Italian grammar. The truth is that I have
> about three books for Italian. I looked at all of them, examining
> stress rules, verbal conjugations, irregular plurals, adjective
> agreements, etc.... It was very easy. After all, it's only another
> foreign language. ;-)
>
> At 7:00 when she arrived, I was all set to help.
>
> The lesson went extremely well, and I was able to cover the first
> three chapters of her book. All her nagging questions about syntax
> and pronunciation were answered.
>
> Before you knew it, the lesson was over. She wrote me a check for
> $30, and told me that she'd call me sometime later for another
> appointment. She asked me what the rate would be if she brought a
> friend the next time. After a moment thinking about it, I figured
> that a rate of $40 would be fair. This would be more money for me,
> and an incentive for her, since it mean she only pays $20 for the
> hour.
>
> A little progress, don't you think?
>
> John
Received on 2002-10-10 17:00:16