Some quick background- this boy is one of the kids who heard me speaking Russian with Dasha (the school secretary) a week ago and proceeded to stare dumbfounded at his friend, leading me to stop in my tracks and motion for Dasha to come closer so I could whisper. It was clear he had overheard us, however.
During class yesterday he occasionally shouted out his comments in Russian, and I would quickly remind him that I couldn't understand, then move on. It was later that day that he cornered me in the office- all 4 feet of this 8 year old boy- and told me again "I know you secret!" I played dumb, and said "What do you mean, you know my secret? What secrets do I have?" and told his friend who had accompanied him to go outside before whispering to me:
"You perfectly speaking Russian!"
My first inclination was to deny it- which I quickly realized was silly, as he had heard me. I then compromised and said (truthfully) "Well, I speak a little..."
He responded "No, I hear you! You speak perfectly!" He was beaming from ear to ear with sneaky glee.
I opened my mouth again to set the record straight, but then slowly changed my mind and smiled. So what? One 3rd grade boy out there thinks that I speak perfect Russian. I have no opportunity to disprove him, and you know what? I'm not going to lie, it kind of makes me feel good. So instead I motioned for him to come closer and whispered "Ok, you know my secret...but let's keep it a secret, just between us, alright?" He smiled a little bucktoothed smile and nodded, before skipping out of the office and into the heavily-decorated, christmas-themed hallway.
Moral of the story: it's nice to know that someone out there is convinced of my perfect language capabilities :)
I'd say that's an overall win.
ReplyDeleteYou just made that boy's LIFE.
ReplyDeleteand he kinda made mine! or my day at least. he's pretty adorable.
ReplyDelete