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Kurt Cobain
May. 4th, 2015 08:38 amBack in the 90-s, Nirvana and Kurt in particular was that something that kicked me in the guts with the realization that English is real and that you can express really deep thoughts and complex ideas using English.
In Soviet Union old school teaching there was absolutely no place for expressing your thoughts. Due to the dominant authoritative nature of the country, English, among a lot if other things, was just not real. Students would parrot useless lines from textbooks to pass tests and teachers would punish students instead of motivating them.
And me, I didn't want that. I wanted to hear Kurt yell slash sing his stuff and I sang along day and night.
After one summer of that obsession, I got back to school with heavy Seattlelish accent - no aspirated Ts in "water" or "nationality", "kent" instead of "ka:nt", and the famous "I'm gonna" - that enraged and freaked my teacher out to the point I can't even picture with words.
I transferred to 2 other schools after that and 2 universities after that, and wherever I went, I was always reminded that Kurt, he's no good. That British English, the gold standard taught in schools in Russia, is a must in class.
Well, I'd just stick to what I knew best - I knew that English is a Language, capitalized. And that I can do whatever the heck I want with it to express what I have in my head.
It all turned out to be a fun party. I was predictably unhooked off Nirvana once I hit 20something, but as silly as it sounds, it did trigger something in me to seek a different reality where English meant communication and not memorizing grammar and reciting texts.
And this is going to stay with me as I teach.
I doubt that I'm going to watch this, but I might play some of my then-favorite songs.
Kurt Cobain, new documentary
In Soviet Union old school teaching there was absolutely no place for expressing your thoughts. Due to the dominant authoritative nature of the country, English, among a lot if other things, was just not real. Students would parrot useless lines from textbooks to pass tests and teachers would punish students instead of motivating them.
And me, I didn't want that. I wanted to hear Kurt yell slash sing his stuff and I sang along day and night.
After one summer of that obsession, I got back to school with heavy Seattlelish accent - no aspirated Ts in "water" or "nationality", "kent" instead of "ka:nt", and the famous "I'm gonna" - that enraged and freaked my teacher out to the point I can't even picture with words.
I transferred to 2 other schools after that and 2 universities after that, and wherever I went, I was always reminded that Kurt, he's no good. That British English, the gold standard taught in schools in Russia, is a must in class.
Well, I'd just stick to what I knew best - I knew that English is a Language, capitalized. And that I can do whatever the heck I want with it to express what I have in my head.
It all turned out to be a fun party. I was predictably unhooked off Nirvana once I hit 20something, but as silly as it sounds, it did trigger something in me to seek a different reality where English meant communication and not memorizing grammar and reciting texts.
And this is going to stay with me as I teach.
I doubt that I'm going to watch this, but I might play some of my then-favorite songs.
Kurt Cobain, new documentary
