Translation, please

We have an Albanian ESL class that meets in our building several nights a week. I’m often hanging around in the evenings while they’re here. I’ll chat with the leaders and help them with the tricky back door and lock up for them if I’m still here when they leave.

Tonight as I walked past the room where the class was in session, I heard the instructor say,

“Insult.”

“Insult.”

A student repeated after him. As the instructor explained a bit in Albanian, I glanced at the board and saw the word written out. It struck me as a bit odd; insult doesn’t seem like one of the more commonly used words, certainly not imperative for learning the basics of a language. I took six years of Spanish, and although I’ve forgotten a fair bit of what I learned, I don’t think I ever knew the word for insult.

Then as I walked back I heard the instructor explaining a related phrase:

“Don’t make fun of me.”

And then I realized: For an immigrant with a noticeable accent, limited vocabulary and streaky grammar, trying to learn the language on the go, these are regrettably words he may need to know early and often.