A Spanish teacher
Nouns are designated as eitherMasculine or feminine.
"House"For instance,Is feminine:"la casa.""Pencil,
"However,Is masculine:"el lapiz."
A student asked,"What gender is 'computer'?
"Instead of giving the answer,the teacher split the class into two groups,Male and female,and asked them to decide for themselves whether
"computer"Should be a masculine or a feminine noun.
Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.
The men's group decided that"computer"Should definitely be of the feminine gender("la computadora"), Because:1. No one but their creator Understands their internal
logic;2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is Incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval;
and4. As soon as you make a commitment to one,you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.
(THIS GETS BETTER!)
The women's group,However, concluded that computers should be Masculine("el computador"),Because:
1. In order to do anything With them,you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems,But half the time they ARE the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one,you realize that if you had waited a little longer,you could have gotten a better model.
So who won?
Was explaining to her class
That in Spanish, unlike English,
That in Spanish, unlike English,
"House"For instance,Is feminine:"la casa.""Pencil,
"However,Is masculine:"el lapiz."
A student asked,"What gender is 'computer'?
"Instead of giving the answer,the teacher split the class into two groups,Male and female,and asked them to decide for themselves whether
"computer"Should be a masculine or a feminine noun.
Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.
The men's group decided that"computer"Should definitely be of the feminine gender("la computadora"), Because:1. No one but their creator Understands their internal
logic;2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is Incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval;
and4. As soon as you make a commitment to one,you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.
(THIS GETS BETTER!)
The women's group,However, concluded that computers should be Masculine("el computador"),Because:
1. In order to do anything With them,you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems,But half the time they ARE the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one,you realize that if you had waited a little longer,you could have gotten a better model.
So who won?