[General] trying to negotiate with me

[Silverobama]

Hi,

I have a student Rachel. I've taught her for 2 years. The first year is okay. She listened to what I said. And this second year is a tough one. Each time I ask her to do things, she "discuss details" with me.

For example, I ask her to write wrong words she wrote 10 times. She said "Can I write 5 times"? I ask her to read English, she said "Oh, my god. So much to read, can I just don't do that"?

I wonder if this following sentence is natural:

She's always trying to negotiate with me. (I said this to my friend Kris when I was chatting with him. He knows Rachel is my student.)

Thanks a lot

 

[tedmc]

Hi,

I have a student called Rachel. I've taught her for two years. The first year was okay. She listened to what I said, but this second year is a tough one. Each time I ask her to do things, she wants to "discuss details" with me.

For example, I ask her to rewrite the wrong words she wrote 10 times. She said "Can I write them five times"? I ask her to read English, and she says "Oh my God. There is so much to read; can I just [STRIKE]don't [/STRIKE] not do that"?

I wonder if this following sentence is natural:

She's always trying to negotiate with me. (I said this to my friend Kris when I was chatting with him. He knows Rachel is my student.)

Thanks a lot

I would use the simple present tense - She always tries to negotiate with me.

 

[Tarheel]

Perhaps:

I have a student whose name is Rachel. The first year was OK. She listened to me and didn't argue. But this year has been a tough one. Now every time I ask her to do something she gives me a hard time.

What do you mean by writing wrong words?
:-?

 

[emsr2d2]

Use "write [correctly] the words she misspelled".

 

[Rover_KE]

Instead of 'discussing details' or 'negotiating with me', I'd say she is 'challenging me'.

'Negotiation' implies she is giving up something or making concessions in return for more lenient treatment. I see no evidence of this.

 

[Silverobama]

What do you mean by writing wrong words?

I read, for example, "Those gloves look nice and warm" and she wrote "Those glos look nice and war".

Instead of 'discussing details' or 'negotiating with me', I'd say she is 'challenging me'.

'Negotiation' implies she is giving up something or making concessions in return for more lenient treatment. I see no evidence of this.

I like your word. One last question, I think both are natural. Which one would you use if you were me:

She's always challenging me.
She always challenges me.

 

[GoesStation]

Which one would you use if you were me:

She's always challenging me.
She always challenges me.

They are both natural in American English. The continuous version is more casual. It's often used in contexts like yours where someone's complaining about another person.

 

[Tarheel]

Silver, do you mean you ask her to practice doing it the right way?

 

[Silverobama]

Silver, do you mean you ask her to practice doing it the right way?

Tarheel, Hi.

What do you mean by "practice doing it the right way"? To write those words in the right way? Well, here we have a section of learning English called dictation. Teachers normally read words and students write. A very common but a bit stupid way to memorize English words. Because we don't have an environment of learning the language, and students need to pass exams, so they just memorize and write them down.

I ask my student to do this because I'm a tutor. I'm not a man of power or in authority. If I ask them to learn, they probably won't listen to me. They only listen to teachers in public schools, or perhaps they don't listen to them, either.

 

[tedmc]

I don't think it is challenging the teacher, which is considered as disrespectful. The student is asking to do less than what was told by the teacher by giving excuses, which is more like bargaining to me. It is a common practice for the Chinese to bargain when buying things. It is negotiating in a way, appealing for some generosity or compassion.

 

[Tarheel]

Tarheel, Hi.

What do you mean by "practice doing it the right way"? To write those words in the right way? Well, here we have a section of learning English called dictation. Teachers normally read words and students write. A very common but a bit stupid way to memorize English words. Because we don't have an environment of learning the language, and students need to pass exams, so they just memorize and write them down.

I ask my student to do this because I'm a tutor. I'm not a man of power or in authority. If I ask them to learn, they probably won't listen to me. They only listen to teachers in public schools, or perhaps they don't listen to them, either.

As I understand it, sometimes she gets things wrong. You do not, of course, want her to think she got things right when she has things wrong. So you have her practice doing it the right way. Am I on the right track?

 

[Silverobama]

As I understand it, sometimes she gets things wrong. You don't not, of course, want her to think she got things right when she has things wrong. So you have her practice doing it the right way. Am I on the right track?

Almost.

 

[Tarheel]

Here's an assignment for you, Silver. Find the typo in my post. (You quoted it, but I fixed it in the original.)

:-D

 

[Silverobama]

Here's an assignment for you, Silver. Find the typo in my post. (You quoted it, but I fixed it in the original.)

:-D

I've seen "don't not" and I thought you meant "do not". Sometimes we type fast and we make mistakes.

 

[Rover_KE]

Sometimes we type fast and we make mistakes.

That's why we expect you to read through what you have typed carefully before and after posting, while you still have the opportunity to edit your mistakes.

Showing us this courtesy is not too much to ask considering the time we spend replying to your threads.

 

[Tarheel]

I saw "don't not" and I thought you meant "do not". Sometimes we type fast and we make mistakes.

I type slow and make mistakes.