English on an Elementary Level

Since we started teaching last week, we have definitely noticed something.

In class, we must speak at a very slow pace and at a simpler level for our students to understand what we are saying. It took some getting used to for us to slow down and speak on their level, but I think we've got it now.

The problem is that we can't seem to turn it off when we get home. Both Matt and I have noticed that we no longer use contractions when talking to each other, have simplified our vocabulary, and speak very slowly! It's actually starting to drive us a bit crazy. You can imagine that as quickly as I usually speak and with Matt's usual vocabulary, that this simplified-English stuff is quite a change!