h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This isn't the journal I'd planned to write today: I'd hoped to write about the UCAS consultation I was supposed to be going to tonight but it got postponed. So I've got a question for you all, how would you deal with the following situation?

In my Urdu class there's a guy who is streets ahead of the rest of us. It's a mixed class with absolute beginners and people with some knowledge so that's to be expected. The problem is he uses vocab and grammar far in advance of most of us and will not shut up. A few of us have simply shrugged it off so far and started tuning him out but it came to a bit of a head this week when the least confident member of the class got quite upset. He was making her feel like an idiot when the truth is she's only just behind me and two others, and probably ahead of us with her script work: she thinks she's alone in the class in not being able to understand him because we just ignore him.

So far my response has been trying to support this woman and making it clear that the three of us who aren't bothered by him are just bluffing and mainly focusing on enjoying the class, but last week I did have to ask this guy to dial down his language while we were working together as I understood next to nothing of what he was saying, he was getting impatient with my struggling and as a result I wasn't able to learn very much.

Hopefully at some point before the next class the teacher (who I think has pitched the class perfectly) has a word with this gentleman, having seen how much he was bothering some of us, but if not we may need other strategies.

So what would you guys do?

I'll have to think about this for a bit.

Is there such a phrase in Urdu for off?

If so, I'd try that one first.

If not, continue with the ostracisation. There's no better put-down than ignoring an attention-seeking prima donna.

In the first place I would suggest a quiet word with your teacher, in case the frustration this old git has been causing has gone unnoticed.
After that a continued policy of polite but firm resistance seems the best way to me. Getting antagonistic can lead to more hassle than it's worth but just repeatedly saying 'we're all getting there in our own time' or 'that was rude, you shouldn't talk to her like that' or 'have you ever considered suicide?' will hopefully keep him at bay.

I (alone out of my little cadre) am not sure it's malicious: I just get the impression this guy is of a generation who's just used to being listened to because he's an older gentleman and had a respectable job. Me and him are usually the first ones to arrive, a good 30 minutes before everyone else, and in that time he just talks and talks and talks about his life (in English). That's fine, he's an interesting chap and he's had an interesting life.

I just think he lacks the social button in his head that makes him think "I'm dominating the conversation and I'm too far ahead of everyone else" and it's a touch frustrating.

Yes, he does sound like he's partly socially inept, and partly feeling the need to assert himself in the presence of the younger generation(s).

Beyond having a word with the teacher, I really can't think of anything else to do...

HI, as a TOEFL teacher I have had some experience of students acting like this in a class - and without exception I have tried to find a class for them that matches their skills (in fact, usually I've tried to find a class who are a touch ahead because it gives them a chance to actually work)

In your position I would have a word with the teacher and not engage with the student at all. Do you know what her teaching experience is? (you have experience with teachers, is she good? can she evaluate the class' skills effectively?)

I'd maybe talk to the other students in the class (how many of you are there, btw?) and find out just how much it disturbs them.

I'm having a hard time in my language class (the reason: I'm just not putting in enough individual study due to lack of time) and I can guess how frustrating it is for the least confident member of your class, I have felt like giving up in the past and I hope she's not having similar thoughts.

Still think it's a totally language to learn

or get someone to teach you the Urdu for: If you don't stop showing off like that I'm going to drag your lungs through your nostril with this crochet hook. And repeat that ad nauseam until he runs away

Lots of good advice here. I've nothing to add.

It was much better tonight - the guy in question was much more subdued. I think if anything I was the annoying one tonight (hard to believe, I know) and others were tolerating me.

We were doing a fiendishly difficult topic this week though so I doubt the lady who got upset last week felt any better.