When it comes to dog training, I've come to understand that some things can be taught quickly, while others take a while. Do you know how I learned that lesson? From a French teacher I had in college.
It was beginner's French, and from day one she had a "no English "class rule. I was confused by 99% of what she said, but I still decided to try to do it. I was excited as we began learning numbers and the alphabet, something I could easily follow, but when it came to putting together phrases, I was lost.
My teacher came up to me and said "quel est votre passe-temps favori?", which sounded like complete nonsense to me. I knew she was asking me a question, but I couldn't figure out what it was. So I said, "Sorry, I don't understand." Well, that broke the "no English"rule, so I just froze because I had no idea as to how to apologize in French.
So what did she do? She kept getting closer to me, repeating"quel est votre passe-temps favori?" over and over, each time a bit louder, as if I had a hearing problem, rather than a complete shortage of comprehension(理解).
I think about that class often. I really did feel hopeless, and the laughter from everyone else in class didn't help. It's not that she was a bad teacher. It's just that she had very little patience for students like me who didn't catch on immediately.
Well, it taught me to be more patient with Laika when learning new things. And since I don't want her to be like the embarrassed kid in class, I don't speak loudly at her or repeat myself when she doesn't "get it". I go back and figure out how I can help her understand and put meaning to my requests.
