Common Error: Addressing a Teacher as "Teacher"

Welcome to Mistake Monday! Today's Common Error is very basic but very common, at least in almost all my classes in Costa Rica.

My face wasn't this skeptical until my students started calling me "Teacher Ryan" continuously.

Common Error: Addressing a teacher as "Teacher"
DON’T say this:	"Hello Teacher, how are you?" "Teacher Ryan, could you repeat that?" (To get my attention): "Teacher! Teacher!"
WHY?	I realize that in Costa Rica this is common for some reason, but it still sounds ridiculous to me (and to any teacher from the U.S.A. I talk to about this). Whenever my students call me "Teacher," I respond by calling them "Student" or, if I know their jobs, "Baker," "Engineer," "Airport Cop," "Carpenter," etc. If that sounds strange, then you understand why calling me "Teacher" is strange for me. My name is Ryan, so call me Ryan or, if you absolutely need a title, you can call me "Mr. Sitzman." Don't confuse a personal title with a job description. Common personal titles include Mr., Mrs., Miss, Doctor, Professor, Principal, President, and a few others. If you call someone by their title, you say Title + Last Name, as in: -"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is the title of a famous movie." -"Principal Jefferson gave a teaching award to Miss Holmes, the Math teacher." -"Dr. Henderson prescribed the old man some medicine for his back pain." In English, "teacher" is a job description, but not really a title. Think of this: I have a friend named Brad who is a lawyer, but no one calls him "Lawyer Brad." I have another friend named Andrea who cleaned hotel rooms, but no one called her "Housekeeper Andrea." Those are just job names or descriptions, but not titles for people. Also, as I mentioned last week, you shouldn't address your teacher as "professor" unless she or he has a PhD degree. If that's the case, then you can call them "Professor + (last name)." For example you could call Albert Einstein "Professor Einstein," but not "Professor Albert," and definitely not "Teacher Albert."
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"Hello Ryan, how are you?" OR -"Hello Mr. Sitzman, how are you?" -"Ryan, could you repeat that?" OR -"Could you repeat that?" (If you're already looking at me, then you don't need to say my name over and over.) -(To get my attention): "Excuse me, Ryan?" OR -(You can also just silently raise your hand... I'll probably see you and help if I can.)

So, that's it for today. If you have questions or comments, please leave a comment or contact me. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

False Friend: Profesor vs. Professor

Is the man in the white lab coat a teacher or a professor? (Image)

Hello! Today we have another False Friend. If you're not sure what a False Friend is, check out this introductory post. Today we'll look at the difference between profesor in Spanish and professor in English. We'll look at the word "teacher" next Monday, since this topic comes up in almost every class I teach.

False Friend: profesor vs. professor
This SPANISH word...	Looks like this ENGLISH word...	...but they are DIFFERENT because...
profesor	professor	In Spanish, at least in Costa Rica, profesor/a can be used for any kind of teacher or instructor: "La profesora de cuarto grado habló con sus alumnos." ("The fourth grade teacher spoke with her students.") In English, professor (note the spelling) refers to a person who has a PhD (doctorate of philosophy) degree from a university. Normally a person becomes a professor after studying in the university for at least 7 years total. The word can be used for a man or a woman, and it can also be used as a personal title: "I got bad grades in my university Chemistry classes, but at least my professor was good. She was always helpful and patient." OR "Professor Smith will be giving a lecture on tropical ecosystems." You can refer to any instructor or teacher who isn't a professor as a "teacher," but "teacher" is just a job description and generally not a title. We'll look more at this on Monday.

So, in the picture above, is the person in the white lab coat a teacher or a professor? Possibly both. He's definitely a teacher, but if he has a PhD, then he's also a professor. In this case, the picture information says his name is Professor Hellmuth Stachel --we capitalize "professor" since it's his title. Because he has a doctorate degree, we can also call him "Doctor Hellmuth Stachel," but in academia it's more common to say "professor" instead of "doctor," since "doctor" can cause confusion with medical doctors.

If you don't understand this, you can ask me or your normal English teacher or professor. But remember that I'm  not a professor, because I only have an M.A., not a PhD. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for other False Friends or Common Errors, please tell me.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!