What is THE WORST that could happen?

[byebyeny]

Hi. As I introduced myself in the thread I posted earlier, I am an international student who speaks English as my second langauge. I'm just wondering what could be the worst case scenario (I know I'm being masochistic here ). What were some of the worst things you have seen happen when students were called on? Has anyone seen someone who just completely blank? because that's what I assume will happen to me. I have a really mean contract professor who's infamous among the 1Ls. My verbal skills are just not up there with everyone else. God, I'm hating this class so much...

[Matthies]

Just do the best you can and realize it will be over faster than you think. When you get called on you automatically think everyone in the classroom is focused on you just waiting for you to screw up and make a mistake. Truth is they are not, ss soon as the prof calls a name that is not theirs they go back to cursing the internet. Even if you make a complete fool out yourself no one will really notice or care. Just give it your best shot and get it over with. Its not near as bad as you think it is when you’re going through it. Good luck.

[thorc954]

keep in this thought in the back of your head at all times: grading is blind.

[NeverTrustKlingons]

ESL has nothing to do with it.  There are plenty of native English speakers who either say they aren't prepared or say something incredibly dumb.  If you are smart you will be a-ok.

[js11287]

I haven't been to law school yet, but I confronted a similar problem while studying abroad and taking classes in a foreign language.

You obviously have a sufficient grasp on English, as you were able to get into law school in the first place. While being grilled in front of a hundred people can be nerve racking, take a deep breath, take a moment to think about what you're going to say before you say it, and you'll be fine.

[acer44]

Judging by your perfect written English I think you probably have enough grasp of the language to handle answering a question orally. Just don't worry too much about it, and as someone above said, no one is going to be watching for you to mess up. Everyone thinks about himself most of the time.

[Thistle]

Truth is they are not, ss soon as the prof calls a name that is not theirs they go back to cursing the internet. Even if you make a complete fool out yourself no one will really notice or care.

i know we did at ualr...our internet SUCKED   


what matthies says is true.  doesnt mean *&^%.  its odd that sometimes the people who give the brightest answers in class get the lowest grades lol.....

pay attention to WHAT MATTERS -- doing well on the exam. 

[IPFreely]

We had one foreign student who couldn't answer in class;  I don't know how he did, but I don't think it was a big deal.  The professor knew that his English language skills were very poor.  It's possible that the student's grade was lowered by a half-grade as a result of his difficulty in participating in class (standard policy here, at the option of the professor).

The only other student I am aware of who simply could not respond in class withdrew after the first semester, having decided that law was not for her.

[nealric]

Always an option...

During 1L year, there was a woman in one of my classes who would just mumble something inaudible to the professor.
After telling her to speak up 2-3 times and getting equally inaudible responses, he just gave up.

[EarlCat]

This is the worst that could happen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZJEhlIefxA