Post by grinningcat on Aug 2, 2014 2:20:37 GMT
If you know the difference between the words "homophobe" and "homophone," you're well ahead of one American English language school administrator who fired an employee last week for allegedly promoting "some kind of gay agenda" through a blog post about grammar.
Timothy Torkildson was recently let go from his position as a social media specialist at the Nomen Global Language Center in Provo, Utah after writing an educational blog post called "Help with Homophones."
"In English a homophone is a word that has several different meanings and spellings, but always sounds the same. The best way to learn these tricky words is to memorize them little by little," he wrote in the July post on the school's blog, providing the example, "Ad is an advertisement. Add is a mathematical function."
According to The Salt Lake Tribune, Nomen Global Language Center owner Clarke Woodger called Torkildson into his office shortly after to tell him that he was fired.
"I’m letting you go because I can’t trust you” said Woodger according to Torkildson, who posted an account of the exchange on his personal blog. "This blog about homophones was the last straw. Now our school is going to be associated with homosexuality."
"I had to look up the word because I didn’t know what the hell you were talking about," Woodger allegedly continued. "We don’t teach this kind of advanced stuff to our students, and it’s extremely inappropriate. Can you have your desk cleaned out by eleven this morning? I’ll have your cheque ready.”
Stunned, Torkildson left the private ESL school, from which, according to the Tribune, more than 6,500 students hailing from 58 different countries have graduated over the past 15 years.
Nomen has since removed his blog post about homophones from its website, but the Daily Dot was able to screengrab a portion of it using Google cache.
When speaking with the Tribune, Torkildson said that he had been especially careful and straighforward while writing his educational post because he understood that the "homo" part of the word could be politically charged.
Despite this, he felt that clarifying homophones through his post was important for the students at Nomen.
"I taught English in Thailand for nearly five years, and it's awful confusing for them. Words like "see" — I see something, I swim in the sea, I take vitamin C..." he told CBC's As It Happens during a phone interview Thursday. "Also, taking the TOEFL test... part of that is a conversation and essay section, and if [ESL students] don't know about homophones, they can really, really trip up."
Woodger told the Tribune that his reaction to Torkildson’s blog had nothing to do with homosexuality. Instead, he said that he had been concerned about Torkildson's tendency to offend and confuse readers by "going off on tangents" in his blogs.
"I'm not bitter about it, I'm not ashamed about it, I'm still puzzled about it..." said Torkildson about his dismissal to As It Happens. "I never heard back negatively from anyone except for him."
Online, reaction to the story is running the gamut from outraged to amused. Many have made jokes about the situation, while others are slamming the school for its actions (and for not knowing what a homophone is.)
Timothy Torkildson was recently let go from his position as a social media specialist at the Nomen Global Language Center in Provo, Utah after writing an educational blog post called "Help with Homophones."
"In English a homophone is a word that has several different meanings and spellings, but always sounds the same. The best way to learn these tricky words is to memorize them little by little," he wrote in the July post on the school's blog, providing the example, "Ad is an advertisement. Add is a mathematical function."
According to The Salt Lake Tribune, Nomen Global Language Center owner Clarke Woodger called Torkildson into his office shortly after to tell him that he was fired.
"I’m letting you go because I can’t trust you” said Woodger according to Torkildson, who posted an account of the exchange on his personal blog. "This blog about homophones was the last straw. Now our school is going to be associated with homosexuality."
"I had to look up the word because I didn’t know what the hell you were talking about," Woodger allegedly continued. "We don’t teach this kind of advanced stuff to our students, and it’s extremely inappropriate. Can you have your desk cleaned out by eleven this morning? I’ll have your cheque ready.”
Stunned, Torkildson left the private ESL school, from which, according to the Tribune, more than 6,500 students hailing from 58 different countries have graduated over the past 15 years.
Nomen has since removed his blog post about homophones from its website, but the Daily Dot was able to screengrab a portion of it using Google cache.
When speaking with the Tribune, Torkildson said that he had been especially careful and straighforward while writing his educational post because he understood that the "homo" part of the word could be politically charged.
Despite this, he felt that clarifying homophones through his post was important for the students at Nomen.
"I taught English in Thailand for nearly five years, and it's awful confusing for them. Words like "see" — I see something, I swim in the sea, I take vitamin C..." he told CBC's As It Happens during a phone interview Thursday. "Also, taking the TOEFL test... part of that is a conversation and essay section, and if [ESL students] don't know about homophones, they can really, really trip up."
Woodger told the Tribune that his reaction to Torkildson’s blog had nothing to do with homosexuality. Instead, he said that he had been concerned about Torkildson's tendency to offend and confuse readers by "going off on tangents" in his blogs.
"I'm not bitter about it, I'm not ashamed about it, I'm still puzzled about it..." said Torkildson about his dismissal to As It Happens. "I never heard back negatively from anyone except for him."
Online, reaction to the story is running the gamut from outraged to amused. Many have made jokes about the situation, while others are slamming the school for its actions (and for not knowing what a homophone is.)
I can't decide if I should laugh, cry or shake my head at this story. The stupid is strong in this administrator.
It is the administrator who should go. I can't get my breath at this. It isn't April 1st is it?
