Tweedledunce and Tweedleduncer

A Tale of Idiocy.

Between one year and the next there’s typically a difference between the two pre-AL classes. Often this is a matter of ethos since they usually end up being fairly equal academically. There was almost no difference last year, and in previous years, there’s been a gap of about 2 to 3%. This year, though, it’s 5% and would be worse if pre-AL β didn’t have a real, live native speaker of English in the class, who is worth 1% or the class’s average.

I’m still getting applications from students for summer programmes in the States even although the deadline was a week ago. More recent requests have come from cretinous Carlo and, today, lame-wit Lesley, who can’t string two brian [sic!] cells together between them.

I’ve been rather too nice about some of the students I’ve written references for, but cretinous Carlo, who chatters to lack-wit Lesley all class, does nothing, and has a string of appalling exam results, was a dolt too far, and I wrote pretty much exactly what I think of him and his performance.

Today he turns up with lard-brain Lesley, who also wants me to write a reference for him. I try to get across to him that the referee should be able to say something nice about him, which I can’t without perjuring myself. Instead, the dimwit stands there with a look of incomprehension on his face. I’ll write the reference, but I’ll be candid again.

I don’t mind American universities fleecing the mummies and daddies of these idiots, but I’d rather not inflict these halfwits on other teachers if I could spare the latter such trials.