 From
time to time over the course of 30-plus years in the mathematics department
at Exeter, I have prevailed upon my colleagues in modern languages to
admit me as a student in their classes. As a teacher and as one who likes
to travel, I have found the benefits considerable, both for the acquired
knowledge and for the opportunity to have closer relationships with students.
Imagine having a student from one of your mathematics classes, who is
not doing particularly well there, also in your language class offering
you sympathy after you have received mediocre results on your latest test.
Studying languages at the Academy while involved in full-time teaching,
coaching, running a dormitory, and serving on committees makes a teacher
much more appreciative of a student's task. I like to think that students
have an easier time absorbing new material because they have so many cells
waiting to receive information; our poor brains have to struggle to find
room to store all the new verbs, vocab, and grammar. But the results are
worthwhile if one can manage the time and energy.
My first encounter was with Herr Brandes, who led me through a review
of second-year German to prepare me for a sabbatical in Germany. This
study made the sabbatical experience much more rewarding, even though
it was somewhat depressing to start his course with D's (teachers were
allowed to give such grades in 1973) and then take almost a year to work
up to what is now an average grade.
Returning to Quito, Ecuador, from a bird-watching trip in the Galapagos
in 1978, and being bumped off the plane in the port city Guayaquil, I
decided to learn some Spanish. To be stranded in a foreign airport is
not much fun. Mr. Buisan and Mr. Baggia led the way. Why did it seem that
almost everyone in the class already knew first-year Spanish? I started
giving shorter math assignments to my students and became much more sympathetic
to my daughter's comments about her workload as a lower at Exeter.
The Spanish study turned out to be of considerable help. I have made over
20 bird watching trips to Mexico, Central and South America, some with
Audubon groups, some with my brother, and a number with my wife.
Because I have some Italian ancestry and was invited to do more mathematics
teaching after my retirement, I took the Italian course from Mr. Hammond
and the man of many languages, Mr. Baggia. It was heady to walk into the
Italian classroom of my former Spanish teacher and see recognizable German
sentences from his previous class! My wife and I intend to return to Italy,
only this time with better language backgrounds than when we last visited.
My most interesting memory involved Ms. McMullen. As a student at the
Academy, she took part in the School Year Abroad program in France and
apparently did not have a good experience in her mathematics course. After
she returned from France and started in my calculus course, the grades
on her first two tests were numbers clearly recognizable from another
era. Of course she did extra work to make up the deficiencies, and with
her natural talents she not only did well in math but won a Cox Medal
at graduation. It seemed only fair to give her a shot at her former math
teacher, and she, perhaps too willingly, invited me to "sit in" on one
of her French classes. All was going relatively well until she asked me
to say how old I was. French, Spanish, German, Italian, excuses-the result
came out 93 rather 73 and elicited some rather interesting remarks about
mathematics, etc.
A number of faculty members have taken language courses, especially teachers
about to serve in a School Year Abroad program. Because the pace in Academy
language courses is swift, especially from the viewpoint of a stressed-out
mathematics teacher, one still benefits most by doing homework and taking
tests. This can be discomforting at times, but that is a price one should
be willing to pay.
Once when I returned late from having taken the golf team to an away match,
it was too late to do my German homework. One of my advisees was in the
same German class and I asked him if he had done the sentences and could
I "look at" them. The next day when Mr. Brandes had us write the sentences
on the board, mine was filled with errors. Mr. Brandes offered a, "Was
gibt Herr Clements?" I glanced at my advisee, he rolled his eyes, and
nowadays I guess one would say "we bonded."
-Robert M. Clements
Bob Clements is the George Albert Wentworth
Professor and Chair of the Mathematics Department, emeritus. After 30 years
at Exeter, he retired from the Academy in 1990, but has been called back
to teach part-time on numerous occasions. Avid birdwatchers, Bob and his
wife Louise have pursued their hobby on every continent, including Antarctica.
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