<p>^^I got the ordinary, at least. That's BAD!!</p>
<p>I am ROTFL my head off. Nightmare simply a nightmare. I didn't even get the "ordinary." "Mine" was a prof, also, and equally not in verbal command of any version of the English language.</p>
<p>I thought it might be handle with care! I did write recently about a class where they put some A papers on reserve at the library. After I read the A papers, I didn't want to write an A paper. I thought they were awful - full of jargon and obfuscation. But it did make me relax. The next paper I wrote, I only read three pages of the assigned reading and still got a B!</p>
<p>Hey, I hope my English is half that bad. Yeah, I know mine is bad and my worst nighmare is the webminar thing. Do they or don't they understand me? I can't exactly see the audience! Anyway, if your professors were as bad as you said, why colleges hire them?</p>
<p>When it came to math classes, a friend of my daughter's at Northwestern used to "interview" potential professors to see if she could clearly understand them. One semester having a language barrier was all she could take (and do poorly in the class).</p>
<p>For future college students: let this be a lesson to you. If you cannot understand one thing the professor is saying the first week of class, transfer out. My kids both have had to do this in the past. The OP should definitely go to the study center for help. The idea of reading an example paper is good. I had a couple of professors ask for papers I wrote to use as an example for future students and I have pulled "A" papers out when I am working with HS kids on papers so they can get an idea of what a good college level paper looks like. The OP should not lose heart. When I returned to school after having my kids, I had a professor say the same thing to me. I went to her office, appalled at my grade, and had her explain it to me. You have to give the professor what they want, not what you want to give them. One way to figure out what they want is to ask a lot of questions during lecture/discussion. That will tell you if you are on the right track on any particular subject. Good luck.</p>
<p>I had a freshman-year prof who told us all semester we needed to revise our work, but we could never understand what was wrong with our work that needed to be changed. Finally, late in the semester, a girl asked "Do you mean for us to 'review' our work?" and he said "Yes, yes, that's the word - you must review your work." Groan.</p>