Intensive Eighteen O’Six for Beginners

Course Syllabus

Prof. Valerie Hernandez, Asst. Prof. Gregory Muha, Asst. Prof. Brian McGovern

Lecture: MW 12:15 or whenever Val is awake, Greg is sober, & Brian isn’t playing Halo

Emails: Greg- gmm26@georgetown.edu, Brian- bpm7@georgetown.edu, Val- don’t bother

Add/Drop: No. 1806-011, by 1/15                

Office hours: F 11:00pm in the living room, BYOB

Course Objectives

In this course we will try to better understand the members of the greater Eighteen O’Six community through their language.  We will learn from members of this community how their communication or lack of communication betters their collective living experience.

Course Description

This class is team taught.  At each class meeting, one of the professors will present material in a lecture followed by discussion.  You are expected to prepare before class to participate in the discussion by doing the required readings or by getting wasted with the professors.

Texts

Ryan, Thomas et al, Sense from Nonsense: Eighteen O’Six Level I Workbook

Ryan, Thomas et al, Sense from Nonsense: Introductory Eighteen O’Six

Additional Classroom Materials

There will be a $50 Lab Fee to buy materials for Prof. Muha’s portion of the class.  Add’l materials include shot glasses, thirty-six packs of cheap beer, and half-empty pizza cartons.

Grading

Classroom participation is 50% of your grade.  There will be no written assignments for this class, mostly because none of your professors read.  There will be two oral midterms, one each with Assistant Professors Muha and McGovern and an oral final with Professor Hernandez.  With the curve, most students will get C’s and B’s on the oral exams if they can demonstrate complete fluency in Eighteen O’Six or complete lack of fluency in English.  Getting an A on each of the oral exams requires extra effort, as described below:

Oral Midterm 1 (Dr. Muha):              Purchase and finish a thirty-six pack with the instructor.

                                                         Go skydivin’.  Go Rocky Mountain Climbin’.

Oral Midterm 2 (Dr. McGovern):       Play twenty straight hours of Halo without blinking or getting up to go to the bathroom.   (sorry L2)

Oral Final (Dr. Hernandez):                Take Val out to dinner downtown, Val and Bocephus to get pedicures in Dupont, & Val to get daiquiris in Adams Morgan, all without Val having to get off the couch.

Course Schedule

Part I: Fundamentals

Jan. 12    Principles of Word Omission

Dr. Valerie Hernandez

Text p. 257

Jan. 19    Using Spanglish in Conversation

Dr. Valerie Hernandez

Text p.257

Jan. 31    Mastering Phonemic Mumbling

Dr. Brian McGovern

Text pp. 300-345 and the Chapter on Grunts

Feb. 2     Trademark Phrases

Dr. Gregory Muha

Read the legible contents of the High Tech Recording Device, focusing esp. on beer stains

Feb. 7     MIDTERM 1: HAVE ORAL WITH GREG

Part II: More than Words (Less than Language)

Feb. 9     The Art of Incorporating Onomatopoeia, Baby Talk, and Gibberish

Dr. Valerie Hernandez

Text p. 257

Feb. 21   Inflection is Everything: When to Squeal, Scream, Giggle, or use “Uh-huhhhh”

Dr. Valerie Hernandez

Text p. 257

Feb. 28   Gestures, Facial Expressions, and Body Language

Dr. Valerie Hernandez

Text p. 257

Mar. 3     Intoxication and Communication, Modalities of Slurring and Leering

Dr. Gregory Muha

Do Workbook p. 113 Exercises 2-8

Read the lyrics to Drinkin’ Bone, Beer Man, and Lord Loves a Drinkin’ Man

Mar. 17   MIDTERM 2: HAVE ORAL WITH BRIAN           

Part III: Minimalism and Passive Aggression

Mar. 20   Communicating without Making Eye Contact

Dr. Brian McGovern

Read Halo I Manuel, entire

Mar. 27   Maintaining Intimate Relationships without Making Eye Contact

Dr. Brian McGovern

Guest Lecturer: Emily Killcrease

Read Ms. Killcrease’s article, “How I Learned to Love the Back of My Boyfriend’s Head”

Read Halo II Manuel, entire

Apr. 14   Drama without Confrontation

Dr. Valerie Hernandez

Text p. 257

Apr. 30   Conclusions, Class Summary, LOUD NOISES

Dr.’s Hernandez, Muha, and McGovern

Text p. 257

May 7     FINAL EXAM – HAVE ORAL WITH VAL

Things to Remember:

1. Respect the Honor Code.
2. Show up to class prepared, on time, and neat and presentable, even though your professors will look like scrubby, hungover autistic savages.  This is their culture.
3. Turn in all your work on time, unless you have a conflict with drinking, playing Halo, sleeping, going to a golf party, throwing a golf party, buying red plastic cups at Vittles, sleeping, playing with Bocephus, listening to music, watching soap operas, browsing through home catalogues, microwaving dinner, arguing with your roommate, sleeping, watching football, eating pizza, ordering pizza, wading across the sea of empty pizza boxes to get out the front door, sleeping, waking up, or sleeping. 

Discuss all conflicts with your instructors before hand, carefully listing date, time, and place of the golf party.

4. Complement Val on her cooking.
5. Do not touch Brian’s cooking.
6. Feed Greg.
7. We take this class very seriously and expect you to work very hard.  This is an intensive language class and is not meant to be “fun.”  Do your work, respect your professors (even when they are incoherent) and don’t ask questions (especially when they’re incoherent).
8. Alcohol is never the answer.