The War between Can and May...

I've been working with my students on the way they ask permission to do things.

"Can I go to the bathroom?"
"Can we write in pencil?"
"Can I go home now?"

For a while I used the whole "May you go... Yes, you may."

It didn't go well.

Then I switched to the "Can you? Yes. May you? Not until you ask correctly."

This worked better, but still, we had very little progress.

I have recently taken a more abrupt approach.

Student: "Miss C. Can I go to the bathroom?"
Me: "Of course you can!"
*Student starts to get up.
Me: "Where are you going?"
Student: "To the bathroom?"
Me: "You need to ask permission before you get out of your seat."
Student: "Um... I did."
Me: "No, ma'am (or sir). You asked if you had the ability, and you do. Have a seat until you ask permission."
*Student plops back into seat with confused expression.

They have since learned the difference between the two words. And they now like me less. It's okay, though. My job isn't to get them to like me, it's to teach them.

Over the weekend, I shared this story with my boyfriend while at a hibachi restaurant. A little bit later, the waitress came to check on us and he asked her if we could have a couple waters. She smiled, said yes, and walked away. I shook my head, convinced that we weren't going to get our waters. Of course, I had to give him a hard time for using "can" instead of "may."

When the waitress returned with our waters, he thanked her that she brought the water despite the fact that he didn't use the correct wording.

I'm still working on him, too. :)