I have one great student this year, Sergei. He's only about 13, and studies at Intermediate level as the only boy in a group of girls. He has such an evil sense of humour. For example: we were revising transport vocabulary, and the question came up, 'What do you keep in the boot of a car?' My other students said the usual - 'a spare tyre, luggage...'. When they were finished, Sergei paused before answering, 'A body. Excellent.' Then rubbed his hands together.

Or another example: we were practicing 2nd conditionals, and I asked, 'What would you do if you were President of Russia?' Again, my other students came up with the textbook answers: 'Help the poor, build orphanages, stop AIDS, blah blah blah.' Sergei again was the last to answer. 'I'd go to war. I'd invade Finland. Excellent.'