Henry Purcell

A bit of general knowledge at the end of a lesson today.  10-yr-old girl, Rondeau.  Pronunciations done a bit more phonetically...

Me: Who composed this piece?
Girl: Henry- wait.  Is it the arranger, or the composer?  Mary Co-hen or Henry Prewcell?
Me: Who do you think the composer is?
Girl: Henry... Prewcell.
Me: Try again.
Girl: Prercell
Me: Purcell
Girl: Oh!  There's no r before the u. 
Me: Where's he from?
Girl [quickly, like she's in a trivia game]: Spain! Argentina! [I couldn't help but start laughing here] Brazil!  ... Oh wait... France!  Oh yeah, Spanish is a different language.... Brazil!
Me [loudly, slowly]: Hen...ry...
Girl: Paris?
Me: Paris isn't a country.  Henry.  Where would a Henry live?  Henry?
Girl [puzzled]: England...? [I nod] England?!  But that's so normal!

I figured out that her confusion was stemming from the title of the piece, which is in French (this is the same child who agreed that French is a silly language) and it has a subtitle 'From the Moor of Abdelazar' and I must have explained at some point the Moorish reference.  That was the end of general knowledge for today, I couldn't risk any more.

French is a Silly Language

I'm not a fan of French, despite it having wormed its way into my brain.  French has so many letters they just ignore - hm.  So, I started Purcell's Rondeau (from Abdelazar) with a 10-yr-old girl by saying, "French is a silly language".

Girl (indignant): Oh!  That's not nice!
Me: Well, how would you pronounce the title of this piece?
Girl (slowly): Ronnnn-deeee-ay-oooo...?
Me: Yeah, it's pronounced 'rondo'.
Girl: Well, that's silly.
Me: Exactly.