Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Christiana CP #5
Date/Time: May 29, 2017; 7:15-8:30 P.M.
Location: Campus Circle study rooms
Topic: Religion & Law
Cultural and/or linguistic topics you and your partner learned: Learned more about Ramadan and the Muslim religion, shared some information about Catholicism and then we chatted about the Law here vs. in Kuwait.
For our fifth conversation partner meeting Nasar and I met in the Campus Circle study rooms and conversation immediately went to Ramadan, something I've been very interested in talking about since it is a very prominent part of the lives of both Nasar, and my tutee Saeed who I meet with weekly. I learned that you may not even drink water during the daylight hours during this time of fasting, that it is about a month long, and that most muslims participate in it very strictly throughout the world. I'm very interested in different world religions and really enjoy learning about them so being able to speak with Nasar and ask questions about Islam is really a treat. I asked him if it would be okay for me to ask him a few questions about other traditions and after he replied "of course" I asked him about prayers, how he knows which way to turn to face Mecca, and what time each prayer is. He showed me an app that he uses with a compass that points you to mecca, which I thought was such an interesting tool that is so simple conceptually, yet useful to so many people around the world. I also learned that the times of prayer change slightly with the sunset/sunrise throughout the year, and that there is music that does play around the cities as a "call to prayer" which is one of the things Nasar misses the most about home. I really enjoyed learning about these and tried to share a bit of knowledge about catholicism with him which he seemed to enjoy as well. We then started chatting about laws and how there are many laws in Kuwait overlap with religious laws, such as the prohibition of consumption and sale of alcohol and pork products. We discussed that this is very common in middle eastern countries and very different from here in the U.S where there is a separation of church and state. Just before 8:30 Nasar told me he would be meeting a few friends from CIES to eat dinner and we parted ways, deciding we would meet at some time next week depending on our schedules.
Christiana TS #6
Date/Time: May 31, 2017; 6:00-7:00 P.M.
Location: Campus Circle study rooms
Topic: Pronunciation, error log
Cultural and/or linguistic topics you and your partner learned: Further explained error log, worked with the pronunciation of words that have similar sounds.
Saeed and I met at the campus circle study rooms and when I sat down he handed me a letter from Alamo, the company he is renting his car from. He asked me to explain what the letter meant and I helped him understand and then helped figure out how to sort out the issue. We then chatted about his grammar quiz and about how Ramadan was going for him, he has been very tired due to the fasting but otherwise all is well. We then discussed a speaking test that he has tomorrow and how he wanted to practice the pronunciations of some of the material that would be covered on the test. I had him read the words aloud and would correct him and have him repeat words that he had trouble with after me. I also had him to focus on particular sounds within the words that he needed to change and gave examples of other words where the same sounds were made to give him some extra practice. Words like slip and sleep, heat and hit, and taste and test were all on this list and we worked on trying to hear the differences in words, and create the correct sounds to make those differences known to those we are talking to. I also talked about context being very important when differentiating words like with "to live or die" and "live music at the bar" on differentiating how to speak them aloud. This was a fun session because I felt as though I could confidently assist him in the pronunciation of these words, I felt more at ease with the material than usual which was really nice.
Location: Campus Circle study rooms
Topic: Pronunciation, error log
Cultural and/or linguistic topics you and your partner learned: Further explained error log, worked with the pronunciation of words that have similar sounds.
Saeed and I met at the campus circle study rooms and when I sat down he handed me a letter from Alamo, the company he is renting his car from. He asked me to explain what the letter meant and I helped him understand and then helped figure out how to sort out the issue. We then chatted about his grammar quiz and about how Ramadan was going for him, he has been very tired due to the fasting but otherwise all is well. We then discussed a speaking test that he has tomorrow and how he wanted to practice the pronunciations of some of the material that would be covered on the test. I had him read the words aloud and would correct him and have him repeat words that he had trouble with after me. I also had him to focus on particular sounds within the words that he needed to change and gave examples of other words where the same sounds were made to give him some extra practice. Words like slip and sleep, heat and hit, and taste and test were all on this list and we worked on trying to hear the differences in words, and create the correct sounds to make those differences known to those we are talking to. I also talked about context being very important when differentiating words like with "to live or die" and "live music at the bar" on differentiating how to speak them aloud. This was a fun session because I felt as though I could confidently assist him in the pronunciation of these words, I felt more at ease with the material than usual which was really nice.
Christiana TS #5
Date/Time: May 31, 2017; 3:00-4:00 P.M.
Location: Starbucks on West Tennessee Street
Topic: Reading
Cultural and/or linguistic topics you and your partner learned: Reading comprehension, we both learned about Dementia, diet pills & robocops.
Today I met with Jiwon for the 2nd time, I picked her up at CIES after class was over and we drove to the Starbucks on Tennessee where we got snacks and settled in. Last meeting we decided we would work on reading, which happens to be Jiwon's least favorite subject in English. We talked about our weekends and her day off while I opened up the breaking news english website that my other tutee, Saeed, had told me about in one of our first sessions. I set it to level 3 and told Jiwon to select the article that she would like to read and she chose an article about RoboCops in Dubai. We each read the article to ourselves and she stopped to ask me about the vocabulary and concepts that she was unsure of. I wrote these words down and gave her definitions and examples for each and then I had her answer some reading comprehension questions to make sure she was understanding what she was reading. We went through this with three different news articles that Jiwon picked out, this boosted her intrinsic motivation because she was using English to learn something that was interesting to her. She told me that she really enjoyed this tutoring session and thanked me because it got her to read which she usually wouldn't do. I felt very good about our session because she seemed to really enjoy picking and reading the articles and maybe she'll even use them to practice reading on her own!
Alexa TS #3
Today (5/31/17, 4:15-5:15) I met up with Sultan for our second tutoring session. During our first tutoring session, he expressed a desire to grow in his reading skills. I went home that day with that in mind but was not exactly sure what reading level he was at. I decided to print out some passages I found online. However, after giving one to him for him to practice reading, it turned out it was much higher than his actual reading level. There was a lot of vocabulary in the passage that was very high level. He actually was happy about that because he said that learning that difficult vocabulary now will help him do the TOEFL. However, we also agreed that it would also be good to get a lower level passage so that he can continue to practice his reading skills. The passage we went through was a passage about dolphins. When we got to a new vocabulary word, I did my best to explain it to him. I also tried to show pictures and videos to help him understand it. He did a good job reading the more common words. At the end of the passage there were some true/false comprehension questions which he also struggled with. I'm hoping that when we start reading some easier reading passages, he will continue to grow in his reading and comprehension skills.
Elaina TS #13
Date/Time: May31, 7-8:30
Place: Tutee's apartment
Topics: shapes, colors, greetings, writing
This was our second time meeting with the children, and this time there were 6 of them. We brought worksheets, white boards with markers, books, and games for them to use. We started off with everyone writing sentences that they copied from a worksheet, and then we sounded them out and went over the meanings of the words. Then we drew shapes for them and asked if they knew what they were called, and wrote the names and helped spell them out. I think the biggest thing that we need to work on with the children in the future is building new vocabulary and pronunciation of the letters and sounds. They knew how to pronounce objects that they already know the names to, but sounding out new words was very difficult for them.
Place: Tutee's apartment
Topics: shapes, colors, greetings, writing
This was our second time meeting with the children, and this time there were 6 of them. We brought worksheets, white boards with markers, books, and games for them to use. We started off with everyone writing sentences that they copied from a worksheet, and then we sounded them out and went over the meanings of the words. Then we drew shapes for them and asked if they knew what they were called, and wrote the names and helped spell them out. I think the biggest thing that we need to work on with the children in the future is building new vocabulary and pronunciation of the letters and sounds. They knew how to pronounce objects that they already know the names to, but sounding out new words was very difficult for them.
Elaina CP#5
Date/Time: May 31, 4:30-5:30pm
Location: her apartment
Topics: TOEFL studying
Today, Claudia wanted me to help her study for her TOEFL exam that she is taking in a few weeks. She wanted some help with grammar, writing, and organizing her essays. We went over a few of the practice prompts and I helped her outline her notes, and then I would edit her essay after she wrote it. I think she is going to do very well on her exam! After, she helped me with a little bit of Spanish.
Location: her apartment
Topics: TOEFL studying
Today, Claudia wanted me to help her study for her TOEFL exam that she is taking in a few weeks. She wanted some help with grammar, writing, and organizing her essays. We went over a few of the practice prompts and I helped her outline her notes, and then I would edit her essay after she wrote it. I think she is going to do very well on her exam! After, she helped me with a little bit of Spanish.
Raleigh TS #4
Date/Time: 5/31/17 (4pm)
Location: CIES
Topic/Skill: speaking
Feedback provided to tutee: We were just getting to know each other.
Today, I met with Soumaya for the first time. We really were just working on getting to know each other today, and I was trying figure out what she wanted to work on. She's from a country in West Africa called Burkina Faso. I had never heard of it before, and she said it's a French country. She said that there are a bunch of different ethnic groups in Burkina Faso that all have their own language. She said her first language was Moole. She said that the languages and ethnic groups aren't really split by region though. She said that her neighbor could have a different ethnic background than her and speak a different language, but they all have French in common. She said she wanted to learn English because her brother only speaks English, so she wants to be able to talk to him more. She also wants to learn English because she wants to be an architect, and there's not a school that offers that in Burkina Faso. She said that she wanted to go to France, but her visa doesn't start until September for France. She said she came to America to learn English because she wanted to be forced to speak the language. She's very motivated and said that she also wants to learn English in order to be the best architect because English is used almost universally. I can tell that she's really devoted to her studies, and she's really excited to learn English. She said that she wants to work on her speaking and listening because she does all of her other assignments at home, so we're just going to talk about different topics for each session. I can also tell that she makes a conscious effort to work on her pronunciation and to use a lot of different words. Overall, it went great, and she seems excited to keep practicing.
Location: CIES
Topic/Skill: speaking
Feedback provided to tutee: We were just getting to know each other.
Today, I met with Soumaya for the first time. We really were just working on getting to know each other today, and I was trying figure out what she wanted to work on. She's from a country in West Africa called Burkina Faso. I had never heard of it before, and she said it's a French country. She said that there are a bunch of different ethnic groups in Burkina Faso that all have their own language. She said her first language was Moole. She said that the languages and ethnic groups aren't really split by region though. She said that her neighbor could have a different ethnic background than her and speak a different language, but they all have French in common. She said she wanted to learn English because her brother only speaks English, so she wants to be able to talk to him more. She also wants to learn English because she wants to be an architect, and there's not a school that offers that in Burkina Faso. She said that she wanted to go to France, but her visa doesn't start until September for France. She said she came to America to learn English because she wanted to be forced to speak the language. She's very motivated and said that she also wants to learn English in order to be the best architect because English is used almost universally. I can tell that she's really devoted to her studies, and she's really excited to learn English. She said that she wants to work on her speaking and listening because she does all of her other assignments at home, so we're just going to talk about different topics for each session. I can also tell that she makes a conscious effort to work on her pronunciation and to use a lot of different words. Overall, it went great, and she seems excited to keep practicing.
Raleigh TS #3
Date/Time: 5/31/17 (3pm)
Location: CIES
Topic/Skill: speaking
Feedback provided to tutee: She has good pronunciation. She just needs to be more confident when she speaks.
Today, I met with Dasom again, and we were working on speaking. We were mainly just talking about different wedding traditions in different places because she asked me about my trip to New York this past weekend where I went to a wedding. It was a really interesting conversation, and she seemed to open up more today. She was speaking more and didn't seem as embarrassed about it today. She was interested in the conversation, and she was telling me that she wants to visit New York during the break between the next 2 CIES sessions. She said she would also be interested in going to Boston or DC or Chicago too. She asked me where I went in New York and told me that she wanted to see the Charging Bull statue and the Statue of Liberty. I also asked her about Seoul since that's where she's from. She said that there's a river that runs through Seoul where people will rent bikes and just ride around. She said she doesn't do too much more than that though. She said that the tourists in Seoul are usually from China and that the tourists generally just shop. She really wants to see Chinatown in New York also because she said Korea is the only country that doesn't have a legit Chinatown. Overall, I think today went really well because she seems to be more confident in her speaking, and she has more to say. I just need to make sure she's interested in the topic so that she can talk more like she did today.
Location: CIES
Topic/Skill: speaking
Feedback provided to tutee: She has good pronunciation. She just needs to be more confident when she speaks.
Today, I met with Dasom again, and we were working on speaking. We were mainly just talking about different wedding traditions in different places because she asked me about my trip to New York this past weekend where I went to a wedding. It was a really interesting conversation, and she seemed to open up more today. She was speaking more and didn't seem as embarrassed about it today. She was interested in the conversation, and she was telling me that she wants to visit New York during the break between the next 2 CIES sessions. She said she would also be interested in going to Boston or DC or Chicago too. She asked me where I went in New York and told me that she wanted to see the Charging Bull statue and the Statue of Liberty. I also asked her about Seoul since that's where she's from. She said that there's a river that runs through Seoul where people will rent bikes and just ride around. She said she doesn't do too much more than that though. She said that the tourists in Seoul are usually from China and that the tourists generally just shop. She really wants to see Chinatown in New York also because she said Korea is the only country that doesn't have a legit Chinatown. Overall, I think today went really well because she seems to be more confident in her speaking, and she has more to say. I just need to make sure she's interested in the topic so that she can talk more like she did today.
Colleen TS #9
Date/Time: May 31 5:00-6:00 PM
Location: Home
Topic/Skill: Minimal Pairs and idioms (continued)
Topic/Skill: Minimal Pairs and idioms (continued)
Christian and I reviewed our words from our last meeting to start off. This was useful in moving into our main focus. We matched numbers 1-10 with the written numbers. This was a perfect n+1 level for Christian! He can read all of the numeric values and together we would spell the letters of the written numbers. Doing this kept him engaged and challenged. He would then select different colored pencils to match the numbers. Christian indicated he enjoyed this activity and I will bring it again for the future as we continue to work on letter identification. Our last activity was to draw a picture of a short story I created: "My favorite place to sleep is in bed. I like sleeping in my bed. A dog sleeps next to me." I am still trying to assess his reading level. Today I verified it is low, so I asked Christian to draw a picture about what I read and then tell me a story to demonstrate listening comprehension.
Colleen TS #8
Date/Time: May 31 4:00-5:00 PM
Location: Starbucks
Topic/Skill: Minimal Pairs and idioms (continued)
Topic/Skill: Minimal Pairs and idioms (continued)
Since we had a good time working on minimal pairs, we continued this in our meeting today. We focused on "b" and "p" words since Abdulrahman and I both noticed this being an area for improvement. We also discussed the verb "to bite" in reference to animals. We talked more about our fears of dogs, cats, and lizards. We also practiced sentences using the following idioms: keep your chin up, up in the air, face your fear, and piece of cake. In our next meeting I will provide information about the difference between proud and pride. We also talked about sounds and the clarinet. He has a speaking quiz tomorrow, so it was helpful working on speaking.
Jillian CP #4
Date/Time: May 31, 2017; 3:00-4:00 P.M.
Location: CIES Student Lounge
Today, Hui-Sin and I stayed in the student lounge to talk. She sprained her ankle so we could not go too far, which was totally fine. We started off talking about issues she has been having with minimal-pairs, and we ran through a couple just to help out a little. I experienced first hand how hard minimal-pairs are, and even I was confusing some of the pairs. We talked about Chinese and how she was struggling with the sounds that do not exist in Chinese.
We spent the rest of the time talking about her family back in Taiwan. I was curious whether or not her parents are excited about Hui-Sin being at FSU. She said her parents are very supportive, but they really do not have an opinion on the matter. They do not mind her being in America learning English, but they know it is Hui-Sin's life. Her boyfriend was the most supportive when she left. He was happy that she chose to further her English.
Hui-Sin is most excited to possibly change her job when she gets back to Taiwan. She mentioned that knowing English is going to open so many doors for her. She is hoping to find a slightly easier job back in Taiwan and to help out as many foreigners as she can back home.
Location: CIES Student Lounge
Today, Hui-Sin and I stayed in the student lounge to talk. She sprained her ankle so we could not go too far, which was totally fine. We started off talking about issues she has been having with minimal-pairs, and we ran through a couple just to help out a little. I experienced first hand how hard minimal-pairs are, and even I was confusing some of the pairs. We talked about Chinese and how she was struggling with the sounds that do not exist in Chinese.
We spent the rest of the time talking about her family back in Taiwan. I was curious whether or not her parents are excited about Hui-Sin being at FSU. She said her parents are very supportive, but they really do not have an opinion on the matter. They do not mind her being in America learning English, but they know it is Hui-Sin's life. Her boyfriend was the most supportive when she left. He was happy that she chose to further her English.
Hui-Sin is most excited to possibly change her job when she gets back to Taiwan. She mentioned that knowing English is going to open so many doors for her. She is hoping to find a slightly easier job back in Taiwan and to help out as many foreigners as she can back home.
Jillian TS #8
Date/Time: May 24, 2017; 9:00-10:00 A.M.
Location: Home via Skype (Tallahassee/Seoul)
Topic: Instagram Food and Taiwanese Night Markets/Speaking, listening, and reading
Feedback: Word choice/tense correction
Our topic for this session started about Instagram. Instagram is very popular in South Korea so we read an article about food oriented Instagrams. The pictures were almost too perfect, and it took away from some of the fun about Instagram. Social media is all about sharing fun moments and memories, but instead we stared at raw fish and wondered if some of the food was even edible. It seemed like too much effort to Soyoung, and she chose to stick with her usual Instagram style. We did briefly talk about the raw foods in the pictures and how Koreans eat raw crab. I am not sure if I am on that bandwagon yet. Soyoung assured me it is good.
Our next topic was about night markets in Taiwan. Soyoung's boyfriend lives in Taiwan, so I thought it would be a great topic for when she visits him next. We were both grossed out by the food offered at the night markets. One had a special delicacy of snakes. We both thought that sounded horrible, but she made it worse by telling me about snake wine. It is exactly what it sounds like. It is a wine with a whole snake preserved within in it, and it has become more popular since more foreigners started visiting Asia. Bubble tea was the only thing Soyoung has tasted that is at the night markets. She said it is really good and worth trying.
There was a moment of tense correction between "eat" and "ate." Soyoung generally self corrects as we talk. I correct her article usage as we talk, but occasionally we get confused by each other's word choice.
Location: Home via Skype (Tallahassee/Seoul)
Topic: Instagram Food and Taiwanese Night Markets/Speaking, listening, and reading
Feedback: Word choice/tense correction
Our topic for this session started about Instagram. Instagram is very popular in South Korea so we read an article about food oriented Instagrams. The pictures were almost too perfect, and it took away from some of the fun about Instagram. Social media is all about sharing fun moments and memories, but instead we stared at raw fish and wondered if some of the food was even edible. It seemed like too much effort to Soyoung, and she chose to stick with her usual Instagram style. We did briefly talk about the raw foods in the pictures and how Koreans eat raw crab. I am not sure if I am on that bandwagon yet. Soyoung assured me it is good.
Our next topic was about night markets in Taiwan. Soyoung's boyfriend lives in Taiwan, so I thought it would be a great topic for when she visits him next. We were both grossed out by the food offered at the night markets. One had a special delicacy of snakes. We both thought that sounded horrible, but she made it worse by telling me about snake wine. It is exactly what it sounds like. It is a wine with a whole snake preserved within in it, and it has become more popular since more foreigners started visiting Asia. Bubble tea was the only thing Soyoung has tasted that is at the night markets. She said it is really good and worth trying.
There was a moment of tense correction between "eat" and "ate." Soyoung generally self corrects as we talk. I correct her article usage as we talk, but occasionally we get confused by each other's word choice.
Jillian TS #7
Date/Time: May 22, 2017; 9:00-10:00 A.M.
Location: Home via Skype (Jacksonville/Seoul)
Topic: Ice cream and Headless Horsemen/Speaking, listening, and reading
Feedback: Article correction and clearing up some pronunciation correction.
We read two articles for discussion that day. One article was about a pop-up ice cream museum in New York City. Soyoung found the article interesting and actually continued to do some research on her own about the museum. She found out that another museum is opening in Los Angeles. She really wished that the museum was permanent because the museum was Instagram worthy. She also mentioned how successful the museum would be in Korea since social media is very popular there.
The Headless Horseman article was a little boring. The article was not what we expected. Instead of talking about the legend, the article briefly mentioned it and moved on to talk about the obsession with decapitation in movies and TV shows. Instead, Soyoung asked me questions about Halloween in America. South Koreans celebrate Halloween, but it still is not as common. She really hopes that one day it will become more popular in Korea. She thinks that because Koreans cannot pull off creepy like the Japanese that maybe it will not become as popular.
Not much correction was needed on that day. There was some article correction and clearing up pronunciation. Sometimes we get so into our talks that words get away from us.
Location: Home via Skype (Jacksonville/Seoul)
Topic: Ice cream and Headless Horsemen/Speaking, listening, and reading
Feedback: Article correction and clearing up some pronunciation correction.
We read two articles for discussion that day. One article was about a pop-up ice cream museum in New York City. Soyoung found the article interesting and actually continued to do some research on her own about the museum. She found out that another museum is opening in Los Angeles. She really wished that the museum was permanent because the museum was Instagram worthy. She also mentioned how successful the museum would be in Korea since social media is very popular there.
The Headless Horseman article was a little boring. The article was not what we expected. Instead of talking about the legend, the article briefly mentioned it and moved on to talk about the obsession with decapitation in movies and TV shows. Instead, Soyoung asked me questions about Halloween in America. South Koreans celebrate Halloween, but it still is not as common. She really hopes that one day it will become more popular in Korea. She thinks that because Koreans cannot pull off creepy like the Japanese that maybe it will not become as popular.
Not much correction was needed on that day. There was some article correction and clearing up pronunciation. Sometimes we get so into our talks that words get away from us.
Vanessa CP #2
I met with
Saeed again on May 24th at the Starbucks on Copeland St at 6 pm. This
time he brought a friend from CIES that also wanted a conversation partner or
to just be able to listen to someone speak. I asked them both what they wanted
to work on or improve during our next few meetings and they both said they
wanted to work on their listening and speaking skills. I told them the best way
I had found to work on my listening while learning Portuguese was to watch
shows I had already seen in English in Portuguese. Having the background knowledge
of what the show is about makes it easier to understand and to use context
clues. After coming up with some ideas I asked if they would want me to invite
them when I go bowling or to The Rez with my friends so they could have more
practice listening to native speakers and they thought it was a good idea. Then
they told me they would not be able to this week because they had a religious
holiday, Ramadan. We then started talking about Ramadan and I asked them if
they could better explain what Ramadan is because, although I know they have to
fast from sunrise to sunset, I did not know much else about the holiday or its
background. We spent the remainder of our meeting talking about Ramadan and
them explaining to me what they do and why the holiday was created. It was
great cultural/ religious learning for me and they were able to practice their
speaking skills.
Barbara TS#8
Our session today talked about S. Korean families and
wedding celebrations. Dojun and his
girlfriend have made arrangements for their families to meet for lunch to
discuss upcoming wedding plans. The way
Dojun explained it to me, this luncheon is the start of a series of visits to
begin the process of planning his wedding. Although I didn’t understand all of
the details, he explained that previously the bride’s parents give the groom’s
family presents frequently in the form of clothes. Nowadays, however, the bride’s family gives a
certain amount of money to help prepare for the wedding ceremony. He talked
about a process that phonetically is spelled Z – N -May which is how I
understood his pronunciation. I believe it meant the practice of selecting a
studio for the wedding, getting a dress and putting on make-up. At any rate, it was intended to discuss a
rather required and somewhat complicated procedure or perhaps tradition is a
better term. We talked about wedding
traditions in different cultures and how sometimes they seem to be a bit
outdated particularly when it comes to things like dress and food. One
interesting part of the conversation was that he said that in the wedding
party, the men dressed in Western suits and the bride dressed in traditional
Korean attire. I asked if there would be
a honeymoon and he said that they would plan one although the details are up
for discussion. He would like to go to
Hawaii and rest while she is interested in a trip to Europe. I told him that these discussions sound very
much like American traditions. But the
most important thing is for the parents to meet and to get to know each other.
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Elaina TS #12
Time/Date: May 30, 8-9pm
Place: starbucks
Topics: Different types of pronouns
Turki told me that he is having a reading quiz on Thursday, and it is going to be on using the different types of pronouns and also 'whose', 'who', 'which', and 'that'. We went over the definitions and charts in his CIES book, and then I asked him to use them all in a sentence. He understood most of them, but some of them such as possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns took a little bit to understand. After going over all of the examples in the book we did some online exercises. Before we left he asked me some questions about where he could buy certain things in Tallahassee, and I helped show him where these stores were on a map.
Place: starbucks
Topics: Different types of pronouns
Turki told me that he is having a reading quiz on Thursday, and it is going to be on using the different types of pronouns and also 'whose', 'who', 'which', and 'that'. We went over the definitions and charts in his CIES book, and then I asked him to use them all in a sentence. He understood most of them, but some of them such as possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns took a little bit to understand. After going over all of the examples in the book we did some online exercises. Before we left he asked me some questions about where he could buy certain things in Tallahassee, and I helped show him where these stores were on a map.
Elaina TS#11
Date/Time: May 30, 6:45-7:45
Location: Starbucks
Topics: conditional, phrasal verbs
We started with some exercises on the difference between zero and first conditional, and when to use each. Abdulrhaman struggled with this idea a little bit in the beginning, but after doing some exercises he remembered it and was able to provide his own examples. Next, we did another exercise on the different phrasal verbs that are associated with different tenses of go. This was a fill in the blank worksheet that I found online, and he enjoyed it. He likes doing things like this because he feels as if he can use it in everyday life.
Location: Starbucks
Topics: conditional, phrasal verbs
We started with some exercises on the difference between zero and first conditional, and when to use each. Abdulrhaman struggled with this idea a little bit in the beginning, but after doing some exercises he remembered it and was able to provide his own examples. Next, we did another exercise on the different phrasal verbs that are associated with different tenses of go. This was a fill in the blank worksheet that I found online, and he enjoyed it. He likes doing things like this because he feels as if he can use it in everyday life.
Vanessa CP #1
I met with
Saeed Alajmi for the first time on May 17th at 4:15 pm at the
Starbucks on Copeland St. After we introduced ourselves I asked him where he
was from. He told me he was from Kuwait and I asked him how long he had been at
FSU for, and he told me he has been here for two and a half months. He
proceeded to ask me what I was studying and how long I had been at FSU for. I
asked him why he was learning English, if it was for work in Kuwait or if he
wanted to go to school in the U.S. We then started talking about how he wanted
to pursue Civil Engineering and that he was looking at other universities he
could apply to. Saeed told me he was very interested in the University of
Tennessee because he thoroughly enjoyed Tennessee when he went. This then led
me to my next question/curiosity, which was to what other states/cities had he
been to in the U.S. He told me he had been to New York, D.C., Virginia,
Georgia, Tennessee, and a couple of other places. I enjoyed listening and
asking him about these places because I have never been to most of them. I then
told him that I really enjoyed traveling and that is why I was interested in
getting my TEFL Certificate. We then began talking about the countries we had
been to. It was cool to learn about the countries he had been to that I had not
been to and he enjoyed learning about the South American and Caribbean
countries I had been to.
Ismael CP#2 Fahd
Thursday the 18th, 2017 645-750/8
For this meeting I met Fahd at the black dog cafe in rail rd square. At first we mostly spoke about Rail Road square. We talked about what it is and some of its history that I know. We also talked about how I used to work there and some of the things I had to do. Then a man came to read a selection from his new novel and we sat and listened to that for a little while. The book was written by a man who grew up in this part of the country his whole life and his book consisted of stories from his life and the south while he was growing up. He spoke with a very strong southern accent in the southern vernacular so I think it was interesting and some what confusing for Fahd. Afterwards I elaborated on some of the things the man said like what he said, and why he said it. Then we took a walk around the park and I showed him all the different shops and gallery spaces.
For this meeting I met Fahd at the black dog cafe in rail rd square. At first we mostly spoke about Rail Road square. We talked about what it is and some of its history that I know. We also talked about how I used to work there and some of the things I had to do. Then a man came to read a selection from his new novel and we sat and listened to that for a little while. The book was written by a man who grew up in this part of the country his whole life and his book consisted of stories from his life and the south while he was growing up. He spoke with a very strong southern accent in the southern vernacular so I think it was interesting and some what confusing for Fahd. Afterwards I elaborated on some of the things the man said like what he said, and why he said it. Then we took a walk around the park and I showed him all the different shops and gallery spaces.
Jillian CP #3
Date/Time: May 24, 2017; 3:00-4:00 P.M.
Location: Big Easy Snowballs
Hui-Sin and I met outside the CIES building and went to Big Easy Snowballs at Lake Ella. Hui-Sin had never had shaved ice before and loved the idea. She liked the shaved ice and explained that the treat would do well over in Taiwan. The country is so sticky and humid that a cool treat would be a great idea--especially at the night markets.
We talked about current events in Taiwan. Recently, Taiwan passed a law allowing same-sex marriage. It is the first Asian country to do so, and Taiwan is setting a precedent for future countries. We talked about what it used to be like in Taiwan and how much this law means to people currently in Taiwan and the Taiwanese natives that are currently in America. She mentioned how happy her roommate is about the law and what it means for everyone in Taiwan.
That topic lead us to talk about the adoption process in America and how it differs in Taiwan. I mentioned how many hoops you have to jump through to adopt a child. I also talked about how much it can cost financially. Hui-Sin could not think about how much it might cost to adopt a child in Taiwan, but she does not think it costs as much as it does in America. She thought that maybe people are so happy that adoption is happening that the Taiwanese government does not make it as difficult. It just goes to show how much things cost in America sometimes as compared to other countries.
Location: Big Easy Snowballs
Hui-Sin and I met outside the CIES building and went to Big Easy Snowballs at Lake Ella. Hui-Sin had never had shaved ice before and loved the idea. She liked the shaved ice and explained that the treat would do well over in Taiwan. The country is so sticky and humid that a cool treat would be a great idea--especially at the night markets.
We talked about current events in Taiwan. Recently, Taiwan passed a law allowing same-sex marriage. It is the first Asian country to do so, and Taiwan is setting a precedent for future countries. We talked about what it used to be like in Taiwan and how much this law means to people currently in Taiwan and the Taiwanese natives that are currently in America. She mentioned how happy her roommate is about the law and what it means for everyone in Taiwan.
That topic lead us to talk about the adoption process in America and how it differs in Taiwan. I mentioned how many hoops you have to jump through to adopt a child. I also talked about how much it can cost financially. Hui-Sin could not think about how much it might cost to adopt a child in Taiwan, but she does not think it costs as much as it does in America. She thought that maybe people are so happy that adoption is happening that the Taiwanese government does not make it as difficult. It just goes to show how much things cost in America sometimes as compared to other countries.
Ismael TS#1 Sheila
Sunday the 21st, 2017
I met Shiela at the Starbucks off of Monroe for this tutoring session. So since this was our first time meeting I went over some basic questions and conversation topics. She told me she needed help passing the TOFL and the CIES program and that her student visa was only for a year. She seemed nervous about the test date nearing closer and wanted all the help she could get. Shiela had a lot of questions and had several things book marked in her CIES text book. We mostly worked on basic grammar and sentence structure. I was also able to clarify the usage and definitions of some vocabulary words she was struggling with. She is still translating sentence structure from spanish to english so we worked on correcting that. I also explained to her some ways she can improve and practice her english such as trying to read the news paper or finding a book at her level.
I met Shiela at the Starbucks off of Monroe for this tutoring session. So since this was our first time meeting I went over some basic questions and conversation topics. She told me she needed help passing the TOFL and the CIES program and that her student visa was only for a year. She seemed nervous about the test date nearing closer and wanted all the help she could get. Shiela had a lot of questions and had several things book marked in her CIES text book. We mostly worked on basic grammar and sentence structure. I was also able to clarify the usage and definitions of some vocabulary words she was struggling with. She is still translating sentence structure from spanish to english so we worked on correcting that. I also explained to her some ways she can improve and practice her english such as trying to read the news paper or finding a book at her level.
Ismael TS#2 Mubarak
Tuesday May 16th
We met as we had arranged at the Starbucks near CIES at 630-730. We spoke for a little while about how our days and classes were going. Mubarak asked for help on the same essay from the last time we had met. I helped him try to organize his paper more logically and write some of his topic sentences for each paragraph. We also talked about methods to keep the paper on topic and things that would facilitate him finding new support information. When he got tired of this we went over some vocabulary words he had collected he wanted clarification on. For these words he knew the definitions for the most part but had issues using them productively. So I helped by providing sample sentences and a more detailed cultural explanation for the definition and use of some of these words. He is trying to improve his vocabulary usage to avoid repeating himself so in defining some of these words for him I was able to clarify for him what will work and what wont work in his essay.
We met as we had arranged at the Starbucks near CIES at 630-730. We spoke for a little while about how our days and classes were going. Mubarak asked for help on the same essay from the last time we had met. I helped him try to organize his paper more logically and write some of his topic sentences for each paragraph. We also talked about methods to keep the paper on topic and things that would facilitate him finding new support information. When he got tired of this we went over some vocabulary words he had collected he wanted clarification on. For these words he knew the definitions for the most part but had issues using them productively. So I helped by providing sample sentences and a more detailed cultural explanation for the definition and use of some of these words. He is trying to improve his vocabulary usage to avoid repeating himself so in defining some of these words for him I was able to clarify for him what will work and what wont work in his essay.
Jane TS#3
This was the third time to meet Annilse.
She helped me correct my grammar errors in my homework. The errors we worked on
was words that are used in wrong places such as ‘about’ and ‘to’. She also gave
feedback about my writing. Annalise explained my mistakes easily to understand.
We also worked on listening and speaking. The topics was about comparing
American and Korean culture. This was a great practice for me to speak English
fluently. We asked each other questions and compared how different the culture
is. The speaking topic was interesting and appropriate for my level. It was
very fun and I felt confident during the lesson. It was a great lesson to learn
American culture.
Valerie TS #1
I began my tutoring sessions with P.J. Kim yesterday morning. We are reading a level-appropriate novel, Frindle. As a fifth grader (going into sixth), P.J. is definitely more into moving around than sitting down to read a book. His ability to read aloud is very good, but because his focus is a little distracted, we took the time to re-read some of the passages in order to fully comprehend what is happening in the story.
If I noticed him struggling over a word, I would wait until the end of the paragraph and then ask him if he knew what that specific word meant. If he said no, I'd take the time to explain it with synonyms and examples and then have him re-read the paragraph and summarize what happened. If he told me he knew the word, I'd ask him to give me an example of it in a sentence or real-life situation in order to also help him with his productive speaking skills.
He loves real-world examples and sometimes we would get off on tangents about other things going on in his life after discussing a scene of the book that was related. I'd like to stay more on track during the next session, but I believe it was important for me to be interested in getting to know him and what he likes to do during this very first session.
If I noticed him struggling over a word, I would wait until the end of the paragraph and then ask him if he knew what that specific word meant. If he said no, I'd take the time to explain it with synonyms and examples and then have him re-read the paragraph and summarize what happened. If he told me he knew the word, I'd ask him to give me an example of it in a sentence or real-life situation in order to also help him with his productive speaking skills.
He loves real-world examples and sometimes we would get off on tangents about other things going on in his life after discussing a scene of the book that was related. I'd like to stay more on track during the next session, but I believe it was important for me to be interested in getting to know him and what he likes to do during this very first session.
Valerie CP #3
Soumaya and I decided to go to Target together for our third hangout session. She expressed a need to me to go shopping during our last meeting, so what better place to take her than every woman's dream store, Target. Her English is improving with every week! She can ask me all sorts of questions now and understand much more of what I say. I always have to remember to slow down my speaking pace when we hang out, as well as the amount of vocabulary I use.
When we arrived at Target, she told me she didn't have a swim suit, but that she loves to go to the pool. We went straight for the bathing suit racks, where I showed her how to determine the different sizes. She's a "small" so we were on the lookout for any "S" marked swimwear. I found out her favorite color to wear is black -- mine too! We moved on to the casual clothes, where I showed her the difference between everyday tank-tops and "activewear" tank-tops. We discussed going to the gym and she said she'd like to work out with me sometime.
We also looked at sheets for her bed, where we discussed the different sizes (twin, queen, king), as well as the different parts of the bed -- mattress, pillows, etc. She interacted with some of the store clerks, asking them questions and getting a fitting room. She ended up practically getting a whole new wardrobe! Overall, I think it was a really awesome first shopping experience for her in America. Knowing what size you are and the etiquette of shopping around a store is super important in her transition to the states.
When we arrived at Target, she told me she didn't have a swim suit, but that she loves to go to the pool. We went straight for the bathing suit racks, where I showed her how to determine the different sizes. She's a "small" so we were on the lookout for any "S" marked swimwear. I found out her favorite color to wear is black -- mine too! We moved on to the casual clothes, where I showed her the difference between everyday tank-tops and "activewear" tank-tops. We discussed going to the gym and she said she'd like to work out with me sometime.
We also looked at sheets for her bed, where we discussed the different sizes (twin, queen, king), as well as the different parts of the bed -- mattress, pillows, etc. She interacted with some of the store clerks, asking them questions and getting a fitting room. She ended up practically getting a whole new wardrobe! Overall, I think it was a really awesome first shopping experience for her in America. Knowing what size you are and the etiquette of shopping around a store is super important in her transition to the states.
Monday, May 29, 2017
Christiana TS #4
Date/Time: May 29, 2017; 3:00-4:00 P.M.
Location: Campus Circle study rooms
Topic: Present Continuous, Simple Past and Simple Present
Cultural and/or linguistic topics you and your partner learned: Did verb tense practice to study for upcoming quizzes, looked up grammar rules together learned about double consonant and syllable stress rules.
For our third meeting Saeed and I once again met at the Campus Circle study center. He told me that he has a quiz on Wednesday on the the simple past, simple present, and present continuous verb tenses as they relate to the words yesterday, usually, and right now. I had printed out some information and examples on the tenses and briefly went over the rules and when they are used before pulling up some practice exercises on the computer that I had him work through. We also went over a list of irregular verbs that they had gone over in class and I made sure he knew the correct conjugations for those verbs so that he would be prepared if any of them showed up on the quiz. While we were practicing simple past we ran in to the word 'stop', which needed to be changed to 'stopped' and knowing that he may not have known about this I asked him how he would spell it and he said 'stoped'. I explained to him that that was not correct and explained that he would need a double 'p' for it to be correct and he asked why. Not being one hundred percent sure about the reasoning behind the rule, I googled it and found a very helpful video on a website, which he wanted to take down for his own later use. I was happy to learn something new with him and was also glad I was able to give him a resource to use in his future studies. After watching the video he was still a bit confused, but having grasped the concept I was able to further explain it to him until he understood more fully. We discussed this for a few more moments and then went over the points that we had practiced during our hour of tutoring one last time to make them stick. We decided that we would meet again this Wednesday to discuss how his quiz went, and I told him to decide what he would like to work on and let me know so I can prepare accordingly.
Samantha TS#6
Date/Time: May 24th, 2017 - 7:30 p.m
Location: Tutee's Home
Topic/Skill: Reading Comprehension
Feedback Provided to Tutee: For this tutoring session I brought PJ a fiction novel I thought he might enjoy. I brought The Lightning Thief, which on the Scholastics website is for ages 9-12 and grades 4-8. During this session, PJ and I read through Chapter 1. As we went through the chapter, I explained the words he may not know and asked him short questions about the reading to keep him engaged.
Lesson(s) about Tutoring and/or the Tutee You Learned: I think this novel is longer than anything PJ has read before. He was even skeptical that it was his level when I brought it in for him. After reading through the first chapter, I think PJ became less intimidated by the size of the book. I learned that PJ really does have fun reading when the book interests him. I am hoping that as we continue to read, he will get more excited about the book. I would like for him to want to continue reading on his own even if we don't have a tutoring session.
Location: Tutee's Home
Topic/Skill: Reading Comprehension
Feedback Provided to Tutee: For this tutoring session I brought PJ a fiction novel I thought he might enjoy. I brought The Lightning Thief, which on the Scholastics website is for ages 9-12 and grades 4-8. During this session, PJ and I read through Chapter 1. As we went through the chapter, I explained the words he may not know and asked him short questions about the reading to keep him engaged.
Lesson(s) about Tutoring and/or the Tutee You Learned: I think this novel is longer than anything PJ has read before. He was even skeptical that it was his level when I brought it in for him. After reading through the first chapter, I think PJ became less intimidated by the size of the book. I learned that PJ really does have fun reading when the book interests him. I am hoping that as we continue to read, he will get more excited about the book. I would like for him to want to continue reading on his own even if we don't have a tutoring session.
Samantha TS#5
Date/Time: May 24th, 2017 - 3:00 p.m
Location: CIES
Topic/Skill: Passive and Active Voice & Speaking
Feedback Provided to Tutee: In our previous session Seongeun asked if we could go over passive and active voice. To this tutoring session I brought with me a review of passive and active voice. The review went over how to identify active and passive voice, when to use which, and how to change from passive to active. We went over the review together and then she worked on a couple exercises on applying those skills. Once she was finished completing these exercises, I went over them with her. For both her correct and incorrect answers I explained why they were right or wrong as a continuation of the topic review. I also gave her a short exercise reviewing Articles, which we had gone over in our previous tutoring session. Afterwards, we ended the remaining time of our session with some speaking practice.
Lesson(s) about Tutoring and/or the Tutee You Learned: During our speaking practice I noticed Seongeun was slow in replying and that she gave simple answers. I could tell that as she was forming her sentences she was primarily thinking in her first language and then translating in her head what she wanted to say without making any mistakes. She also expressed to me that she sometimes does not understand what others are saying. I feel like Seongeun is too embarrassed to make mistakes or ask for clarification if she doesn't understand, so I would really like to practice speaking and listening with her more often to improve her fluency.
Location: CIES
Topic/Skill: Passive and Active Voice & Speaking
Feedback Provided to Tutee: In our previous session Seongeun asked if we could go over passive and active voice. To this tutoring session I brought with me a review of passive and active voice. The review went over how to identify active and passive voice, when to use which, and how to change from passive to active. We went over the review together and then she worked on a couple exercises on applying those skills. Once she was finished completing these exercises, I went over them with her. For both her correct and incorrect answers I explained why they were right or wrong as a continuation of the topic review. I also gave her a short exercise reviewing Articles, which we had gone over in our previous tutoring session. Afterwards, we ended the remaining time of our session with some speaking practice.
Lesson(s) about Tutoring and/or the Tutee You Learned: During our speaking practice I noticed Seongeun was slow in replying and that she gave simple answers. I could tell that as she was forming her sentences she was primarily thinking in her first language and then translating in her head what she wanted to say without making any mistakes. She also expressed to me that she sometimes does not understand what others are saying. I feel like Seongeun is too embarrassed to make mistakes or ask for clarification if she doesn't understand, so I would really like to practice speaking and listening with her more often to improve her fluency.
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Alexa TS #2
Today (5/28/17, 4:00-5:00) I met up with my second adult tutee, Sultan, for the first time. We met up at Starbucks, and the first thing we did was get to know each other and learn more about what he would like to learn from tutoring. What he would like to focus on the most is reading, but he would also like to focus on listening and writing. After that, I was able to answer some questions he had about English. His first question was that he was wondering the difference between you and your. While explaining this, I made sure to give him a lot of written and verbal examples. He also wanted help with how to verbalize that he is going to be doing something in the future. Also, during our tutoring session I said the word "plan," and afterwards he was curious as to what the word meant and how it would be used. There was one thing that he brought up that I didn't really know how to explain. He wanted to know, for example, when saying "Sultan's car" or "The car of Sultan," why he didn't say Sultan's in the second example. This was something that I didn't know to to explain, but I told him that I would be sure to look into it and get back to him with a response. It really is a good reminder of the importance of knowing the rules of English when teaching the language. I plan to work with children, so I don't think I will need to know all these rules. However, it is still a good opportunity to brush up on my own understanding of the English language.
Alexandra CP #4
On Saturday, May
27, 2017, from 10:30am to 11:30am, I met with my conversation partner. I picked her up, and we went to Donut
Kingdom. Gabriela told me last week that
she loves donuts, so I wanted her to try some of Tallahassee’s best. She was amazed at all the flavors. We talked about school, college, and sports
in our countries. I also tried to
explain Memorial Day to her. We talked
about good stores to shop at in Tallahassee.
She said she saw the new Beauty
and the Beast movie and was glad she could understand it completely. I was very impressed by this! Then we went to the Downtown Market to see
all the vendors with their art and their fresh produce. We tried boiled peanuts. I asked about her family, and she said that
she talks with them and sends pictures each day. I loved getting to show her even more of Tallahassee
this morning.
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