Date/Time: May 10th, 3:00-4:00pm
Location: Starbucks
Topic discussed: Interests, culture, classes, family
Cultural and/or linguistic topics you and your partner learned: Shared and different knowledge of Middle Eastern culture, questions about taxes in the States, religion (brief)
Today Saad and I met for the first time, after he spent the day in classes and I shadowed my first class. This is my first experience participating with Conversation Partners, however Saad has participated twice before. Our conversation was informative, as I learned of his interest in improving his English after attending undergraduate university in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, his home town. While we met at Starbucks, I didn't even think to ask if he liked coffee... so I will find out at our next meeting (I suggested we meet at Starbucks again)! He asked me to correct him if I notice errors in his speaking, and I agreed. The conversation covered an array of topics, education, taxes, interests, and when we had difficulty we asked for clarification. Since my father is from Lebanon, I have some (minimal) insight into Middle Eastern culture, and this was a bridge for us to facilitate discussion. The moments where I most had to clarify were when Saad could not think of the English words for what he was describing. We will continue our discussion next week.
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