Jillian TS #4

Date/Time: May 14, 2017; 9:00-10:00 P.M.
Location: Home via Skype (Jacksonville/Seoul)
Topic: Short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates/Speaking, listening, and reading
Feedback: Some minor correction needed. I told her our discussion was easy to follow.

I assigned "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" because it is a relatively easy story to follow if you are just reading at a surface level. I also mentioned it happened to be my favorite during our first tutoring session and Soyoung asked if we could read it.

Soyoung mentioned it was the weirdest short story she has read--here we had a slight correction since she said most weird instead of weirdest--and she asked why I found the story so interesting. I gave her a brief reason why, otherwise we would have talked all night. I told her I love the writing style and the hidden meaning in the story. I also like how Arnold Friend is able to shake up Connie's world. It is a great portrayal of human depravity.

I asked Soyoung if she had any troubles understanding the short story and she did not for the most part. She did mention that the 1960s American slang was a little hard to follow. I helped work through one of the weirder words.

We briefly talked about how when Soyoung learned English, she realized that culture is necessary in order to understand a lot of the words Americans use. How English is used does not always make sense until you learn the reasoning behind it--or lack thereof. She also mentioned that you need to understand American culture because translations do not always make sense. Sometimes it is easier when you know the rationale behind the word usage.