Barbara CP#4

Natalia asked to have our meetings at the Hecht House because of her schedule.  So, we sat outside on the back porch and she brought us some tea.  Our conversation was very enjoyable because she told me a lot about her family in Ukraine.  Natalia has only been in the States for 7 months and has not had a lot of time to practice her English.  She loves the CIES course and hopes to continue if they can afford it.  She and her daughter are going back to Ukraine this summer to visit family.  They also went to the French embassy in Miami to get visas to go to France.  We also talked about her wish to learn enough English to get a license to be a hair stylist which is what she did in Ukraine.  She showed me photos of some of her clients and her work was great.  I told her that I would check with a friend of mine who owns a salon to find out if there was a way to get hired as an assistant although that is not her goal. The problem with English practice that she is having is that she speaks Russian at home with her husband and her daughter.  She talked a lot about her husband’s schedule because he is currently traveling in Europe for his job which is teaching Chemistry at FSU.  Natalia also has a college degree from Russia and is able to understand much of what I say to her but she is struggling.  She also told me that she had difficulty keeping up in class when students are talking.