Raleigh TS #7

Date/Time: 6/7/17 (4:30pm)
Location: Her apartment
Topic/Skill: speaking
Feedback provided to tutee: She did a really great job explaining everything to me considering the fact that she learned it in French based on the translation from Arabic.

I also met with Soumaya for the second time today. I went to her apartment for this session since she rides the bus and needs to get home. I learned today that she is Muslim because she was talking about Ramadan and how she keeps coughing since she can't drink water. I asked her to explain more about the Islam religion because she seemed excited to talk about it. She told me originally that she really only wants to work on her conversational English, so that's what we did. I think it was really great practice for her because she said that she can't read Arabic. Because she can't read Arabic, she had the Quran explained to her in French when she was a child. She said that she can say the Arabic prayers but that she reads them in French or English. It was interesting to hear her describe the religion in English since she usually only speaks about it in French. It seemed to be a challenge to her, but she worked really hard to make sure I knew what she was saying. It was a really great conversation too because she's very open about talking about religion. It wasn't uncomfortable for either of us. It was a learning experience for me and good speaking practice for her. I really enjoyed today's session because it was interesting to hear a perspective that I've never heard before in such a friendly, open environment.