Jules CP-6

For our conversation meeting last Sunday, I decided to give Jamal a taste of what I do with my spare time. So, I picked him up bright and early and took him to this farm that I've been volunteering at in Monticello. I had mentioned the farm a couple of weeks ago at our second conversation meeting, and he had expressed an interest in joining me because his mom grew up on a farm and his dad used to work for the Ministry of Agriculture in Afghanistan. Actually, Jamal began his studies in Integrated Pest Management before switching over to Journalism, so working in the garden was right up his alley.

It was really fun to introduce him to the vocabulary of gardens and farming: compost, wheelbarrow, shovel, mulch, and so on. As Lori mentioned, he was unfamiliar with the names of some herbs, but once he smelled parsley, cilantro, and basil, he knew exactly what they were. What a great way to remember a word-- by smell! He also remarked at how glad he was to hear different accents-- Patrick the farmer has got quite the Southern Twang going on so I'm sure it was a bit of a challenge, but being able to comprehend different accents is certainly a great skill to develop. Jamal said he had a wonderful time out at Pat's farm so I hope he joins me again next week!

Lori CP-2

The second time I was to hang out with my conversation partner, I was dying to get Jae out and about in the Tallahassee area. She said she has only been here a few weeks, and hasn't seen much of the area yet, so I decided it might be fun to take her to my grandparents horse farm about thirty minutes away. I asked her if she was interested and she jumped on the idea. So on Sunday I picked her up and we went to visit my grandparents. I was nervous she would be weirded out by meeting my family or going somewhat far away with an almost complete stranger, but we had a great day!

My grandparents were really excited to meet her, and cooked a giant lunch. Both Jae and I were excited about the great meal. I wasn't sure if she would like my grandfathers somewhat creative cooking, but she seemed to really love it and my grandpa was thrilled! As a matter of fact, I'm fairly sure my grandparents loved her so much that I could momentarily see in there eyes the wheels spinning on how they could exchange my siblings for her LOL. Not really, but the day was great! We visited with the horses, feed the chickens, petted my grandparents unusual giant pet turkey who loves to be patted on the head. My grandparents live on fifty acres, with pastures and a lake. She commented on how peaceful the area was, "it's like a whole different country." We talked on everything from the grapes in the grape vineyard to flies and the sun and my grandmothers tour of her humble little herb garden. It was neat saying the names of the spices, having her not know them, but then recognize each by smell.

We had a great day! At the end of the day I was surprised because she had a birthday card for me because my birthday had been the day before. I think we really learned a lot about each other and I thoroughly enjoyed taking her to one of my favorite places I loved growing up.

Craig TP-2

My second tutoring session rocked! In going into the tutoring partner session I was very nervous because I was not very sure if I could be effective or helpful. We decided to meet at a hookah place because it was a common interest and a place that was relaxing and good for conversation as well. However, as I waited for Fatih to arrive I read an article that made me uneasy about smoking http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/health/31hookah.html but I did anyways LOL. After he arrived, we decided that reading and pronunciations would be a good focal point to start.

My tutor partner already had a couple of lower level books that he said he had started so we decided, collectively, to read through them and go paragraph by paragraph reading out loud and then reviewing the comprehension, and simple speaking techniques. After the first 5 minutes I could tell he got comfortable and it made the session become more of a learning experience. We identified that he had difficulty with the -th sounds and the -ou sounds in words. Spending a couple attempts at explaining I felt like I had ran into a slight wall. Then out of no where I remembered talking about tongue twisters and got him to do a couple word practices using -th and best of all, it worked!!

All in all, the session went very well. It was 100% super serious the entire time. We found a good balance of conversation, learning and simple reading/speaking practice. It seemed that we both were getting good experience with English teaching and learning while having a pretty good afternoon.

Craig CO-2

My following class observation was very different from the first! At the beginning of the reading class, the teacher came in and was in a very energetic mood! As students began filing in the room one student took notice to me being a visitor and decided to point out that I was "very handsome" in a welcoming manner. The teacher at first was not sure how to respond but later made it clear that typically in the US it is not common for males to tell one another that they are handsome, especially in public. I honestly had no problem with it, but it allowed for a break in the ice from the get go in the class and opened the door for a good environment. The English teacher made sure to include me in the class right off the bat and introduced me and sat me with a group of students.

As class started, a quiz from the following meeting was handed back and an uneasy reception was met. Apparently the class had not done so well and were asked to complete it at home and turn the quiz in, completed, the following class time. Homework was also passed out from the former reading class. and as indicated they had identified food that was seen at the grocery store or in their house. This seemed to be highly received by the students.

The students then broke into groups for a class activity where they were to look at pictures and match vocab words to pictures while discussing with a partner. The lesson was really entertaining and worked very well with some students and others leaned on one another to come at a consensus of the answer.

Overall, the lesson was very effective and the students in the class were very interactive and highly entertaining. I especially liked how at the end of the class they all played 20 questions and every student participated in trying to figure out the topic that the teacher had selected.

Brittany CP-2

When I met with Gyusang a week later, I asked about his weekend. He told me his grandparents had come to visit from Korea, and his whole family went to SeaWorld. Having been to SeaWorld many, many times (for fun and for work with summer camps) I was excited to find out what he liked best! First I asked about a few different shows and rides I know of. Gyusang described the Shamu show and I was curious if he sat in the splash zone (where you're soaked with freezing water). He laughed and shook his head no, but mentioned all the children he saw with matching t-shirts who got soaked then started crying- to which I replied, those are the kind of kids I chaperoned at SeaWorld every summer! Gyusang seemed to find it hilarious that I got soaked with the little kids!

We talked about the rest of his weekend and how he spent Sunday working on a presentation for his speaking class and was up really late, so he was pretty tired by the time we met up. I was curious about his classes- what he liked most or what he found boring, and what his overall feeling was about learning English. Like most students I've asked at this point, Gyusang finds grammar to be the most boring, which is understandable. Keeping track of all the crazy rules that often breed confusion was stressful when I took a second language, but I was still in my own country. This made me consider what I could do in the future to make grammar lessons less arduous. Gyusang also told me that articles have been the most difficult for him as far as grammar goes, but that pronunciation is the other tricky point. In Korean, he explains, they don't have the 'ph' or 'f' sound and that 'l' and 'r' sounds give him a lot of trouble. I reassured him those were common and would likely get better over time, but that for living here only 8 months, his English is great! There have been very few times we don't understand each other in the course of our conversing!

Lori TP-1

I met my tutoring partner for the first time last week! Her name is Somina and she's from Seoul, South Korea. I was a little nervous about meeting her so quickly without having much preparation time, but I realized once I arrived at CIES that for the first day all we would be doing for the most part would be getting to know each other. We set a time schedule of when we would be free to meet, and what she would like or need help with the most. She seemed really happy to have someone to help her with questions, and I am always excited to help others, so it seems like this will be a great opportunity to learn from each other. Hopefully I will be able to apply, and more fully understand, some of the teaching techniques we've been learning over the past few weeks while helping her achieve her academic goals.

Brittany CP-1

I'm a little late to the blog, but I've really been enjoying the different students I'm working with!

My first meeting with my first conversation partner was a few weeks ago. At the first tea time I met Gyusang Yi, a student at CIES from South Korea. We spent the hour just getting to know a little bit about each other.

My first question for Gyusang was the same I wonder about a lot of the students at CIES- why come to Tallahassee? Don't get me wrong, I love it here and have had a great 4 years of school, but this tiny Florida capital doesn't strike me as the cultural destination for international learners of English. With Gyusang I found out he's here because his father works at FSU as an assistant professor in the political science/public administration (there was a bit of a language barrier when Gyusang was talking about it, but I think that's the job he was trying to explain!).

While we were on the topic of university, I asked him if he was trying to go to college in the U.S like so many of his fellow students, or if he was anxious to go home to Korea. Gyusang laughed and said "No, I will go back to Korea." It turns out Gyusang actually already started school back home, and after his freshman year, came here to study English. We talked a little bit about Tallahassee vs. Seoul and how he misses the big city and all of his friends a lot, which I told him I can relate to somewhat since I moved around a lot when I was growing up. The funniest thing I found in his comparison of the cities is he said in Tallahassee, the capitol building is a big building, but in Seoul, it is the most usual size. I can only imagine coming from a huge city full of people to a small college town in Northern Florida- talk about culture shock!

When it was time for TEFL class, Gyusang thanked me for being his partner and we agreed to meet for tea time every Tuesday.

Jules CP-5

I had my fourth conversation meeting with Jamal last Thursday after TEFL class. I hadn't really thought of any activities for us to do, so I was relieved that he just wanted to hang out at his apartment. He sliced up a couple of apples, which he informed me are one of the biggest crops in Afghanistan, and we talked about how are lives have been going. It's wonderful to be able to chat with my conversation partner on a truly friendly level -- I don't feel like our "meetings" are really formal anymore, it's just like hanging out with one of my American friends. This must certainly feel good for him too, because he's been feeling kind of isolated lately.

We talked about how I'm feeling uneasy about moving to Africa, and he could certainly understand my reservations. He related a story of how his brother's [white Australian] girlfriend visited Afghanistan one time a couple of years ago. She works with NGOs around the world and had been invited to help with an orphanage in rural Afghanistan. Jamal didn't go into the details, but apparently one of the workers at the orphanage had made unwelcome sexual advances and there wasn't really any legal recourse she could take. I know that this kind of stuff happens all over the world, but it seems that law enforcement is probably a lot tighter in the West. I asked if he was planning on returning home after he finished his degree, and he stated that he is a citizen of the world and would probably travel to several different countries before settling down. I'm sure that's a sentiment that many of us share. His learning English, and our learning how to teach it, are going to open doors for us all over the globe.

Jules TP-2

So apparently Stéphane let his confidence "go to his head" and the CIES kids lost their soccer game pretty badly, with a final score of 5-1. I found this out at our second tutoring meeting yesterday afternoon. Because he was scheduled to take the TOEFL this morning, we spent the entire session taking practice tests. I must admit, if I were taking that exam I am not too confident that I'd get a stellar score. Like Paco was saying, there are often two answers that are technically correct but one of them is somehow "more correct". This issue popped up a couple of times when we were going over a practice reading test. I'm not sure that there's actually a way to teach these nuances, but instead think that the only way to get a handle on things is simply practice and repetition.

After finishing up the practice exams, Stéphane was simply DONE with studying, so I suggested he find some movies on hulu.com to watch. This gave him an opportunity to get some more listening practice while doing something he actually found enjoyable. We'll find out in about two weeks how that TOEFL exam went!

Jules TP-1

I met Stéphane for our first official tutoring meeting last Wednesday afternoon. We went over to What Café, a quiet coffee shop that just opened next to Milano Pizza on Tharpe & MLK. He had expressed a desire to improve his listening skills (he's actually taking the TOEFL as I write), so I found some audio clips online for us to listen to. I just googled "free TOEFL practice listening" and found a slew of resources. The particular quiz I found placed a heavy emphasis on idioms, so Stéphane got to learn several new ones like, "he's letting it go to his head".

We finished up the practice test in a little over an hour, then grabbed a quick bite to eat at Milano's. Stéphane was in a hurry to meet up with some other CIES students for an intramural soccer game. I asked if he was very good at soccer and he replied that, in his country, there is a saying that goes something like, "The drum cannot play itself; it must be played by someone else". This essentially means that one shouldn't speak about how skilled they are at an activity-- only others can attest to the person's abilities. I taught him the phrase, "Not to toot my own horn, ...", which is somewhat related (though people usually follow it with "but", and then go on to brag about themselves!). He remarked that he was pretty confident about the game and I said, "Alright, just don't let it go to your head!". Hopefully the joke helped him to remember that idiom on the TOEFL test today.

Jules CO-1

I had the pleasure of sitting in on Karin Devick's Group 2 Grammar class last Tuesday. Arriving a few minutes early, I was able to introduce myself to some of the students and observe how Karin developed a rapport with them. She joked with one of the students about how he had stayed out late drinking the night before... "How are you feeling today, [name removed for reputation preservation]?" This kind of benevolent teasing got the class chuckling and loosened up before they began what could have been an arduous 9 a.m. lesson.

As the rest of the students filed in, Karin wrote the day's agenda on the whiteboard. The first task was to address a question that she had been unable to answer during the previous class. The topic was the difference between "could" and "can". Apparently, "can" refers to having the ability or power to do something, whereas "could" is more indirect, tentative, and polite/formal. Karin thanked the student for her challenging question and provided some online resources that clarified the issue.

Next on the agenda was a mini-quiz that involved the future tense. Karin directed the students to write four sentences using the word "will": two expressing a voluntary action, two making a prediction about the future. The directions were projected onto the wall so that students could refer to them if they hadn't understood the oral prompt. She informed the students that they would have fifteen minutes to complete the quiz, and that they should use this ample time to look over their work before handing it in. She then set an oven timer for fifteen minutes, a practice that I probably wouldn't duplicate because the sound of a ticking clock makes me nervous and distracted. It's a smart idea to keep track of the time, but I would prefer to use a cell-phone alarm or some other device that only makes a sound at specified time intervals. After the students had been working for about five minutes, Karin noticed that one of them had not written anything so she whispered to him, "Is it clear?". The student had missed the previous class so although she attempted to explain the directions differently, there was not a whole lot she could do without giving him the answer.

After the quiz, Karin went over the modals "can", "could", "may", and "would". The previous day's homework had been to imagine that CIES was a boarding school for which they had to come up with "class rules". She asked for volunteers to provide examples of things the students at this fictitious school may and may not do. One of the students kept trying to answer all the questions, and she praised him for being so excited but said that she needed to hear some of the other students speak. I thought this was a good way of encouraging the student's enthusiasm, while asking for participation from the quieter kids.

After they had finished this activity, Karin showed the kids some YouTube videos about boarding schools, which made the rest of the class fly by. I think this variety in instructional methods (independent quiz, lecture, class participation, videos) really helped in keeping the students' interest. It was enlightening and beneficial to observe how a real teacher structures a lesson plan. Bravo Karin!

Francisco TP-2

Areum and I met for our second tutoring session on Thursday, May 27th. I asked Areum how her weekend went and she said it went well. I then asked if there is anything she wanted me to look at so that we can go over. Areum pulled out a English diagnostics test in which she did fairly well on. Her and I began looking over the test and I explained to the best of my knowledge why her anwser is wrong and why the correct choice is the correct one. I was able to explain the majority of the quesitions to her but there were several that took me a while to explain to her why they are correct. I had to resort to the internet on my phone to look up explanations as to why (grammatically speaking) the answer is correct.
Some questions however stumped me. They asked to answer the question with the best choice. An example of a question that confused Areum and I is: "Do you like to smoke?" I explained to her that two of the choices were wrong but there were two choices that are technically correct. The answers included "No, I don't" and "No, I don't smoke." Areum chose the latter and asked why it is wrong. I told her I did not know and we skipped the answer for the moment. We continued and I noticed that there were several questions that followed the same format and answer choices. I surmised that the test is most likely looking for the answer that does not restate itself, therefore making the answer less repetitive. The other answers followed this same model and I asked my fellow class mate Brittany if she had any opinion on this matter. Her opinion proved to reinforce mine in which the correct answer is the shorter one that does not restate itself. I promised Areum I will investigate this matter on my own and provide a better answer for the questions we discussed and another one I was unable to answer. Areum seemed to appreciate my efforts and thanked me with a big smile.

Francisco TO-2

I observed Ansla's listening class last Tuesday on May 24th. Immediately I could tell that these students are in the intermediate levels. The class began with a quiz that Ansla went over due to the low grades that arose from the quiz. She went over each question and made sure that the students understood the context of the question and what exactly it is asking for. This appeared to me as a valuable teaching element that I will take advantage of in the future. The students did not do too well on the quiz, so the teacher made sure that the students knew why they missed the questions. The quiz was about American history and included notable speeches by famous speakers such as Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy. The main idea of these speeches pertained to the issue of segregation in and the civil rights movement that took place in the 1960's. The students knew a great deal about America's history already and I surmised that Ansla taught this subject with inspiration considering the students volunteered repeatedly to inquire more about the topic. Once the quiz became clarified, the class then focused their attention on a workbook. Ansla read a passage from the workbook and the students listened carefully and took note of any vocabulary words they did not understand. After the Ansla read the passage, the class then went over the new vocabulary words that dealt with the subject of America and its diverse culture. Words that arose from the discussion included: melting pot, homogenous, and heterogeneous. The teacher made sure the students understood the difference between these two terms and asked the students what they think America mainly cosisnts of; a homogenous or heterogeneous culture. When the class came to an end, Ansla apologized to the class for being rude and introduced me to them. She asked me to stand up and tell a little about myself. I told the class that I am of Mexican origin and contribute to the heterogeneous culture of America.

Jackie TP-4

After our break tutoring, Jia and I were caffeinated and ready to attack more issues. We really covered an extensive amount of material in two and a half hours--I was pretty shocked and really, really happy, especially when there were breakthroughs!

We continued with writing and grammar exercises. We started with actually going over the student essay we covered in class that we declared a level three. Jia is a level two in writing and grammar, and a level 3 in speaking and listening. Yet like I said the last post, she corrected it easily. She thought it was rediculous that this person could be a level 3--which makes it confusing if she is actually in the wrong level or if we incorrectly placed that person in a higher level. I'm unsure, but it's probably our mistake as I'm learning speaking/listening/writing/reading/grammar are all different worlds. This led to a discussion on the word "awkward" that led to her saying a lot of things she thought were "weird" were "awkward" and then they didn't make any sense. Hahah--but then we discussed pronunciation due to this; including, "Orlando," "sheet" (instead of saying something profane..), the word "creepy," and how the l's and v's in Korean are missing. I loved that, because it's funny how we always consider our language the only way--but what if your tongue had never made that sound?!

After giggling a lot, we talked about her writing and that she wanted to write complex sentences. So, I did my lesson plan for Independent and Dependent clauses from my grammar log. It was extremely difficult for her; it was probably an i+5, but I warned her, explained things to her extremely slowly, and gave her the lesson. I showed her many examples and asked if she had questions. I went over coordinating conjunctions that could connect clauses so that she wouldn't be lost in how to complete these sentences, and then let her do the activity (which mainly consisted of writing a longer sentence from parts of sentences I gave her). She eventually learned what "WHO" was, which was difficult for me to know that she didn't know what that was, and after that, she slowly pieced together her sentences. It was beautiful! I was so ecstatic, as was she, when learning how to write a longer, more complex sentence.

My favorite sentence, though, before we left All Saints, was "Oranges are harmless fruits."

Erik CO2

My second classroom observation was under Ah Young Kim, in her grammar class for level 3 students. When class started, Ah Young jumped to review the previous day’s lesson: modal verbs, or “helping verbs.” At first I was a little confused about what type of verbs she was referring to, because I kept hearing “Mo-awl” verbs—but then I noticed what would be the remnants of her first language. Her native language was Korean, so she still had slight difficulties in pronunciation, but the students hardly noticed.

Since I can only imagine that Ah Young experienced learning English as a second language, I feel like she had a great perspective for teaching English, especially when it came to the attitude implications of grammar. She drew a diagram of what different modal verbs implied: “You must close the door” implies 100% of certainty; “you should close the door,” fall at 80% certainty; “you may close the door,” is more of a suggestion at 60%; and ending with the least certain “you might close the door.” I never really even thought of these helping verbs working in this way before. She has English as a foreign language down to a science—since English was very much so a foreign language to her at some point in time.

At the end, she had small groups practice dialogues using modal verbs, and it was a great applied exercise for the students. Starting with “Could you do a favor for me?” we sprang into a conversation of modal verbs! “B: Why should I?” “A: Because you might receive a favor in return!” Overall, the class was a great experience. I discovered that grammar doesn’t always have to be boring.

Erik TP3

When I met June Won, he was nothing but smiles. His entire demeanor was friendly. Throughout our conversation, he would often crack a joke, throwing his head back in jovial laughter. Speaking with June was very easy, even though his entire life has been devoted to sports management, and I have as much interest in sports as a deflated basket ball. When I asked what parts of English he needed help in, he teased that he was better than everyone else in his level. I made fun of him for being so proud, but he finally broke in and confessed that pronunciation was his biggest difficulty.

Since he was also from South Korea, I imagined that he may have some of the same difficulties as my other tutoree, Hyejin. And I was right, besides pronunciation, his use of prepositions and articles are a tough point, and his knowledge of cultural idioms is limited. But for the most part, he emphasized wanting to improve his pronunciation. So we walked through the sounds that were difficult for him: “th,” the hard “r,” “l” and “w.” So we spent the remainder of the session walking through some words with those sounds in them. We spent the last few minutes repeating “I’ll see you next THURSDAY at THREE,” but he already seemed to improve in his “TH,” sound. “It’s all muscle memory,” I pressed. The more practice, the more muscle memory.

There was a moment where he cracked. me. up. I asked how good his wife was at English, and he playfully lowered his head, “She’s very good.” Lifting his head to see my reaction, he continued: “I only speak to her in Korean, because she’s so much better at English. I’m no longer the man when we speak in English!” So the majority of practice is going to take place outside of the domestic setting, I’m guessing. We’ll see how much better his speech gets after a few weeks!

Jules CP-4

I picked up Jamal after his classes last Friday for a lunchtime conversation meeting. He sat down in my car and we were brainstorming for places to eat when he noticed I was listening to some Indian music. I started talking about how I love music from all over the world, and then the thought struck me-- "We should get some Indian food!". So we ventured over to The Curry Pot, a quaint little restaurant on Betton & Thomasville that features a lunch buffet on the weekdays.

As we savored our Korma and Pakoras, Jamal confirmed that this place has a truly authentic flavor, although it was prepared in a considerably milder fashion. Presumably the cooks did this to try to accommodate the American palate. I often wonder why ethnic restaurants practice this "blandification" of their menus-- do they view it as a form of assimilation? Do Americans really want battered, fried chicken from a Chinese establishment?... Right here I would normally say "I digress", but most of our conversation did revolve around food that day. Jamal has been getting pretty homesick lately, and he really appreciated getting a taste (albeit an Americanized one) of the food he is accustomed to enjoying at home.

We talked extensively about naan, the flatbread that is a staple in central Asian cuisine. Apparently naan production is a huge industry in Afghanistan; there are people who make entire careers out of producing and distributing it. (Of course this makes sense, as we have people who make bread for a living-- it just struck me that I had never considered naan-making as a career option!) Jamal described how the Afghanis do it: First, they make a large cylindrical vessel, about the size of an oil barrel, out of red clay. You may have heard of these before-- they're referred to as tandoors. The tandoor is fired in a kiln in the same way we make pottery, a process which leaves a distinctive texture on its inner walls. To make the dough, they combine flour, water, and yeast in just the right ratio (he said he isn't sure of the exact measurements, but can just tell when it's right). After letting the dough rise for about an hour, they divide it into little disks about 8 inches in diameter. Then they slap the disks onto the inner walls of the tandoor, which is heated from below by a fire, and the textured walls create a beautiful, lacey pattern on the bread. I could tell Jamal enjoyed talking about this process, so I listened intently as he carried on about how Afghani naan is the best in the world, and just leaves one's stomach feeling so happy, and so on. If any of you are ever running short on topics to discuss with your conversation partners, rest assured that Food is always a winner!

Francisco CP-3

For Tuesday's tea time on May 25th, I was supposed to meet my second conversation partner, Abduhlrahman. I looked around for him and asked Ryan where his current whereabouts were. Ryan told me that he was absent and SungJin also mentioned to me that he had not seen him either. In this case, SungJin and I decided to carry out our usual Tuesday tea time conversation. This time we walked over to Circle K and SungJin was kind enough to buy me a refreshing drink on this hot day. We sat outside and began our conversation. SungJin mentioned to me how he ran into my twin at Ghengis Grill and immediately noticed how he we do have distinguishable differences. I told he him he is one of the few people who can tell us apart immediately and that not everyone can do so. SungJin mentioned that he is overweight compared to me and this caused me to laugh for a good minute or two. I explained to SungJin that my job is a valet runner so I am always doing constant exercise. My brother however, does not do as much exercise as I and he has a little more weight on me. I always tease him of being overweight (which in reality he is far from it) and SungJin reinforced my teasing when he made that innocent joke and we both laughed when I explained the humor. During the middle of our conversation my phone rang and I found out that Abduhlrahman was indeed present for the day. The misunderstanding came when I was asking to see another Abduhlrahman that was not present. Abduhlrahman joined SungJin and I at circle K and he told me there are many "Abduh's" in CIES. The three of us then talked together for the remainder of the hour and Abdu mentioned we should all meet together so my scheduling wont be too difficult. I thanked him for his concern but assured him that I would rather meet with them individually so I can get to know each of them more personally.

Francisco TP-1

I met with Areum last Thursday on the 19th of May. I immediately noticed she was a little reluctant to talk to me so I asked her basic questions of where she comes from. I learned that Areum is from Korea and that she also knows my conversation partner, SungJin. She told me that she takes the bus every morning to class but also lives on campus. I found this odd, and asked why she does not walk to school considering she lives on campus. Areum showed me a map, demonstrating where she lives which is on the other side of campus. I told her I probably would do the same thing and we both shared a laugh. Areum's English is above average I would say. My thoughts were proven to be correct when Areum showed me the classes she is in. They are all in the levels of 4 and 5. I asked Areum what she will most likely need help in and she said grammar and composition. I assured her that I will try my best to assist her with any help she needs in coming assignments. For the remainder of the hour, Areum and I discussed where we like to eat and how many brothers and sisters we have. Like SungJin, Areum became very interested in the fact that I have a twin brother and could not help but to laugh when I showed her pictures of us. She kept mentioning "there is no difference" in a laughing manner when I showed her multiple pictures. I am excited to tutor Areum tomorrow when we meet again. Some of her questions might require me to do some research of my own, but I am looking forward to teaching and learning at the same time.

Ganem CP-1

I met my conversation partner Wednesday, May 11th. We met at the Oglesby Union at 3PM. His name is Caglar Usdun (prounounced Cha-Lar Oohz-doon.) He is from Ankara, Turkey. His major is geological science. He speaks English very well. I had almost no difficulty understanding what he was saying. He’s been in America for only seven months so far. This surprised me.

This was my first time meeting with someone from Ankara so I was full of questions. I asked if this was his first time being in America, and he replied yes it was. I asked how he liked Tallahassee so far. He replied that it was a nice, quiet and sunny but he was shocked by how small of a city it was. Compared to Ankara, everything here is much slower, very often more boring, and just a small place to live in general. He also missed the ability to get around the city without a car. He however liked the nature surrounding Tallahassee. He asked me where we could get a drink and I told him we can get a drink in the convenience at the Union.

We then went to the bowling alley in the Union. Caglar has bowled in Turkey and was pretty good at it. As we bowled, we talked about things such as our family, where we have traveled, and what we did for fun. Caglar told me has a younger sister in Ankara who started college. He also told me about his various travels throughout Turkey. He has visited every major city in the Turkish borders, but he still thinks Ankara is the best.

He asked me why I want to be an English teacher. I told him I want to travel. He then asked me why I wanted to visit Turkey. I learned a little bit about their culture in class and I want to see for myself what is like over there. I mentioned that I want to learn how to speak their language as well. Caglar told me he would be happy to help me learn Turkish and that we should set up a time to do so. After we finished bowling we went our separate ways.

Craig TP-1

My tutoring partner is awesome! His name is Fatih Atay and he is a Turkish national from Istambul. We got to know each other in the most typical international conversation consisting of futbol, politics and nightlife. Needless to say, we got along quite well and he seems like a very fun person to be around and will be a good international student to learn from.

After narrowing down times that we are available we discussed what topics to focus on during the tutoring sessions. Fatih told me that he was most concerned with his grammar and his speaking. We then discussed the methods that he learns best from and what kind of education style fits his personality best. In addition, we decided that it would be beneficial if every session we go over homework and material from class that he might need help with, further review or simply practice.

Overall, Fatih and I will have a lot to learn in regard to the tutoring session. For Fatih it will be more of a comprehension setting of learning and further developing his English skills. For me, as the tutor, it will be the development of what methods are best to instruct and how to be clear in my explanations. I hope I do a good job, and make a new friend out of it too!

Craig CO-1

My first class observation a great experience both in regard to learning and a cross cultural training. The class was a high level speaking course with 5 students in total. The diversity of the class included a Korean, Afghani (not to be confused with the currency), an Egyptian and two Saudi's.

Initially, I was asked to introduce myself to the class- per request to the teacher. They all seemed highly receptive and very welcoming. After that the teacher wrote the speaking prompt on the whiteboard. Topic of conversation was pertaining to partying. Typically, I might not have a whole lot to say. This, was not one of those occurences though. Partying was something I know a good deal about, both within the United States and beyond. So learning about their cultural norms when throwing a good party was quite different from my friend in a Gorilla suit doing a keg stand.

Every student was asked to participate in an open discussion using English. The students, while having the occasional glitch, were very articulate and seemed to have a well developed grasp of the English language. While listening the teacher would write notes down on a notepad in what I would assume was a review of the language and perhaps edits that each person might have stated. Overall, the class participation and flow was brilliant and very well lead.

Following the open discussion came my downfall. Each student was given an “ice breaker” topic and asked to go around the room and discuss with one another in a friendly conversation setting. My topic, interestingly enough was alcohol. So I had to go around asking questions I clearly knew the answer to considering the majority of our students did not participate in drinking. It was incredibly awkward asking the other students “Do you enjoy drinking at a party and what do you think of others if they do not drink” while all along knowing that I had been out the night before. Not to say I felt guilty, but just to point out that my poker face was terrible and I am pretty sure they all knew. So for further reference, in case you didnt know, a westerner in a speaking class asking students about drinking can sometimes be uncomfortable.

Jessica TP3

Ok, the last in a blast of blog posts...

I had another tutoring session today with a group of people from my work, All Pro Landscaping. I had mentioned doing an English class to Karla who I'm training for my secretart position at work and Humberto, a kid my age who's up from Mexico for the summer to work. Word spread around the group and I had three other people really interested in taking lessons too!  We had planned on meeting up at one of their houses in Havana so I picked the others up and we hit the road. It's really a pretty drive up there, but I think we might have to arrange sessions in Tallahassee next time, my car's AC is iffy at best and its a bit of a drive.

So I had five students in all ranging in age from 20s to 40s, and all of them at a very basic level of English. We started the class with me asking what their experience with English has been thus far and how long they've been in the States. I gathered that theyre all at a beginning level and that they want to learn English primarily to communicate at work and to make living here easier. Josie, a mother of two, would definitely benifit from being able to communicate with her daughters teachers and all. It's scary and inspiring to me that they have made such a big move to a country where they don't speak the language, so I'm very glad to be able to help them in learning it!

We started out going over the alphabet, practicing making each sound and looking at a list of the letters and their pronunciations spelled out in Spanish. I gave the majority of the lesson in Spanish, but translated main ideas and phrases to English so that they can get used to hearing it and connecting the meanings of words. We then went over basic introductions and how to introduce a friend. "Hello, how are you, this is..." It was neat to be working with a small group as opposed to an individual because we could act out scenarios with each other. A few of the guys were embarressed at first to be speaking in English because they were unsure of pronunciation and accent and all. I explained that it's all part of beginning another language and that they have to make these mistakes to learn from them and improve. Also that I've made some serious/hilarious flubs in Spanish, including in Mexico ordering rum with ice cream (helado) instead of ice (hielo). They lightened up after a bit and seemed to really enjoy understanding more English. I was honestly quite nervous going into the class because I wasn't sure how receptive they'd be and I also haven't really taught a lesson plan through yet. However the class was great and they even were excited about the vocabulary learning homework I gave them for the following week!

Jessica CP2

Last Thursday after class I met up with my conversation partner, Cloris. She, her sister Venus, and Alonso and I ended up going to grab dinner at Monk's restaurant which was a great opportunity for them to order in English. We sat outside and talked about their apartment and the other Panamanian students they've meet in Tallahassee. Cloris is a bit shy, but definitely opened up with her sister and Alonso there to join in the conversation. They are all very sweet and enthusiastic people, it's great to be able to hear about their lives in Panama too, a country I know little about.
We started talking about our families and I asked what field their parents worked in in Panama. Alonso had told me that he works for their dad, but we hadn't gotten into what he does for him so I assumed their dad's business might have something to do with aviation. Venus replied to my question saying what I thought was 'air control' and so I asked if he was a pilot. The confused look on her and Cloris' faces told me that he wasn't and they asked why I would think that. I said that if he runs an 'air control' business he could reasonably be a pilot. They told me that made no sense to them, so I asked what his business does. Venus started explaining about the crops they plant, carrots and corn and they have chickens. I busted out laughing realizing she must have said 'agriculture' not 'air control' which in a noisy restaurant and with a bit of an accent somehow sounded the same to me. They found it pretty funny as well, maybe I need to work on my listening skills, haha.
After that we got onto the topic of difficult words to say in English and Spanish, for example 'Otorrinolaringólogo, ' a throat doctor! I couldn't come up with anything quite as good in English, any suggestions??

It was definitely a great time out with all of them and we were pretty tired by the time I dropped them off at their apartment. I can't wait to hang out with Cloris again, she's really neat and interesting, and her English is quite good!

Jessica TP2

My second tutoring partner, Tugba, and I met up on Saturday to have our introductory session. We met at the CIES building and then drove over to Black Dog Cafe, my favorite study spot. She and I hit it off right away, I have been having great luck with partners through CIES! She's from Turkey and recently graduated with a degree in Art History as well as Turkish Folklore. I told her that I too studied art (Graphic Design major) and that we would definitely have some common ground as far as interests! She also let me know that she's taking the TOEFL exam this coming Saturday for the second time. Her goal is to pass that so that she can study with FSU's Art History graduate program. She's already been accepted, just with the condition that she pass this exam. She's been in Tallahassee for 8 months and didn't study that much English beforehand. For such a short time here I was amazed by her fluency. We spoke about art and agriculture, shopping and classes, and there were only maybe two times that I had to clarify what she meant by something. She explained that she's fairly confident speaking, but that she struggles with writing more than anything. This is definitely going to be a focus for our lessons with the amount of papers she'll be looking forward too in grad school! I told her not to worry that we could definitely work on that and that having taken art history courses myself I could focus on some interesting articles/ art pieces and try to structure lessons around them so that she learns the necessary vocabulary for her major as well as improving upon her writing skills. We ended the meeting with plans to meet up and celebrate post-exam on Saturday afternoon over Turkish tea.

Jessica TP1

After the change of plans in the tutoring list on Thursday, I was waiting to see who Ramin would pair me up with when I ran into Alonso, a good friend of my conversation partner, Cloris. We started chatting and he asked if I knew what was going on with the tutor situation that he hadn't found out who would tutor him yet, and I said I wasn't sure, but that I was trying to find out who to tutor, so we came to the simple conlusion that we'd partner up!
We hung out in a class room and I started asking him how long he'd been in Tallahassee for (almost 2 weeks) and how he'd been doing in the CIES classes. He admitted that he was a little bit lost, that he has not really studied English before. The conversation was a mix of English and Spanish, I'd say something in English and clarify what he didn't understand in Spanish. I'm really excited to work with him from the very basic level because he's not at all afraid to dive into the language and make beautiful mistakes. He mentioned that he's not shy about using English and would make a great effort to push himself to speak it whenever possible. It's really inspiring to see such motivation, which led me to ask why he wanted to learn english his answer was a great surprise...to be able to come to the U.S. and work as a helicopter pilot. He lives in Panama and works flying helicopters doing crop dusting and other things, it sounds like such an exciting job! I was thrilled to learn he has an interest in flying, because I do as well. My dad works out at the private side of the airport here in Tallahassee overseeing maintenance of smaller planes and has his pilots license. (I took lessons for a time, but got too busy with school to finish.)  I told Alonso we'd have to go to the airport to do a lesson some time on flight vocabulary and he lit up! He told me that it's much easier for him to speak English when he gets excited over something; the example he used was talking about a motorcycle at a party he recently went to. It makes perfect sense, if you're into a subject you'll try harder to learn/understand it in the language you're learning. I can definitely see that we will work well together and I cannot wait to help him out with learning about flight (and everything else) in English!

Lori CO-1

My first class observation was this week and it went really great! I'm not going to lie, I wasn't sure what to expect and was a bit nervous going into the situation, but within only a few minutes in the class my worries went away and my curiosity on how well I would be able to help the students replaced all feelings of nervousness. I wasn't sure of what the teacher's approach to my observation would be, but she quickly let the whole class know that if they had any questions at all, to come ask them to me -- instant deer in headlights! I was observing a intermediate grammar class, knowing all too well grammar is not my forte in English (or Spanish). However, when the formal class time broke into small group activity time and the students began to instantly ask me questions, I realized that I could answer most of them to both their happiness as well as my own.
I learned that the students had been studying English for a widely varying number of years. Many for over a decade while a few for just a few months, yet they were all on the same proficiency level. This reaffirmed the differences of intensity and efficiency of many language programs around the world. This opportunity also helped me to reanalyze many parts of English that I have not thought deeply on in a good number of years. By having to explain why something is worded this way or that, I had to rethink the mechanics of English, which I realized sometimes even perplexed me. Overall it was a great experience! I only had one instance where I wasn't able to give an adequate reason behind an English grammar rule, which has motivated me to relearned the rules. The gentle and friendly flow of the class really left an impression of openness and the potential of true progress in my mind.

Kasper - TP 1

My first meeting with my tutee, Hikaru Murakami, was quick. She is from Nagoya, Japan and has been here for about a month and half. After exchanging information we talked about what sports we play. She is a big fan of soccer and is trying out for a team, which is why she had to leave early. She is trying to get faster and was going to the gym. She is not a big fan of running just for the sake of running. I dont know what level she is but she has studied english in Japan and could understand much of what I was saying. I am nervous and excited about starting our tutoring sessions. My main concern is my lack of knowledge of the grammar terms but we can learn together!

Kasper - CP 2

On Tuesday afternoon, I met up with Fahd and Alaa for lunch at the circle K across from CIES. It was difficult for both of us to find something to eat there. The selection of food is quite small, Fahd settled on a tuna sandwich, snickers and a coke. I settled for a smoothie and trail mix. We went outside to sit with the other students and started eating our "lunch". I asked how the tuna sandwich tasted and Fahd replied "First and last!". I told him that most of the sandwiches were most likely old and of low quality. I asked him about saudi fast food places and the usual suspects (McD's, BurgerKing, Subway) are all there. But burgers taste much better in Saudi Arabia he didnt know why but they do. Perhaps they use different spices and toppings. I told him is the same thing in Nicaragua, they also bring your food to you and its more of a sit down place. Not many people can afford to eat there either. Also, we compared places like Chili's and Fridays, are restaurants reserved for special occasions.
Both Fahd and Alaa are anxious to travel to Miami and go to the beach. I told them its great place to go but can get expensive. Also, the media paints a different picture of what Miami is and isn't. They are trying to go before "Ramadan" that starts on August 1st and last through the month. I asked what is the meaning of "Ramadan" and they couldnt give me a straight definition. They explained they eat before sunrise and after sunset and they pray more. I asked if it was difficult but according to Alaa, your body gets used to it. For them its a away to be humble for a month and for that period all Saudi's are the same. Its something foreign to me since I'm not religious at all.
Both of them said that most people think Saudi Arabia is just dessert, oil fields and people walking around in white robes. They told me that their home city is big and looks like a city you can find in the US. The people dont all dress with the traditional white robes. They also commented is the same for the US,movies and tv focus on the big cities and many saudi's think all US cities are like NY. I like comparing the different cultures we have in our group and seeing how people think of the US and Saudi Arabia is seen from the outside.
I'm looking forward to dinner later tonight, should be good time.

Kasper - CO 1

This past Tuesday, I observed Karin's grammar class. The lesson of the day was present perfect. At first there were only 4 students in the class and slowly other students kept coming in late. Karin began the lesson with a quick check of the homework, a crossword puzzle. After she introduced the lesson of the day, gave the students some examples sentences on a handout and the class read them together. Next she showed a clip of the movie "Dirty Dancing" and asked students to pay attention to the lyrics of the music that included the topic of the lesson "have had" and to write it down. Afterwards, she paired the students for a "get to know you" activity. The students were supposed to ask each other 5 personal questions and use the "Have had" or "Have been". She gave them some examples on the board and on a handout then set them to work. Most of the students seem to respond to the activity and were able to ask each other questions but some pairs were very quiet. This went on for about 10 minutes, afterwards each pair came up to the front of the class and shared their questions by "performing" the interview. After each pair presented, Karin addressed the mistakes and praised them. She gave the class a quick homework assignment and sent them on their way.
Throughout the lesson Karin kept a great attitude and was always smiling. She gave many examples, wrote them on the board and reinforced when students did something good. The use of the movie as a teaching tool and cultural piece was a great idea. Also, she was not afraid to tell the students when she was wrong which is important for students to know. When the students were working in pairs, she paired with a student that was by himself but she was always aware of the time and continued to walk around the class. She did a great job of keeping the class moving when the late students showed up. I like that she knew all their names and in the beginning of the class welcomed them and thanked them for being in class at the end.

Jules CP-3

After juggling around our schedules, Stéphane and I were able to have our first conversation meeting last night around 10 p.m. We had originally planned on grabbing dinner after TEFL class, but he forgot that he had plans and instead suggested we go to Café Shisha for hookah. I don't usually smoke but it seemed like a nice late-night meeting spot, and apparently it's a favorite among the CIES students. It turned out that the venue provided a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere that lent itself well to open discussion of several topics.

Conversation was a little bit awkward at first, however, with me asking a bunch of the normal "small-talk" questions and him providing succinct responses. He confessed that he is pretty shy, but after the hot tea and hookah arrived he seemed to loosen up a bit. It was also helpful for us to transition back and forth between English and French-- as rusty as my language skills are, he really appreciated that I was putting forth the effort to make him comfortable.

Stéphane is a native of Côte d'Ivoire and has been in the States since December. I found out later in the conversation that he left the country right after the incumbent president was voted out but refused to leave his post, inciting violence against those who were loyal to the legitimately elected leader. On his first attempt to leave the country the airport was shut down, so he is very lucky to have made it over here. Apparently everything has calmed down since he left, but he is not sure whether he wants to return home immediately after passing the TOEFL exam.

We had a fun time looking through his photos of his last days back home, and he mentioned that some Americans found it surprising to see what a nice house he had-- "We don't all live in huts, you know?". He is interested in integrating himself more into American culture, and so I think I'll invite him to the next kickball game my group of friends has organized. We'll try to get him over his shyness. Actually, by the end of the night Stéphane had already made a new friend-- Abraham, the owner of Café Shisha. Apparently Abraham had overheard us talking in French and explained that he is from Morocco (another Francophone country). We ended up talking with him for several minutes. All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable first meeting, and I look forward to exposing Stéphane to real-life American culture.

Jackie TP3

Jia and I went ahead and met tonight, as we would normally meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays after TEFL, and she needed some homework help. I have to say that this double session, as it was close to three hours long, was one of the most exciting things I have done that involve TEFL, or teaching, or helping another person in general! Jia absorbed so much of what I was teaching her, received much help with what she needed to accomplish, mostly on her own with my assistance, and learned advanced skills she could incorporate into her English vocabulary and knowledge. We focused mainly on writing this session—with many side talks about grammar and such. We started with her homework help—which was writing an introduction and a conclusion for an essay, and talking about Solar Energy/Electricity in English. We went through her introduction, and first I pointed out where some errors were, then I just said a sentence was not correct, which she would then fix, then I would let her read aloud and see if she could simply find it and tell her yes or no.

Then, as she requested help with prepositions, I went ahead and did the lesson I wrote on my grammar log! It was exciting, because I explained what prepositions were in a simpler way for her to understand, and then gave her a large example. It was a paragraph with highlighted prepositions that she then would circle if she didn’t know what they meant. I explained them, with some issues of “on and upon” (ah!). Then, my lesson plan was to do a scavenger hunt with objects in the room, but since we were at All Saints, I asked her questions about objects around us. I told her to tell me as many ways as possible about where a pen was. It was between two cups, it was on a table, it was next to me, it was beside me, and more. So, she eventually used many, many prepositions in the process of describing our surroundings.

I found out she needs a lot of help with “at” versus “in,” which I recall having trouble with when learning Italian as well. I knew the in+city/country tule, but many of the other sentences, for me, simply seemed awkward, but I promised her that I would find examples and a lesson for her to determine which one to use.

We then did my speedwriting lesson plan! It was so exciting, because I did as I did when giving it to the class, but made it for a higher level of student, as she is. So, I made her do lists of food words she knew for one minute, then drinks she knew for one minute, then gave her five minutes to write sentences with the food and drink words that use prepositions, as she needed help with them earlier. It really helped her use vocabulary and something we had just covered, and expanded her mind on how to use prepositions. I then found out she needed help with articles, so we reviewed what articles were, explained special circumstances, and did some examples and practice of articles. Then, we took a much needed coffee break!

Jackie TP2

Upon seeing the list of “tutees” I was freaking out a little bit—three new foreign students on my hands! It would have been possible, but I hoped to be placed with some of the CIES students I had met recently, who I knew had availability. And, luckily, I was! I met Jia Moon upon meeting Jia Yong, my conversation partner. So, now I have a tutee named Jia, a conversation partner named Jia, and a tutee at the Leon County Library named SuJIA! We talked about how Jia must be the Korean equivalent of a popular English name like, Sarah. But, as we met at the tutoring gathering, Jia and I got very excited about tutoring—which definitely fed into our next session! We decided on times, which worked out absolutely perfect, as I can meet her after the TEFL course, as she lives extremely close to my house, so I could pick her up. We decided on meeting twice a week—which may be reduced if we continue to tutor for long periods of time. Or, I will continue to help her with her homework and other issues she brought up.

Mainly, Jia said she had problems in wide-ranging areas, but I think they are confined to smaller sections. Her level is mixed—she is a Level 2 in Reading/Grammar/Composition, and a Level 3 in Speaking and Listening. But, upon tutoring with her, I’m not sure I agree with that; she was correcting essays of a designated Level 3, and knew not only the grammatical issues, but the “awkward sentences.” However, she wanted help mainly with pronunciation, writing, reading, and prepositions of time and place. She had issues with the questions on her tests, so we reviewed what kinds of questions would be a on reading test, and what those meant in the first place. Jia also played piano for all of her life, so I may incorporate some piano-based songs into her tutoring!