Jackie CP1

Upon first meeting him, I knew Fatih was super outgoing. He spoke most of our hour, which went by extremely fast, as he told many funny stories and lightheartedly went through the small talk. I really had a doubt that he had any issues with English! Though, he definitely fooled me by his ability to make his language very fluid. He hardly paused when speaking, such as to contemplate his words, and didn't use many common vocal fillers that are prevalent in American English, but would slide by with 'incorrect' words, or word forms, that seemed simply conversational. Though, I realized when trying to comprehend his stories, I would get lost at times as his words would seem to overlap. I told him he should slow down sometimes and try to get the right word instead of obscuring meaning when describing actions, though his attempts, and many successes, at speaking at a conversational level were admirable!

Fatih also had a great sense of humor about his endeavors in learning English and his life. He said he was a “welding” major, which I’m not sure if he meant he used to do or he actually majored in. He is from Turkey, so his main language is Turkish, but he moved to Tallahassee four months ago. He had lived in Tallahassee previously, even working at the mall without understanding “anything.” He definitely has come far in four or so months, as he was attempting to tell elaborate stories of places he would go and things that happened to him. The best story was about how his roommate, on Fatih’s birthday, threw spaghetti on him in lieu of cake. At first I felt bad for his getting smashed with spaghetti, but Fatih was nearly in tears, and it is preeeeetty funny, so I laughed too!