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!
like the idea of incorporating music into her tutoring. Let me know how this works!
ReplyDeleteI am curious to see why you think she is placed inappropriately. Often receptive grammar knowledge and skills will be higher than her productive abilities. So, while she can recognize errors, she still makes them when she is writing, speaking, etc.
I'm still working on music! I'm focusing right now on her homework and direct problems.
ReplyDeleteI think I may have been wrong, as Jia definitely has trouble with the lessons she has in her class. I helped her, though, figure out her biggest problems with prepositions, so that when we went over her test that she failed, she understood then how to answer the questions. Success!