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!