Teatime! A time for stealing too many cookies out of the CIES closet/hiding places, and making and drinking too much sugared coffee to prep for a long TEFL class and tutoring session ahead. Now I’ve sufficiently spilled all my secrets! But we really did eat about 10 cookies each that day, because we were all tired, and then got interviewed. A girl from the English department was doing an assignment on the CIES conversation partner program and advocating for more volunteers to come out. So, she asked me, Jia, and Somina what our majors were, where we were from, what we did, what kind of student we were, and much more. Then, she sort of lingered around and filmed a lot of our conversation before going to interview many other students. I think she realized we were really weird under the camera and didn’t mind moving on..ha! But, I did learn that day that in Korea it is inappropriate to call younger people “friends.” It is acceptable to say they are their “older sister” or “older brother.” This did not compromise the fact that they could hang out together or be around each other, but simply the name was different. Yet, this was very important—I’m not sure what the repercussions would be, but it was extremely interesting to learn about such a difference.
Hi Jackie! I'm curious to know how much success you've had with this tutee, since I myself am trying my hardest to get my Leon county library tutee, Geonae (also Korean) to speak with me. She seems so preoccupied with perfection that it is nearly impossible to get her to speak even though she seems to have an adequate grasp of at least very basic vocabulary. I know she must feel either shy or intimidated, but I haven't had much success trying to raise her comfort level, despite having met with her about six times now. This makes it very difficult for me to get any fully adequate assessment. How have you been able to encourage your student's speaking?
ReplyDelete