Today I met Alaiddin at the English Conversation Club. He is from Libya, and his first language is Arabic. His wife is a student at CIES, and plans on getting her masters in public health at an American university. Alaiddin would like to improve his English for the mere reason that he will be in the states for the next couple of years. As far as English goes, he finds reading and writing to be the easiest for him, while speaking and listening are more difficult--which is good, since that is what we'll be doing the most of!
I shared a little about myself, but I kept him relatively occupied answering my questions. I find that his greatest difficulty in speaking is that he wants to communicate on a much deeper and intellectual level than his skill will allow. While I would be extremely frustrated, he seems to handle it gracefully, and I listened patiently, helping him along if I could.
Alaiddin's assessment of himself was pretty accurate, but I think there is great potential--only practice will smooth out the wrinkles and gaps.
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