Ganem CP-1

I met my conversation partner Wednesday, May 11th. We met at the Oglesby Union at 3PM. His name is Caglar Usdun (prounounced Cha-Lar Oohz-doon.) He is from Ankara, Turkey. His major is geological science. He speaks English very well. I had almost no difficulty understanding what he was saying. He’s been in America for only seven months so far. This surprised me.

This was my first time meeting with someone from Ankara so I was full of questions. I asked if this was his first time being in America, and he replied yes it was. I asked how he liked Tallahassee so far. He replied that it was a nice, quiet and sunny but he was shocked by how small of a city it was. Compared to Ankara, everything here is much slower, very often more boring, and just a small place to live in general. He also missed the ability to get around the city without a car. He however liked the nature surrounding Tallahassee. He asked me where we could get a drink and I told him we can get a drink in the convenience at the Union.

We then went to the bowling alley in the Union. Caglar has bowled in Turkey and was pretty good at it. As we bowled, we talked about things such as our family, where we have traveled, and what we did for fun. Caglar told me has a younger sister in Ankara who started college. He also told me about his various travels throughout Turkey. He has visited every major city in the Turkish borders, but he still thinks Ankara is the best.

He asked me why I want to be an English teacher. I told him I want to travel. He then asked me why I wanted to visit Turkey. I learned a little bit about their culture in class and I want to see for myself what is like over there. I mentioned that I want to learn how to speak their language as well. Caglar told me he would be happy to help me learn Turkish and that we should set up a time to do so. After we finished bowling we went our separate ways.

Craig TP-1

My tutoring partner is awesome! His name is Fatih Atay and he is a Turkish national from Istambul. We got to know each other in the most typical international conversation consisting of futbol, politics and nightlife. Needless to say, we got along quite well and he seems like a very fun person to be around and will be a good international student to learn from.

After narrowing down times that we are available we discussed what topics to focus on during the tutoring sessions. Fatih told me that he was most concerned with his grammar and his speaking. We then discussed the methods that he learns best from and what kind of education style fits his personality best. In addition, we decided that it would be beneficial if every session we go over homework and material from class that he might need help with, further review or simply practice.

Overall, Fatih and I will have a lot to learn in regard to the tutoring session. For Fatih it will be more of a comprehension setting of learning and further developing his English skills. For me, as the tutor, it will be the development of what methods are best to instruct and how to be clear in my explanations. I hope I do a good job, and make a new friend out of it too!

Craig CO-1

My first class observation a great experience both in regard to learning and a cross cultural training. The class was a high level speaking course with 5 students in total. The diversity of the class included a Korean, Afghani (not to be confused with the currency), an Egyptian and two Saudi's.

Initially, I was asked to introduce myself to the class- per request to the teacher. They all seemed highly receptive and very welcoming. After that the teacher wrote the speaking prompt on the whiteboard. Topic of conversation was pertaining to partying. Typically, I might not have a whole lot to say. This, was not one of those occurences though. Partying was something I know a good deal about, both within the United States and beyond. So learning about their cultural norms when throwing a good party was quite different from my friend in a Gorilla suit doing a keg stand.

Every student was asked to participate in an open discussion using English. The students, while having the occasional glitch, were very articulate and seemed to have a well developed grasp of the English language. While listening the teacher would write notes down on a notepad in what I would assume was a review of the language and perhaps edits that each person might have stated. Overall, the class participation and flow was brilliant and very well lead.

Following the open discussion came my downfall. Each student was given an “ice breaker” topic and asked to go around the room and discuss with one another in a friendly conversation setting. My topic, interestingly enough was alcohol. So I had to go around asking questions I clearly knew the answer to considering the majority of our students did not participate in drinking. It was incredibly awkward asking the other students “Do you enjoy drinking at a party and what do you think of others if they do not drink” while all along knowing that I had been out the night before. Not to say I felt guilty, but just to point out that my poker face was terrible and I am pretty sure they all knew. So for further reference, in case you didnt know, a westerner in a speaking class asking students about drinking can sometimes be uncomfortable.

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!

Jessica CP2

Last Thursday after class I met up with my conversation partner, Cloris. She, her sister Venus, and Alonso and I ended up going to grab dinner at Monk's restaurant which was a great opportunity for them to order in English. We sat outside and talked about their apartment and the other Panamanian students they've meet in Tallahassee. Cloris is a bit shy, but definitely opened up with her sister and Alonso there to join in the conversation. They are all very sweet and enthusiastic people, it's great to be able to hear about their lives in Panama too, a country I know little about.
We started talking about our families and I asked what field their parents worked in in Panama. Alonso had told me that he works for their dad, but we hadn't gotten into what he does for him so I assumed their dad's business might have something to do with aviation. Venus replied to my question saying what I thought was 'air control' and so I asked if he was a pilot. The confused look on her and Cloris' faces told me that he wasn't and they asked why I would think that. I said that if he runs an 'air control' business he could reasonably be a pilot. They told me that made no sense to them, so I asked what his business does. Venus started explaining about the crops they plant, carrots and corn and they have chickens. I busted out laughing realizing she must have said 'agriculture' not 'air control' which in a noisy restaurant and with a bit of an accent somehow sounded the same to me. They found it pretty funny as well, maybe I need to work on my listening skills, haha.
After that we got onto the topic of difficult words to say in English and Spanish, for example 'Otorrinolaringólogo, ' a throat doctor! I couldn't come up with anything quite as good in English, any suggestions??

It was definitely a great time out with all of them and we were pretty tired by the time I dropped them off at their apartment. I can't wait to hang out with Cloris again, she's really neat and interesting, and her English is quite good!

Jessica TP2

My second tutoring partner, Tugba, and I met up on Saturday to have our introductory session. We met at the CIES building and then drove over to Black Dog Cafe, my favorite study spot. She and I hit it off right away, I have been having great luck with partners through CIES! She's from Turkey and recently graduated with a degree in Art History as well as Turkish Folklore. I told her that I too studied art (Graphic Design major) and that we would definitely have some common ground as far as interests! She also let me know that she's taking the TOEFL exam this coming Saturday for the second time. Her goal is to pass that so that she can study with FSU's Art History graduate program. She's already been accepted, just with the condition that she pass this exam. She's been in Tallahassee for 8 months and didn't study that much English beforehand. For such a short time here I was amazed by her fluency. We spoke about art and agriculture, shopping and classes, and there were only maybe two times that I had to clarify what she meant by something. She explained that she's fairly confident speaking, but that she struggles with writing more than anything. This is definitely going to be a focus for our lessons with the amount of papers she'll be looking forward too in grad school! I told her not to worry that we could definitely work on that and that having taken art history courses myself I could focus on some interesting articles/ art pieces and try to structure lessons around them so that she learns the necessary vocabulary for her major as well as improving upon her writing skills. We ended the meeting with plans to meet up and celebrate post-exam on Saturday afternoon over Turkish tea.

Jessica TP1

After the change of plans in the tutoring list on Thursday, I was waiting to see who Ramin would pair me up with when I ran into Alonso, a good friend of my conversation partner, Cloris. We started chatting and he asked if I knew what was going on with the tutor situation that he hadn't found out who would tutor him yet, and I said I wasn't sure, but that I was trying to find out who to tutor, so we came to the simple conlusion that we'd partner up!
We hung out in a class room and I started asking him how long he'd been in Tallahassee for (almost 2 weeks) and how he'd been doing in the CIES classes. He admitted that he was a little bit lost, that he has not really studied English before. The conversation was a mix of English and Spanish, I'd say something in English and clarify what he didn't understand in Spanish. I'm really excited to work with him from the very basic level because he's not at all afraid to dive into the language and make beautiful mistakes. He mentioned that he's not shy about using English and would make a great effort to push himself to speak it whenever possible. It's really inspiring to see such motivation, which led me to ask why he wanted to learn english his answer was a great surprise...to be able to come to the U.S. and work as a helicopter pilot. He lives in Panama and works flying helicopters doing crop dusting and other things, it sounds like such an exciting job! I was thrilled to learn he has an interest in flying, because I do as well. My dad works out at the private side of the airport here in Tallahassee overseeing maintenance of smaller planes and has his pilots license. (I took lessons for a time, but got too busy with school to finish.)  I told Alonso we'd have to go to the airport to do a lesson some time on flight vocabulary and he lit up! He told me that it's much easier for him to speak English when he gets excited over something; the example he used was talking about a motorcycle at a party he recently went to. It makes perfect sense, if you're into a subject you'll try harder to learn/understand it in the language you're learning. I can definitely see that we will work well together and I cannot wait to help him out with learning about flight (and everything else) in English!