Evan TS#14

Hyo Sang and I met at Starbucks for the last time. We talked about our weekends and he told me that he went to TENN nightclub for the first time. He had told me in earlier sessions that he likes EDM music, so he was excited to see a show here in Tallahassee. He said he had a good time. I asked him about the new classes he has been taking at CIES and he said that they are more difficult and he can feel his stress levels rising. He wants to go to a beach or a lake to relax soon so he can relieve his stress. Hyo Sang mentioned that he would be going to Key West in August. I told him that I had vacationed there before and that there are a lot of water activities to try. He wants to learn how to scuba dive at FSU so that he can dive when he is in the Keys. We also discussed his improvement over that past few weeks. I said that I can hear that he is more comfortable with his speech than he was the first time we met.

Ignacio TS#16

Date/Time: Friday, June 21st, 2019

Tutee: Jenny

For my last tutoring session, I could not meet with Jenny because I was already on my way out of Tallahassee. We realized that our last in-person session was the group meeting on Wednesday but I told her I would call before she left. As I wrote in my previous tutoring session post, I found it cool that gift giving was so common in Korean culture as my other tutees had given gifts and Jenny did too. I know she was a bit sad leaving Tallahassee as she had spent more time in the city than just doing the CIES session. She said that she regrets not doing a longer-term abroad. She told me she loved the classes she took at FSU and the CIES and all the people she met as she had not been in contact with a large diverse group like them before. 

Vie Miller TS#16

Kubra and I met during lunch to talk about commas. After reviewing a paragraph she had written before we began, I thought that she might benefit from some instruction about the many ways that English-speakers use commas. This was an intimidating task--there are many different ways to use commas, and I don’t think that someone could possible cover them all in a single lunch session. So, I did the most I could to master the comma beforehand while thinking of reasons why Kubra should take the time to master it’s use. When I met Kubra, I showed her my rationale: commas were important for persuasive and rhetorical speech. Kubra listened eagerly throughout the presentation, making sure that I paused long enough for her to come up with her own examples. I then asked her to write a short justification for why she liked the movie 12 Angry Men using commas in five of the eight ways that I had described. Kubra managed to use it in three ways correctly, and I was happy with that. I’ll probably revisit the commas when I’m with her next Monday.

Vie Miller TS#15

I saw down with Kubra in the smoking garden behind CIES for our next lesson. Kubra is probably my most eager student, and it was a delightful experience to work with her on today’s lesson: determiners. I began by explaining that--while most English speakers would understand her speech without determiners--their absence, or the incorrect use of determiners, would be seen by many as a sign that her English education still had a way to go. Kubra initially struggled, but she had a breakthrough when I adjusted her previous understanding (use ‘the’ when you mean something specific) with the correct version: use ‘the’ when you can reasonably expect that both you and the reader are familiar with the noun in question. I had to illustrate different examples of how someone might know whether to use “the” or “a,” but once she got it, choosing the right determiner was easy! It ended up being one of the most satisfying lessons that I had given to date. 

Vie Miller #14

Song I met over lunch. Professor Kim had suggested that I do a needs assessment with her during this meeting. Initially, I was reluctant; after all, I had been meeting with Song for many weeks, and I wasn’t sure how to introduce a needs assessment on my own and without very much warning. Just before we arrived at a restaurant, I devised a strategy: I could frame the needs assessment as a check-in. I had to be judicious with what I asked Song--our meetings were shorter than the ones that I have with Mingu or Kubra. I asked her first about what classes she was in, and I was surprised to learn that she had been retained in Grammar Three. I quickly asked her what grammar skills she would like to work on, and she said she still had trouble with verb tenses. I pressed further, and found out that she still had trouble with in/at and a few other prepositions. I’m glad I asked, and after further discussion, I requested that Song send me a text whenever she felt confused by something she heard in English. Song also revealed to me--for the first time--that she wanted to study Korean history, and needs to be proficient in English to attend grad school in Korea. That will be valuable information for future lessons. But today’s meeting was also instructive in a way that I hadn’t expected: while the idea of a check in made sense as soon as Professor Kim suggested it, I didn’t think I’d learn as much from Song as I did. We’ve gotten to know each other well over the last few weeks, and it may be that only now was I in a position to learn more about her.

Vie Miller CP#6

One day, Song and I found ourselves with an extra half hour before our lesson was supposed to begin. “Despite all the time we’ve taken to get to know one another,” I admitted, “I don’t really know that much about Korean culture.” I went on to relate that what I did know the hermit kingdom came from Korea’s most popular export: K-Pop. I didn’t know what to expect from Song, but she was quick to point out that she doesn’t love K-Pop. According to Song, most Koreans don’t like K-Pop, and while many of the younger generation may want to be K-Pop singers, the genre is more popular outside Korea than inside it. Furthermore, Song shared, K-Pop doesn’t communicate the hardships and anxieties which are commonplace in a competitive country like Korea. The former doesn’t surprise me--I’ve run into comparable examples in the United States (American movies may do better overseas than they do here)--but I was surprised to learn how hard life could be for even the most well-to-do Koreans. The conversation was a good reminder that a country’s main export doesn’t necessarily represent the country itself.

Vie Miller TS#13

Song and I sat down at Vale for our lunchtime lesson. Today’s subject was commas, and to begin the lesson, I produced a typed up version of a paragraph which Song had written for me beforehand. I underscored a dozen blank spaces in her paragraph and, after explaining and practicing the different uses of commas, asked her to revise her paragraph. Song proceeded to do so, and I she got most of them right! Song was happy with her progress, and I leaned a valuable lesson: building skills from lesson-to-lesson helps my tutees measure their leaning gains and helps me manage my lessons.

Vie Miller TS#12

I met Mingu once again on Monday evening. After our last lesson, I decided to allay my own fears--and possibly Mingu’s--by finding academic material similar to the kind that he might encounter in the classroom. I wanted to see if he could understand it. I found a few different clips related to public service and found that Youtube would allow me to alter the speed of the clip. After locating the material, I needed to find a good clip to explain the Cornell Note-taking System to Mingu. I found such a video, and was excited for our lesson later that afternoon. I first showed Mingu the clip of the Cornell Note-taking System, which included an explanation of the system as well as an example of a filled out note-pad. Mingu told me that this was an efficient system which he thought he could use. Afterwards, we watched an academic clip that Mingu selected. We did some planning (I urged Mingu to write notes about what he wanted to capture), and then we proceeded to watch the video. Afterwards, I asked Mingu to what the main points of the video were, and he reiterated them successfully. This is very promising, and next time I will speed up the video to see if Mingu can keep up.

Vie Miller TS#11

My tutoring session with Mingu was my last of the week. Mingu is an advanced student, who came to me having already passed the TOEFL. Initially, I thought that more advanced students would be easier to teach; however, I may revise my judgement. I started off by asking Mingu to take notes on a PBS documentary. After five minutes, it was apparent that he was not engaging with the material--he was not writing anything down and had a glazed look in his eyes. I paused the television show and confirmed that he was wasn’t getting it. I asked what the problem was, and Mingu told me that the announcer’s speech was too fast and that there were too many linking words. I tried to make the best of the session by illustrating a few key idioms that the announcer had used and that, it turned out, were familiar to Mingu (a “David and Goliath” story was the key one). I then pivoted to a second activity that I had prepared: reading a few pages from the introduction of Jane Jacob’s The Death and Life of Great American Cities + comprehension questions. Jacobs is probably the most famous name in North American city planning, and I thought that the actual experience of listening to a key text would excite Mingu. But things didn’t go as planned; though I read the text at a slower than normal pace, I miscalculated the difficulty of the text. After we struggled through the first four questions, I decided to call it a day (but not before we debriefed our session). When I asked Mingu why he didn’t take notes, he replied, “I don’t like taking notes. Listening is taxing enough.” He also said that the notes form in his head in Korean, not in English, making note-taking extremely difficult. This is something that Mingu must overcome, so I will ask Professor Kim for help.

Vie Miller TS#10

I met with Mingu for almost an hour and a half on Monday evening. Mingu will be the most advanced student that I’ve taught--he has already passed the TOEFL exam--and even though I had conducted a needs assessment with him on Saturday, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I tried to cram a lot into the time we had, taking Mingu’s requests into account. First, we covered common American greetings through the use of modal dialogues; then, we did a listening comprehension exercise; finally, I asked Mingu to write a little about himself, so I could leave with a better sense of his writing ability. I think he had a really good time, and I know that he was pleased that he could confidently introduce himself at the end of our session.

Vie Miller TS#9

Mingu and I met outside Strozier Library on Saturday afternoon. After sitting down at a table near the front desk, I began my needs assessment. I had worked on it for most of the morning, and I thought that--given my extensive consultation of the CIES chart--that I had done a pretty thorough job. I don’t know if I did or not, but I didn’t leave feeling like I had a really good grasp of Mingu’s speaking, listening, reading, and writing ability. That is mostly because Mingu has not (or does not) do much writing speaking, listening, or reading in English. In and of itself, that is totally fine, and I did get some very useful information from him on his background, interests, resources, etc. But if I had to the need’s assessment over again, I would prepare short activities of some kind that would help me get a better, more concretes sense of what a potential client is able to do.

Ignacio CP#6

Date/Time: Friday, June 28th, 2019

Partner: Seop

I spoke with Seop for a short time. We talked for a short amount of time but I asked him how his short break went between sessions at the CIES. I know Seop likes to travel so I asked if he was going on any trips soon before he left back for service in Korea. I let Seop know that the noodles he had given me were great and I asked for recommendations on other similar food that I could buy. I want to keep in touch with Seop to see how his English improves over the coming months. 

Ignacio TS#15

Date/Time: (6/19)

Location: CIES

Tutees: Jenny, Seop, and Yong

I meet with Jenny, Seop, and Yong along with Jake, last week at the CIES. Yong and Seop brought us the very spicy Korean version of instant noodles (tried it recently and it was delicious). I assume that gift-giving is an important part of Korean culture as this was the second gift Seop and Yong had given me and the fact the Jenny was writing letters to those students/teachers which she bonded with while at CIES. I found this touching gesture on their part. Since both Jenny and Seop are leaving soon we talked about what they were excited about with their upcoming return to Korea. Seop is going to join the military, as all men are required to do a year of service, and Jenny was going to continue her studies. Jake and I asked them about some pop culture references and what they took away from their time in the States. 

Ignacio TS#14

Date/Time: 6/18

Location: Whataburger

Tutee: Jenny

After meeting with Peiheng earlier in the day I met up with Jenny at the Whataburger next to our house. I know that McDonald's is everywhere in the world but I asked her if she knew of other, sort of, "American" fast food restaurants which are common to go to in the ROK. She mentioned a few and explained the differences between the ones she had been to in Tallahassee and in Seoul. We talked a bit about KPOP and some of the mainstream songs that had made it over to the US like Psy's Gangnam Style. I explained some idioms to her as they came along in conversation. Throughout our tutoring sessions, I had asked Jenny to write down whatever odd phrases she came across, whether on TV or conversation so that I could explain the context of them to her. She had a list of some that she asked me about as we ate at the restaurant. Jenny was headed back home soon so this would be one of our last tutoring sessions. 

Ignacio TS#13

Date/Time: 6/18

Location: CIES

I met with Peiheng that Tuesday and we had a long conversation at the CIES classrooms. We talked for a while about his views as a Chinese born student coming to the US and how he adapted to the culture of this country. I asked him about what he sees as the difference between the political culture in China and the US, of course, this is a sensitive topic considering the vast differences but it was a very informative conversation for me. I know Peiheng likes to be introduced to new idioms and phrases passively so, naturally, whenever I would say an idiom like "Don't throw stones in a glass house," we would switch topics into what the idiom meant. I noticed that Peiheng had been writing down all the idioms we had gone over throughout the summer and I asked him if he had been able to incorporate some of the past idioms into everyday conversation. 

Jake TS #16

On Thursday I called Seop from 11:50- 12:45. We talked about summer in Tallahassee and I told him about what I would be doing and where I would be traveling this vacation and about skydiving. I asked him what Korean summers were like for him and about vacation travel in general and popular destinations in America and Korea. I talked some about my family and friends I was getting to visit and he told me about some new teachers and classmates at CIES and how he liked his classes so far. His speaking fluency and our communication in general has made noticeable improvement since we first met, and I want to meet him more when I get back before he will have to return to Korea for military service.

Ignacio TS#12

On Sunday, June 16th, I met with Jenny at Strozier. We only spoke for a short amount of time as we both had different plans during the day. We talked a lot about her time doing a student exchange in the spring. Although she had mentioned it before, it was the first time she went into depth about how she felt in her first classes and the pressure of using English for the first time in a 'serious' context. She told me that one of her professors had a strong accent as English was his second language as well and that this affected her learning during the first few classes. Overall it was a great conversation. We made plans to meet again the next day.

Jake TS #15

On Wednesday I called Turki from 4:10-5:30 and I asked him how his studying for his upcoming IELTS exam was going. Turki did not continue to the next CIES session but he is preparing and studying every day for the next week and a half until he will travel to Indianapolis to take the exam. We talked about standardized testing and went over some tips that I had learned from my own experience. We talked some about life at my grandparents' farm and what breakfast looks like different places in America compared to Saudi Arabia. Turki then told me about the formatting of the exam and how he was most worried about the listening section, and I told him that while he's practicing that I would help him with any questions and encouraged him to keep working on the topics that gave him the most trouble, though his speaking was very good.

Jake TS #14

On Tuesday I called Seop from 3-4 and he talked to me a little bit about the beginning of the new session at CIES and some of the fun activities that were taking place. He told me about some of the new Korean students and his classes, and we talked about some of the differences between having larger or smaller classes and how that can affect learning. I told him about my family vacation and some of our traditions and things we usually do during summer and around the 4th of July to celebrate. When I get back to Tallahassee we still planned on hanging out some time and to practice speaking fluency over fun activities like bowling.

Jake TS #13

On Monday I called Salem from 6:00-7:20. I asked him mostly to tell me about the new session at CIES and he told me about his new classes and classmates, but he told me that he wishes he didn't miss the final grammar exam last session because he didn't move up and now some of the material seems repetitive. I talked to him about my vacation a little bit and he told me about his family traveling in Europe. He told me about how he moved into a new apartment and how everything was going in Tallahassee, and then we talked about some of his goals for improving his English during the new session, especially writing/spelling conventions.

Evan TS#13

Dojun and I talked on Skype about idioms again. This time we reviewed the idioms that we had gone over previously. I hoped that this exercise would help with his recall and forming of English explanations in order to build comfortability with each phrase. I think it was successful as he seemed more confident with each idiom after repeating them second time. After reviewing, we attempted to find out where the idiom "my guess is as good as yours" came from because Dojun thought it was the most interesting. We could not find a concrete origin, but it became popular sometime during the 1920s. Then we talked about the American voting system. I described the Electoral College and how it distributes voting power to each state. I told him that there is some controversy with this system, but no changes have been made yet. I also told him about how candidates from each party are chosen by way of debates and primaries.

Peiheng Li TS#16

Date/Time: 4:00 - 5:00 PM (6/25)

Location: CGE

Topic/Skill: ECC

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 
Today, Yan and I went to ECC for our last tutoring session. This time, the tutor at ECC spoke even faster than the one when we were there last time. I could see Yan was still struggling with the talk sometimes, but I was happy to see she could freely express herself with few limits after comprehending such a fast speaking pace from the tutor.  Overall, she did very well. At least, bringing her to ECC could give her a better way to improve her listening because of the tutor's fast speaking pace in the first place. Once she overcame listening, words would come out of her mouth more naturally. Coming to ECC was one of my ways to improve the listening and speaking, so I hope ECC could help Yan in her English as well. 

Peiheng Li TS#15

Date/Time: 3:00 - 4:00 PM (6/25)

Location: CGE

Topic/Skill: Grammar

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 
Since Yan has some issues in using "the" as an indefinite article, I did some research and brought a hardcopy, which included the uses of "the", "a", and "an". We didn't have enough time to go over everything because of the limited time we had, but I helped her strengthen the knowledge of using "the" on different occasions and assisted her to better understand "the" with other unfamiliar occasions. Normally, "the" is used when something is specified before. I told Yan this is the most common situation in writing. She agreed, so I hope this tutoring session could be helpful for her. 

Peiheng Li TS#14

Date/Time: 3:00 - 4:00 PM (6/24)

Location: CIES

Topic/Skill: Grammar/Writing

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 
Today, Yan brought one of the writing drafts that she did in the last session.  After looking at her draft, I found out she had some issues that I had when I was improving my writing from her level --  the use of articles,  such as "the" and "a". I also pointed out some sentences that could be shortened because a writer definitely wants to express him or herself in an efficient way --  using fewer words to clearly tell readers their opinions. I have been through Yan's stage, so I can totally relate to her. One example as she had difficulties in using "the" was that she used "the English" to refer to English as a language. It should be "English" or "the English language". There were some points that I was not very sure, so I turned to ask Dr. P. This is one of the important things I learned from the TEFL class, always ask or search when you are not sure about something to show students your honesty, and it could also show students your motivation to correct yourself or improve yourself. 

Evan CP#6

Jeong Ho and I met at CIES and sat outside to talk and play chess. He asked me about my weekend to which I told him I went to Gainesville to meet my parents and rode down the Ichetucknee lazy river. He said that he had also been to Ichetucknee and that his sister lost her glasses in the river. We then discussed our plans for the next year. I told him I was planning to be in South Korea, and he told me to contact him when I get there. After playing chess we went inside because it was hot. Jeong Ho told me about the trip that his family was along the East side of the North America. This included cities like Washington D.C., Boston, Portland, and Toronto. I told him that a lot of those cities are known for their food and shared with him an website that he can use to find good places to eat in each of those locations. During the end of our meeting I tried to teach him the basics of Texas Hold 'Em.

Tatiana TS #12

Dojun asked to read an article together from NPR. It was called "A Whole Lot of Improv: Southwest Readjusts to a World Without Boeing 737 Max." It was a very interesting article about Boeing being approved, but having a lot of malfunctions. The FAA demanded change immediately, which is extremely difficult for an airline to try and chance its planes overnight. He did very well reading the article and asked me about phrases in different contexts. For instance, "heart and mind" where used and he knew what both those words meant, but did not understand the phrase. In this context, that phrase was used to describe the airline operations center as the heart and mind for Southwest. I explained its the center control system, so I compared it to the heart and mind of a human. The heart and mind is the center for humans, so the phrase was used to express the importance of this operation center to Southwest. I was impressed with  his comprehension level. We would reread the sentence he would ask about, and most of the time I made him read the sentence before or after it for context. We will be reading more articles together for our next session.

Evan TS#12

Dojun and I spoke over Skype and talked about more idioms. He thought the phrase "beat a dead horse" was funny. His definition was close to what it actually meant. He guessed that "beat a dead horse" meant that something was useless, but I modified his explanation to say that it means something is uselessly repetitive. If something is repeated too much, then it loses all of it strength. Another comical phrase was "hit the nail on the head." I chose some of these idioms because of their absurdity if understood literally. It would be difficult to guess that "hit the nail on the head" means to get something exactly right if it is understood only in the context of construction. I reinforced the meaning of "hit the nail on the head" when Dojun guessed correctly the meaning of "it's a piece of cake." Also, with the phrase "it's a piece of cake" I made sure to share a few more variations of the idiom like "easy as pie" or "easy-peasy" and even simply saying "that was cake."

Tatiana TS #11

I skyped with Samuel and we went over traveling phrases. He is traveling in Miami and we discussed important phrases that he should know. For example, I thought knowing how to ask about the prices and cost of anything would be extremely useful. We went over how to ask "How much does this cost?" "How much is this?" Also, he wanted to know how to ask if I had any suggestions for him. This is also a great phrase because when you are traveling it is nice to ask for recommendations from others. I told him to ask "Do you have any great recommendations?" "Do you have any suggestions for some restaurants?" There are certain phrases to learn that can be very useful when traveling. It  made me reflect on my own travels, and remember what phrases I made sure I knew for every country I visited.

Tatiana TS #10

I tutored Dojun again via skype. Things went well, but it is difficult since he is learning English on his own to help him. The students at CEIS had assignments, homework, and many classes. This means they would have many questions to ask me. Dojun is learning English on his own, so it can be hard to just speak about topics. We did go over more prepositions and he did very well the ones we covered from the previous session. He did ask me the difference between two phrases. "I know why you asked me." and "I know the reason why you asked me." He wanted to know the difference between the two phrases. I tried explaining the key difference is the word "reason." This word makes the sentence definite. You are 99% sure you know why someone asked you that question. Using the word reason, means you do know. Without the word "reason" you are just assuming or thinking you know, but truly you are not sure. You do not have a definite answer as to why they asked, but you might say that phrase because you have a couple clues. He asked me how to phrase the sentence better and I formed it into a question. "I was wondering why you asked me about that?" or "Why did you ask me?" and explained formal and informal ways of asking questions.

Jake TS #12

On Thursday I met with Turki at his apartment from 3-5. We watched some of the Women's World Cup and talked about what he would do leading up to him traveling to Indianapolis in 2 weeks to take the IELTS exam. I asked him about the different parts of the exam and why he had to travel so far to take it. We also talked some about the Midwest and different subcultures in America. Some of his roommates and friends from CIES came later and we talked a little bit about politics and the differences between news and media representation in different countries.

Jake TS #11

On Wednesday, Ignacio I met with Seop, Yong, and In-Young at CIES from 2:00-3:30. We talked mostly about the beginning of the new CIES session and about when they would leave Tallahassee and move somewhere else or return to Korea. Yong brought me and Ignacio some super spicy Korean ramen noodles and we talked about different cultural foods and their experiences in America and impressions of Tallahassee. We talked about pop culture and movies, then gave some examples of unusual or slang word usage especially used by young people. 

Jake TS #10

Last Sunday I met with Salem at Dunkin Donuts on Pensacola street from 3-4:30. We talked about some American idioms and different jokes that are commonly found in American and Saudi culture. He asked me a lot about high school academics and activities and told me about different kinds of high schools in Saudi Arabia and what his experience was like. He was curious if high school in America was similar to how it is often portrayed in films and I told him about some stereotypes and some generalizations about American high schools. He told me about his family's trip to Europe and that he wishes he could go with them and shared stories about traveling, and how he hopes his potential future as a pilot would allow him to travel to all sorts of cool places around the world.

Peiheng Li TS#13

Date/Time: 4:00 - 5:00 PM (6/20)

Location: CGE

Topic/Skill: ECC

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 
Yan wants to improve her speaking, so we went to ECC- English Conversation Club at CGE. We joined the conversation with two more people. I knew it wouldn't be busy in the summer, so Yan could get more chances to speak and listen. Apparently, the tutor at ECC spoke kind of faster than CIES teachers but Yan told me it was a good time to practice both speaking and listening. After ECC, we stayed for International Coffee Hour as well. So I basically showed her around what could do to improve her English after CIES. She said she wanted to come to ECC regularly in the future. I'm glad I could help. 

Peiheng Li TS#12

Date/Time: 4:00 - 5:00 PM (6/20)

Location: CIES

Topic/Skill: Grammar/Writing/ TOFEL

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 
Today, I met with Yan Zhao at CIES. I brought some materials to help her, because of her saying preposition and writing are her weakness. We went through half of the preposition words that I prepared for her, such as on and from. I also showed her my writings at CIES as samples. I brought my 2nd and 3rd draft as a way to show her the difference and what points a CIES writing teacher would focus on. Since she is going to take TOFEL, I also brought my notes to her. This time, we basically went through everything and we will look at them deeper next time.

Peiheng Li TS#11

Date/Time: 4:00 - 5:00 PM (6/18)

Location: CIES

Topic/Skill: Idioms

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 
Today, I met with Ignacio at CIES. Again, learning idioms through casual conversations is the best way for me, so we talked a lot this time as well. The topics were from dialects in China, accents in different regions in the US and Venezuela， which is where Ignacio was born. He shared how his family moved to the US in the 90s. "Don't throw stones at the glass house" was what I learned. It means there is no need to criticize a person whom everyone thinks is a bad person. We talked a lot more after. Talking to a native speaker is really a good way to learn a second language. 

Evan TS#11

Hyo Sang and I watched the Women's World Cup match between USA and Sweden. We discussed soccer terms and some notable players. He learned that the words incisive and pinpoint can be used to describe passing the ball in a direct and accurate fashion. Also, how words like possession and ball control can be attributed to a player or a playing style. Additionally, the meaning of the word nutmeg in the context of soccer, it's shortened version "meg," and how to use it in conversation. Hyo Sang asked me to identify some notable soccer players on the USA women's team and right after that a Nike commercial played showcasing some of the players I mentioned, coincidentally. He also asked me about types of handshakes like "dapping someone up" and fist-bumping. I said that those are very casual types of handshakes and that most people will introduce themselves with the more common style of handshaking.

Tatiana TS #9

I had a Skype session with Dojun Kim. He lives in Korea and if I heard correctly he is 40 years old (bad connection at times with Skype). His English is pretty decent. We started off quickly introducing each other. I asked him to tell me about his childhood and adulthood up until now using past tense. He was able to use irregular and regular past tense words very correctly. His main beautiful mistakes were with preposition usage. I went over the main three prepositions used daily (in, on, at). When I explained the uses for each preposition I provided many examples, which really helped him. He then asked me about the prepositions "beyond" and "through." The word "beyond" was simple to explain and use in sentences. However, the word "through" has numerous meanings when being used as a preposition. I had to give a fair amount of examples. He is a quick learner. He is learning English on his own now, so I am helping him with any questions he has. As homework, I asked him to use the prepositions we discussed to write clear sentences. We will go over his sentences at the start of the next session.

Tatiana CP #6

Samuel from CEIS and I had a final skype session for chatting. He wanted to have a final conversation in English. He elaborated very much about his job as a P.E. teacher and his plans to get his Doctorate degree. He is headed to Cuba, where he will stay for one month. I asked him questions about his favorite thing about Tallahassee/Florida? What does he really miss from home? I was impressed, because he would not have been able to fully answer or understand my questions his first week. CEIS has improved his English immensely! He talked about his program in Cuba, especially the English test that he has to take upon arrival. Professor Ryan at CEIS helped suggest a book for him and now is he reading a book written by an FSU professor in English. He wants to come back to FSU and learn more English. He was able to ask me many questions about Maryland. When I first started tutoring Samuel it was very difficult to ask him clear questions. This time, each question I asked him was followed by a detailed answer.  He is excited to leave rainy Tallahassee and be in sunny Miami and Cuba.

Tatiana CP #5

I was able to say goodbye to the twins it was a shorter conversation. They asked me what I was going to miss about Tallahassee, and if I was planning on returning. They also asked me about what countries I have decided on for my teaching, and I explained I am still not sure. They would love it if I went to Vietnam. They asked a little about my home in Maryland. It was impressive to see how well they kept asking questions. The questions they asked flowed very well and they were genuinely curious. I explained to them I am driving 13 hours home. They expressed that they have never done that. I will miss them and Yan Zhou very much.

Jake TS #9

Today I picked up Salem and we went to Tropical Smoothie and talked from 12:45-2:00. We got our food then talked about some common jokes and tongue twisters and shared them with each other. We talked about the ways high school is different and the different experiences students face. We talked about different sports, then about reading English and Arabic. I showed him some phrases and then he taught me about different writing styles I may see with Arabic.

Jake CP #6

On Sunday I met with Turki at his apartment from 12:30-3:00 for lunch. He made soup and I brought carrots and hummus to eat with pita bread. We hung out and talked about different American slang and how the internet can be really useful in learning informal American English. I talked with him and his roommate Yahyia about their upcoming exams (IELTS for Turki and GRE for Yahyia) and about different study tips or things that helped me with standardized testing. We also talked about what Turki would do in America before he leaves in August and how it was strange he has to travel to Indianapolis to take the IELTS exam. After that, we just hung out and talked in his living room and showed each other some funny videos and stories.

Evan TS#10

I met with Dojun from South Korea over Skype. I had never used Skype before, but everything worked out fine. He told me he works as an air traffic controller and that he wanted to improve his casual conversation skills. At first I wasn't sure where to start because it is hard to replicate the parts of American conversation on the spot. However, he mentioned that he wanted to know more idioms and that helped me find more talking points. We discussed phrases like "call it a day" and "wrap it up" which fit nicely into conversations that could be held in a workplace. We also discussed the phrase "before you know it" which I have used with a few of my tutees and conversations partners. I have found that by repeatedly explaining idioms I become better at finding examples that illustrate what they mean. I most cases, Dojun could figure out what they meant with literal dictionary translations, but lacked the cultural understanding of the phrases. 

Ignacio TS#11

Date: Friday, June 14th
Location: Five Guys
Tutees: Seop and Yong

I met with Seop, Yong, and Jake at Five Guys last Friday. We had a great long conversation. I got the impression that Seop was improving in his English. Since we first started meeting, I've noticed he has more confidence in elaborating, albeit still having trouble with vocab and pronunciation. We talked about fast food in the US (since we were at a burger joint), and how it compared to Korea. We went over some idioms people use when they're hungry and other situations. It was a fun meeting with the two Korean students.

Ignacio TS#10

Date: Thursday, June 13th

Location: My house

Tutees: Jenny, Yebin, Seop 

I invited Jenny, Yebin, and Seop to my house to cook some traditional Venezuelan food with them. They brought along another Korean friend of theirs'; Yong. I had actually played soccer with Yong before but did not know he was a part of the CIES as well. We cooked some food and talked about some of the cultural aspects of, for example, a dinner with friends, dinner with a partner, dinner with your boss, etc. I learned as much about Korean customs in these aspects as they hopefully understood from my explanations. They also brought a traditional Korean rice drink which was delicious. 

Ignacio TS#9

Date: Thursday, June 14th
Location: CIES
Tutees: Peiheng, Jenny, Seop

I met with all three of my tutees this day so that we could have a large conversation. We went over several common idioms like "don't fly too close to the sun" and also some other words like "hubris" related to the idiom and "homebody." We spoke about the driving standards in Korea, China, and the US and about how the licenses are different in each country. We met inside one of the classrooms of the CIES so we could use the board and further explain concepts. It was a good session.

Ignacio TS#8

Date: Wednesday, June 12th
Location: CIES
Tutee: Yebin

Yebin met with me as I was finishing my tutoring session with Jenny. Yebin is studying at TCC in the fall and she hopes to transfer to UF after. At first, I helped Yebin with her upcoming exams but now that she is done with those I've been helping her with vocab, slang, and idioms. Yebin has a great level of English so we can dive into some good topics. It was a great session with Yebin. She is leaving town soon so this was one of my last sessions with her.

Ignacio TS#7

Date: Wednesday, June 12th
Location: CIES
Tutee: Jenny

Jenny and I had a casual tutoring session this day. We built on the idioms we had worked on the previous session and she focused on asking me about some cultural norms when it comes to greetings and understanding the mood of a room/conversation. I always try to relate the cultural questions my conversation partners ask me towards their own culture's norms. I try to do this not to make them rely on comparing them but so that they could grasp the differences.

Tatiana CP #4

During my last week I met with Yan upstairs for lunch time. I was checking in with her about CEIS, living situation, and her experience here. Her roommate is attending Med School at FSU and all of her neighbors are also doctors. She was explaining to me that it is hard to hangout with them, since they are at the library studying until 11 or 12pm. She told me that their hair was starting to slowly fall out from stress. They are Chinese as well, so she does have companionship and can communicate with them in Chinese. She was also looking at the School of Education at FSU. I know she is interesting in taking the GRE or GMAT. I explained that the GRE or GMAT is what every Master's program application needs in order for someone to get accepted into a Master's program. She is still trying to decide which one to take.  I found it very interesting when she started to explain the Chinese language. She said that for the Chinese language each word is a sound. We were comparing Chinese to the English language where some sounds in a word are not pronounced. In China, every sound is pronounced, which makes it easier. She expressed her frustration with the English language, and asked why do they put many letters in words that are silent or pronounced differently? I did not have an answer for her, but it was a good point that she made. Many words in the English language have special pronunciation rules or silent rules and that is very difficult to pick up on when learning the English language.

Tatiana CP #3

My conversation partners found out I was paired with both of them, so they wanted to meet up together. We went to Chic-Fil-A on campus, and Han Mai's twin came along too. We were talking about weddings and in Vietnam it is common for an 18 year old to get married. The twins were explaining how they have a lot of friends from high school who were married or getting married. They showed us pictures of their friends in beautiful wedding dresses and accessories. Yan and I both were intrigued at the idea of an 18 year old getting married. Also, in Vietnam college/Universities are relatively small unlike the Universities in China and the U.S. At one point we got on the topic of music again, and we learned that Yan does not listen to any music. When we asked "why" she replied that she prefers silence instead. That is something to reflect on, because sometimes silence makes you think more. Constantly listening to music can be a distraction, while some silent times is great for self thinking and learning. The girls are in level 3 and 4 CEIS classes. Han Mai was practicing her speaking presentation. She had to make a powerpoint, and then present it to the class.

Tatiana CP #2

This time I met with Yan Zhou who is from China. She was very sweet and cooked me a delicious lunch. She prepared cooked eggplant with a very spicy sauce, broccoli, scrambled eggs, and a crepe like bread. I loved the meal, and I thought it was very thoughtful of her to want to cook for me. She is 27 years old and married. She showed me pictures of her husband and explained how they have known of each other since middle school. She told me a lot about Chinese food. I told her some of the things that I would typically eat for lunch or dinner. It was fun exchanging with each other the different types of food we are used to eating. I find it interesting that besides Mcdonald's, KFC is the other main fast food joint in China. It is surprising because KFC is not that popular anymore in the United States, because people prefer to eat Chic-Fil-A instead of fried chicken. I was told KFC is pretty big in China. She thinks Tallahassee is one of the hottest places she has ever visited, and I can agree with her on that.

Tatiana CP #1

I met with Han Mai downstairs in the lounge and kitchen. She is from Vietnam and is here to attend FSU to eventually become a nurse. She was very interesting to talk with. I told her how I was considering Vietnam as one of my countries to go teach in and she was very excited to hear that. She said the Vietnamese language is fairly simple and that in just one month I would be about to speak decent Vietnamese.  Her twin sister is here too. I was able to meet her and chat with her as well. They both were able to keep the conversation flowing. I was impressed with her english and she was eager to ask me many questions.  I found out her favorite singer is Cardi B, and that she loves all pop music artists.

Peiheng Li TS#10

Date/Time: 5:00 - 6:00 PM (6/15)

Location: CIES

Topic/Skill: Diagonsis 

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 
Today, I tutored a Chinese student, Yan Zhao. As a new international student, she had some learning issues as I did. Speaking was challenging for her at first, and it took her some time to overcome the fear. This time, I basically did a diagnosis with her so that we can focus on more detailed tasks next time. She wanted to improve his writing specifically. She also wanted to prepare for her TOFEL. Hence, there are lots of things to cover next time.  From her story, I realized the significance of affective filter again because it really affects if a student can be motivated or brave enough to overcome obstacles while learning a new language. 

Peiheng Li TS#9

Date/Time: 4:00 - 5:00 PM (6/14)

Location: CIES

Topic/Skill: Idioms

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 
It was my fourth tutoring session with Ignacio. Two Korean students joined us this time. I learned some new idioms through casual conversation which covered topics, such as plastic bag use in the US, military service, and the driving test in the US. I couldn't believe there is such a word called "homebody" in the US to describe a person who is always staying at home. I guess it is just because video games are becoming huge everywhere in the world. I also learned "don't fly too close to the sun" which means " be humble". "Hubris" was another new word that I learned.

Ignacio TS#5

Date: June 5th
Location: CIES
Tutees: Jenny

I met with Jenny in the lounge of the CIES. I explained to her the idiom of "I've got a lot on my plate," because that day I had a few errands to run. Eventually, we talked about different ways in which she could memorize the idioms. I told her to try and write down a few to use for everyday occurrences and afterward she could branch out and learn more. Jenny's English is advanced and so I told her that it would be no time before she started picking up on more native-like speech patterns and phrases. She told me she would try and find some comparable Korean idioms to those of the US' and show me in the next tutoring session.

Ignacio TS#6

Date: June 8th
Location: La Tiendita
Tutee: Peiheng

I met with Peiheng around late afternoon and we talked for about an hour. We started by talking about different music, at the restaurant there was Spanish rap music playing and so I asked Peiheng if he grew up listening to rap in China or if he got into that type of music while in the US. He told me he liked a few older artists and some newer ones. We continued the session and I taught Peiheng some good idioms to use, I tried to give appropriate analogies to the sentiment/emotion the idiom is trying to convey. Overall it was a great time speaking with Peiheng. 

Jake TS #8

On Friday night I picked up Seop and his Korean friend Yong with Ignacio and we all went to Five Guys to get some burgers. We sat outside and talked from around 7:00 to 9:30. We talked about many things, from food to Korean culture, to cartoons, to university exams, and to American common slang and idioms used informally by many young Americans. It was awesome to hear more about Korean culture and share an experience with Seop and his friend's first time eating Five Guys burgers. I'm glad Seop and his friend will stay in Tallahassee for the next session and I will continue to meet with Seop and continue to help improve speaking fluency, pronunciation, and informal speech usage.

Jake TS #7

On Thursday I met with Seop at CIES from 3:00-4:10. We talked mainly about the ending of the CIES session and what he would do in the immediate future and when returning to Korea. Seop talked studying at another university in Korea and how the education and university systems work in South Korea to be accepted. Seop then spoke about the session and CIES and told me that he wanted to focus on listening and speaking skills and I gave him the advice to watch American TV shows and movies and to continue to interact with English speakers and to keep in contact, even in Korea to continue to improve his speaking and communicative fluency.

Jake CP #5

On Wednesday I met with Turki at CIES from 3:00-4:15. We talked about some differences in climate between Tallahassee and Medina since it was a really hot summer day and there was a thunderstorm. I told him about the typical Tallahassee summer weather and about different perceptions of rain and other severe weather. We talked about the hurricanes that hit Tallahassee the last two years, and he told me a funny story about how when there was no power he traveled and then teased his CIES friends who didn't have electricity. Turki told me about some land his father bought in Saudi Arabia and was building a foundation and a little more about the mountains around Medina. For future use of English in Saudi Arabia, Turki told me about a new "smart city" that was being built or planned in the future, and the job prospects he would face upon returning to Saudi Arabia.

Jake TS #6

Last Tuesday afternoon I met with Seop from 3:30-4:50 at CIES. We talked a little bit about his time in America and what would happen when he returned to Korea with military service and possible job prospects. I asked him about how companies and employers view English speaking and if it is important for certain jobs. We also had a nice discussion about the differences between cars and fossil fuels in America and Korea, and how people view different sources of energy (renewable and non-renewable). We talked about his sisters and how they live and attend university in Seoul and he explained the typical living situation and price in Seoul as well as some areas in Seoul where foreigners often live or the high rent districts. Before we left I asked Seop about his dream job and dream car and I gave him my answers as well.

Jake CO#3

Last Tuesday I observed Mr. Fleming's speaking class from 1:00-1:50. At the beginning of the class, the instructor showed the students an outline of the lesson that day. The students were analyzing survey data they collected from other CIES students and forming conclusion sentences (3/5 American students drive cars, so many Amerian students probably drive to class every day). Students asked questions about how to use conclusion sentences and phrases in practical informal use, and the instructor made sure to correct errors and help the students form good sentences. The students talked with partners and after discussion, the instructor asked the class to remember good examples of things to put in PowerPoint presentations. After students provided examples such as adding pictures, graphs, and a weird or funny fact, students went down into the computer lab and started making PowerPoint presentations with their partners. They chose data from their surveys and were asked to put it into the presentation. The instructor spent the rest of the class observing and interacting with students as they made their presentations and helped them format their information.

Evan TS#9

Hyo Sang and I met at Momo's pizza with his friend Seop. While there Seop asked me a few questions about phrases like "watch what you eat" and "watch my food." They also taught me that when Koreans make a bad joke they cover their mouths and make a funny sound. I found this hilarious. Hyo Sang and I also watched some women's soccer at CIES. We discussed soccer terminology like "substitution" and its shortened version "sub." We even talked about descriptive words that can be used in a soccer setting. Hyo Sang asked if I knew any cards games because he was curious about some games that he saw people playing when he was in a casino in China. I told him some of the basic rules and lingo to play Texas Hold 'Em. He told me he was a little worried about his pronunciation of the word "beach" because he did not want to be misunderstood as saying a more vulgar word which a similar sound. I said that context is very helpful for interpreting that word correctly, so as long as it is clear that he is talking about something beach related he should not be misunderstood.

Evan TS#8

Hyo Sang and I met at CIES and watched the women world cup. During the game he would ask me questions about things happening in the game, or about events that happened during the past week that he did not know how to respond to. We discussed the difference between the multiple meanings of the word "mean." Also, we talked about ways to tell someone that something is awkward. For instance, Hyo Sang was playing pictionary and was given a card that had something on it which he was uncomfortable drawing. He said that he just smiled and laughed it off, but wanted to know a better way to share his feelings. I told him that one could say, "I'm sorry, but I am uncomfortable drawing this," or "I would feel awkward if I drew this." I was also able to ask him about some cultural differences between the U.S. and S.K. like the proper way to introduce yourself to someone, and table manners.

Evan CP#5

Jeong Ho and I met at the CIES building today. We watched the Women's World Cup and played chess. Jeong Ho asked me about American schools, their mascots, and events. We had both had field days in middle and elementary school. He went to elementary school in America, and then went to middle and high school in South Korea. He said that his high school mascot was a flower and a tree which was very different from my high school which was a cougar. He was surprised to hear that prom was held in a hotel instead of the school gym as he was expecting from television. Even the cars in school parking lots were different. At my school, it wasn't unusual to see expensive cars driven by the students, but Jeong Ho said that in South Korea most students bought their own cars and they were much cheaper than their teachers' cars.

Vie Miller TS#8

For my next lesson with Song, I typed up a short paragraph that she had hand-written about St. George Island (see previous post) and analyzed it in-depth for grammar errors. I created a list before the lesson, and I hoped that we’d get a chance to go through and correct all the errors that she had made. I was perhaps overly ambitious--we only got through commas, gerunds, and proper vs. common nouns. Still, I think it was a really good lesson, and by the end, Song had a better grasp of the difference between gerunds and verbs as well as common nouns and proper nouns. Strangely enough, we spent the most time on capitalization in proper nouns vs. common nouns because of a cultural misunderstanding. I wrote down ‘soda’ as an example of a common noun and Coca-Cola as an example of a proper noun Song became very confused, and I only learned later that she thought soda mean Sprite as well as all other sodas that were not Coca-Cola. The lesson here may be this: don’t shoot from the hip, but pick out your examples beforehand.

Vie Miller TS#7

Kubra wants to be a better English speaker. She wants to get an LLM, and she knows that a lawyer entering the LLM program must have a strong command of English--stronger than what (I’d guess) is expected from many of her classmates. I initially struggled to find the best way to help her “speak” English grammar correctly, but then it occurred to me: her understanding of grammar rules will be reflected in her writing as well as her speech! I quickly found an exercise online which asked Kubra to write the summary of a movie. After she was finished, I listened to her read the speech out loud and asked where she heard grammar mistakes. She made some corrections and handed her written summary to me. I proceeded to review it for further mistakes, and after I was done, I mentioned a few tense changes and misplaced articles to Kubra. I explained the problems as best I could--I am more familiar with verb tenses than determiners--and decided that next time, we would work on using determiners correctly while introducing some more complex verb tenses that Kubra is less familiar with but which would help her writing immensely. 

Vie Miller TS#6

After my second lesson with Song, I decided that it was important for me to see her write and review her writing; by doing so, I hoped to get a better understanding of her grammar knowledge than I could get from listening to her speak. Since this my tutee Kubra was having a similar issue, I decided to use the same movie scripting activity which I did with Kubra earlier in the week. I am happy to say that Song very much enjoyed the activity. She essentially rewrote “The Old Man and the Sea,” but instead of taking place off the coast of Cuba, it was set in St. George Island--a popular local beach which Song had visited for the first time the other week! Song spend about five minutes writing her story, and when she was done, I asked her to read it out loud while I followed along. Song was mostly consistent in the tense of her verbs, but she struggled to place articles in front of the appropriate word as well as use commas in her paragraph. I explained the use of articles and commas but promised her that out next lesson would include specific practice on both.

Vie Miller TS#5

Song and I sat down at El Cocinero for lunch and our second lesson. She wanted to improve her speech, so I decided to run a speaking drill with her similar to the one used on the TOEFL exam. Over chips and guac, I asked Song short questions and gave her 45 seconds to think through and verbally share her answer and her rationale. Song took a little longer than 45 seconds to formulate her thoughts and reply --I became stricter with time as we carried on--but I was proud of the results. The meaning of her replies was always very clear, and though I found myself struggling to take write down her responses as she shared them (as the recording app on my phone was less intuitive than I had anticipated), I still was able to give her feedback on her grammar-in-use. That said, I don’t think I will use this exercise again with Song. She enjoyed the activity, but I felt like I needed a better sense of her own understanding of grammar; the only way to get that (I think) is to ask her to write first and speak second.

Vie Miller CP#5

When I met Kubra for our conversation partner meeting, she welcomed me into the space and greeted me in the traditional way which Turkish woman greet Turkish woman: touching cheeks on each side of one’s face and kissing the air. I wasn’t aware of this custom, and I flubbed my hello by not fully touching my cheeks to hers. I asked her what I should have done and we laughed about it afterwards. Interestingly, this mix-up became a subject of conversation between us. The handshake is commonly used in both our cultures, but many Americans give or expect a hug to accompany the greeting of a close friend or relative. Kubra thought the hug was a little too intimate for anyone but a close friend, and I lamented that my culture didn’t have anything in-between a handshake and a hug which we could use during a greeting.

Vie Miller CP#4

I’ve always been told that the residents of other countries pay attention to American politics and the American political system. I certainly got that impression from Kubra, who asked about the American electoral system during a recent meeting. Kubra is very educated and already knows the difference between direct and representative democracy (I’m sure she could actually lecture me in it!). What was harder to explain was the United States’ Electoral College, for a similar institution does not exist in Turkey. Taking hold of a plate of salad and a spoon that were sitting on the table in front of us, I shifted roughly a quarter of the salad to one side of the bowl and the larger portion to the other; each portion of salad represented the number of votes for one of two candidates. I then explained that the Electoral College is a ‘winner-take-all’ system in which only one candidate can win a state (the bowl) and its assigned number of seats in the Electoral College. That is somewhat fair in states where there is clearly a preference for one candidate--a situation represented by the current division of salad in the bowl. But in states where the number of votes--the portions of salad--were similar, the situation becomes trickier: a small number of votes for one candidate over another will result in ALL of the state’s votes given to the candidate who won while opposition’s votes are effectively meaningless. I asked Kubra’s impression of the Electoral College, and she responded that it has the potential to produce unfair outcomes.

Vie Miller CP#3

This evening, my conversation partner Kubra and her fiancé Said invited me to their home for dinner. We compared American and Turkish weddings--mostly by watching celebrity weddings posted on Youtube--for over an hour, and found many similarities but many differences. Everyone left feeling very surprised! Kubra and Said told me that Turkish weddings are always large, so that the bride and groom can receive many gifts from family and friends; that Turkish weddings are accompanied by many ceremonies (including a noxious cocktail for the groom prepared by the Bride), so that all of the family can enjoy in the festivities; and that Turkish weddings always have wonderful music and dancing, so that everyone can fondly remember the special occasion. In turn, I began to tell them about American weddings--the generic pop music, the short ceremony + long after-party, the flower toss, etc--but I stopped halfway through: many American weddings (especially those of immigrant families) are not so bland. I ended by speculating out-loud that many white Americans gave up the wedding traditions of their ethnic forebearers in the process of assimilation, which I thought--especially after viewing the beauty of a Turkish wedding--was a shame.

Vie Miller CO #3

My final class observation took place on the last day of our CIES class. The students were grouped into pairs and asked to use the photographic evidence in front of them--as well as their own background knowledge-- --to answer a list of questions about the Civil Rights Movement here in the United States. I work as an organizer and am deeply interested in the history of social change, so I was very excited to speak with them about a movement that (I think) represents the best of what America can be; at the same time, I tried to temper my expectations--the students might be interested in business, policing, or any number of fields besides human rights, and I shouldn’t expect them to be as excited about the history of social change--particularly the history of social change in America--as I am.  However, the student that I sat down we was neither enthusiastic or nonplussed; instead, he was jaded. I didn’t really understand until we got to the last question (“talk about someone from your country who has tried to change things”), and he told me that many activists in his home country had been killed. I wasn’t surprised to hear this, but his response did leave me with the following thought: I need to be very intentional about how politics and social change are experienced in my host country before I bring up any issues.

Tatiana TS #8

I met with Samuel at Starbucks. He is also learning the different variations of the future tense. He gets the hang of it pretty quickly, but sometimes creates long sentences that turn into run on sentences. He comes up with create ideas for his sentences, but writes a lot of detail. Sometimes the sentences become run ons and I try and explain that he does not need to elaborate on everything. Especially at level 2, we want to make sure they understand the correct phrases and tenses. In the higher levels it seems more appropriate to work on writing skills and giving a lot of detail. He enjoys writing sentences for each type of future tense and he picked up the concept well.

Tatiana TS #7

Kubra received a 96% on her grammar test grade. I was helping her study for it earlier in the week. I am so happy for her. Now, Kubra is learning about the future tense. For example, "i will be going" or "i will" phrases. She is able to write clear sentences with the future tenses, but does not know the difference of when they are used. The teacher's notes state that "i will be going to" is used for planned events that one knows is going to happen. The regular "I will" phrases are more unknown and unplanned events. Things that are not 100% guaranteed in the future. Being a native speaker I don't pay attention to when I used which future tense phrase. I just use a phrase when it seems appropriate. It is very interesting tutoring the CEIS students, because my knowledge is refreshed.

Jake CP #4

Yesterday I met with Turki at CIES from 3:00 to 4:00, we talked mostly about the climate and weather in Tallahassee and in Saudi Arabia and cultural differences such as the perception of rain. We talked about how the weather can affect life in both places and severe weather such as hurricanes that have gone through Tallahassee in the past two years. Then we talked about car accidents and what it's like to drive when dealing with weather or roadwork. Finally, we talked a little bit about sports and the NBA finals which we had watched some together and what we thought might happen in the future. I told him about what my family was doing this summer and asked him what he thought of Tallahassee in the summer.

Jake TS #5

On Saturday I met with Salem at Dunkin Donuts from 3:15-4:45. We talked about his future and the IELTS exam he plans to take. Although he doesn't know specifics, Salem told me a lot about learning aviation and about all the different classes of licenses and what you have to do for them. I asked him a lot about traveling and what being a pilot is like in Saudi Arabia compared to the US. We also talked about some of the difficulties faced when reading English and spelling difficult words that do not sound the way they look when spelled. Salem was curious and as was I, so we had a neutral political discussion where I talked to him about a lot of American history and he told me about differences in the last few Saudi rulers and about the royal family.

Evan TS#7

Hyo Song and I talked about slang and idioms again. First we reviewed the words and phrases that we covered during the last meeting. I even heard him use the phrase "easy-peasy" during the listening class that I had taught earlier that week. He was excited to learn more phrases as his primary goal this semester was to be able to carry more natural conversations with Americans. We then talked about our plans for the weekend. I told him I was going to a barbeque and hoped that it would not rain. He said he was going to First Friday with his sister and also hoped that is would not rain. He wasn't quite sure what First Friday was, so I explained to him that it is when all the shops at Railroad Square Art Park stay open late, and food trucks meet inside the park as well. After that he was even antsier to go.

Peiheng Li TS#8

Date/Time: 3:00 - 4:00 PM (6/8)

Location: La Tendia 

Topic/Skill: Idioms

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 
It was my third tutoring session with Ignacio. It was very casual and more like a conversation partner session. He taught me idioms through conversations. We talked about our own lives and rap music. We both kinda agreed that rap could be a good media to express one's thoughts because rappers can include a ton of information in one song, compared to rock. However, the mainstream content of rap might not have a postive influence on young people because of the toxic things in mainstream rap music. I learned "shoot yourself in the foot" which means you are lying to yourself about something you can't actually do really well. Good tutoring session. I look forward to the next one with Ignacio. 

Peiheng TS#7

Date/Time: 8:00 - 9:00 PM (6/8)

Location: Skype

Topic/Skill: Idioms/cultural observation

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 

It was my third tutoring session with Dojun. We covered several American millennial idioms, such as rachet, spilling the tea, dead, I want to kill myself and lit. Both of us saw the heavy influence of the internet and social media among young people in the US.  I talked about the party culture with Dojun as well and he was kinda shocked the drinking age here is 21. Then, I shared something I know about the tipping culture in the US. Tipping is a widely practiced social custom in the US but it is not widely practiced in Asian countries. Dojun said tipping in South Korea is not expected. However, if people are dining in some western restaurants, tipping is kinda expected.  Next time, I will cover the presidential election system in the US. 

Peiheng Li CP#6

Date/Time:6/6/6:30PM to 7:50PM

Location: Blossom Kitchen

Cultural and/or linguistic topics you and your partner learned: 

This was my conversation partner session with Michael. We went to the Chinese restaurant that is next to CIES -- Blossom Kitchen. We talked about our past life experiences and our plans in the next few months. It was a fun time as always. Even though our session has ended, we decided to meet up again next week. Thanks to the TEFL, I made a friend with Michael who always has a good attitude and intelligent opinions. 

Michael Napoli CP#6

I enjoyed my conversation meeting with Pei. We went back to that very good Chinese restaurant. I had my favorite dish of Pepper Chicken. I enjoyed my conversation with Pei. We talked mostly about the future. Pei told it was hard for him to juggle both his American and Chinese life. I told him once he got settled in his career he would have no problem juggling the two worlds. I told him that maybe he should work for a Chinese company that would allow him to do business in America. He said he was already looking at a job like that in China already. We then talked about the process for getting a job with the Chinese government. There is a certain test that you need to pass to get a job in the Chinese government. You also have to know someone in the Chinese government, who can get you pass the interview process. Pei said that is the difference between America and China. To climb the latter of success in China you always have to know someone.

Evan CP#4

Jeong Ho told me about his recent trip to Alaska. He went with his family on a cruise after flying from Tallahassee to Seattle. His pronunciation of "Seattle" was hard to understand, so I had him slow down and repeat the city name. He said he would work on making the corrects sounds for our next meeting. While on the cruise Jeong Ho visited Juneau, kayaked, and relaxed in the hot tubs. He was hoping to see whales jump out of the water, but they only ever peeked their fins out. "Fin" is another word that Jeong Ho said he would practice because he kept using the "p" sound in place of the "f." We then talked about movies that are being released soon like The Lion King. He said that The Lion King was one of the first movies that he used to teach himself English. His interest in the movie gave the me the idea to find ways of using classic movies like The Lion King in listening and reading activities for potential classes.

Nic Reagan TS #16

     This was my last tutoring session. Chinese student Yan and I met in the CIES breakroom from 4-5:20 pm. She wanted help with composition. I was able to use an article about Starbucks changing its bathroom policy to further Yan's education. I read her the article and then she provided a written summary based on her notes and I asked her to summarize the article verbally. I then helped her correct and organize the summary to standard English form.
     It's difficult to switch from a writing style where the thesis is so up-front as compared to China where the thesis is in the concluding paragraph. We discussed these differences and the difficulties she has been having with composition. We determined that her structure is actually sufficient, but getting the details like prepositions correctly in place and tense agreement is where she needs to focus for writing fluency.
     For the last 20 minutes Yan wanted to discuss Chinese versus US parental expectations and Chinese government. I was happy to have this discussion and we decided that there are both some similarities and differences in these areas between our two countries.
     I enjoyed tutoring Yan and wished her well in her future in China as an English teacher. She also wished me well in Mexico and we parted ways.

Nic Reagan TS #15

     Today was my last tutoring session with Colombian student Samuel from 3-4 pm at CIES. He wanted to study simple future and future continuous verb tenses, so we started with some examples of those. We then broadened the lesson to include simple present/simple past/present continuous/ past continuous. These were tense he had already learned, so we practiced all of them. Last week, Samuel had been having trouble with the use of whose/who's, so in the middle of our tenses lesson I reviewed this with him utilizing a worksheet. He has progressed well in distinguishing whose/who's and by the end of today's session was also proficient in all of these tenses. Knowing of his future in sports media, I tried to keep all of the verbs within the realm of sports.
     It's sad to say goodbye to a student, but I wished Samuel the very best. It feels good that I was able to help him in his English journey!

Michael J. Napoli TS#16

I tutored Vanessa at 12:00 P.M. on Wednesday. We talked about the subordinate conjunction. I showed hera special video with Subordinate Conjunctions. In this video I showed her how to identify independent clauses and dependent clauses within the subordinate conjunction sentence. I also showed her that when the subordinate conjunction is at the beginning of the sentence the comma goes between the dependent and independent conjunction. When the subordinate conjunction is between the dependent and independent clause there is no comma. Vanessa understood it perfectly. She mastered it immediately. She is very intelligent and has a good ability to figure things out. It was hard to hold her attention though. I felt she did not take the tutoring session very seriously. I think it might just be a cultural thing. She was very polite to me personally.

Tatiana TS #6

I met with Samuel. He was practicing sentences in past continuous. He is very good at understanding the verb conjugations in his writing, however, when he speaks he forgets to conjugate the verbs. We had to leave CEIS at 7, so we sat outside on the bench. Huge ants were crawling all over my legs and Samuel laughed. He said that these ants are nothing compared to the large ants in Colombia. We finished our tutoring session outside. It was helpful moving outside, because he was able to think of different verbs. For example,  a biker passed by and Samuel used biking as his verb. He was able to use the outside for his sentence examples.

Tatiana TS #5

I tutored Kubra again and we went over "used to" past tense phrases. The teacher emphasized the two different instances when "used to" phrases should be used. They should be used to describe a fact that happened or a routine. We practiced writing many different sentences for each use. It can be tricky to differentiate what is considered a fact or a routine in your own past. Kubra does very well. She is a fast learner and is not hesitate to ask questions. She opened up to me about her personal life. She shared with me the reason she and her fiancé left Turkey. She has a great heart and I want more people to know about her great actions that took place in Turkey.

Ignacio TS#4

Date/Time: Friday, May 31st, 2019

Location: CIES

Partner: Jenny and Yebin

Although I had originally worked with Yebin to tutor her for her upcoming CLEP history exam, she no longer is taking that test so she just wants to improve her English in general. Yebin and Jenny, my new tutor, are friends as they are both Korean. Jenny seems a little more confident in her ability so having all of us talk and learn is a good dynamic. Jenny and Yebin want to learn idioms, so we tried to weave them into our conversation and I tested them on some common idioms. They seem to have some idioms memorized from prior exposure but at times they know just the phrase and not the meaning. I have a feeling some of the other CIES students face a similar dilemma. 

Ignacio CP #5

Date/Time: Friday, June 3rd, 2019

Location: CIES

Partner: Seop

Seop and I talked after I had met with Jenny and Yebin. They are all Korean and friends so we picked up where I left off with them. We talked for a bit about American dating customs. We compared some of the appropriate actions guys or girls take when they are approaching someone to date/talk to. We noticed that in America and Korea where couples or those who are dating meet up might be different. It was a really fun conversation and some of the other CIES students ended up joining in. 

Jake Kile CP #3

Sunday night I met with Turki and many other Arab CIES students at Turki's apartment for Iftar from 8:15-10:30. Because it is the month of Ramadan, I joined them for dinner when the sun set and talked with Turki, Salem, and others. It was a wonderful experience but a bit difficult to pick up any bits of Arabic they were speaking. I was able to practice a little bit of my Arabic skills and introduced myself and spoke a bit. During the dinner I asked many questions about the delicious food we ate and talked about American sports because we had the NBA Finals basketball game on the TV. I really enjoyed getting to learn more about Arabic and especially Saudi culture and by speaking and watching everyone during Iftar and prayer after dinner I understood more. Everyone was so polite and after dinner we drank coffee and had nice conversations about American sports and popular TV shows.

Jake Kile TS #4

On Saturday I met with Salem at Strozier Library from 1:00-2:15 and we introduced ourselves and learned about each other. He spoke about his goals for learning English and taking the IELTS exam and told me about his experiences so far leaving Saudi Arabia and coming to America. Salem told me that reading English was the most difficult aspect for him but his speech was impressive and there were few major errors. He told me about how he spent time in Boston and then came to Tallahassee because Florida is a good state for students who want to study aviation. We talked about some of the differences such as driving in America and Saudi Arabia and the cost of attending university and the scholarships available. I asked him questions about the end of Ramadan and Eid and he taught me a lot I didn't know.

Jake Kile TS #3

On Wednesday I met with Seop at CIES from 3:30-4:50. During our meeting time, we mostly spoke about cultural differences between Korea and America and I learned a lot about internet cafes and some other popular things that young people enjoy. We also talked about Seop's family in Tallahassee and his impressions of Tallahassee. Seop and I both enjoy traveling and we discussed places we have traveled in America and places we want to go in the future, especially American national parks like the Grand Canyon. You have to know a little bit about another culture to truly realize how little you know and speaking with people from other perspectives and backgrounds is both refreshing and rewarding.

Peiheng Li TS#6

Date/Time: 9:00 - 10:00 PM (6/1)

Location: Skype

Topic/Skill: Idioms/cultural observation

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 

This time, I did my second tutoring session with Dojun who is from South Korea. In the beginning, we went through the difference between idioms and phrases again because I thought my answer last was not 100 percent correct. Before the session, I did some research and showed him what it says online. Just like what I learned from the TEFL class, an English teacher needs to be accountable so the teacher needs to do research if he or she isn't sure about how to answer students' questions. Actually, it was a learning experience for me as well so that I can surely tell the difference between idioms and phrases now.  Then, we discussed some idioms I found, such as "get the hang of it" " hit me up" " before you know it" "here and there" etc.. These idioms were what I am familiar with because I didn't want to confuse both of us with some idioms I don't know. Dojun was taking notes, and hopefully he learned something from my tutoring. At the end, we exchanged our observations about the current economic situation of Korea and the US. It was fun overall. I am looking forward to the next session with him next week,