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.