Camille-CP1

HOORAY FOR CONVERSATION PARTNERS!
When I walked into the common room on Tuesday, I found Suzanne and Jordan talking to a group of individuals. We all talked in a group for a while with CIES students and the entire time I was trying to figure out who my partner was. Finally, Hussan talked to me for a while and explained that my partner, named Abdulla Asultan, had stepped out of the room for a brief moment. I proceeded to talk with Hussan until Abdulla came back. Hussan was very comfortable in his English and even spoke with some slang. I automatically assumed that Abdulla was on the same level as his friend, but this was not the case. I met Abdulla, who appeared very shy and reserved. His English is at an elementary level which suprised me. We spoke about basic subjects such as school, home and family. There would be times where he would not be able to formulate the sentence in English and would finish it in Arabic. Also there would be times where he could not understand what I was saying and I had to rearrange the sentence in simpler terms. I would ask a simple question, for example, "What is your favorite part about Florida?" and he would response with "good." I like to think of this conversation partner as a challenge since I will be able to see his progress throughout the six weeks I will be working with him. Also, with our contrasting personalities I am hoping to bring him out of his shell and have him feel comfortable around me. After our meeting, we exchanged cell phone numbers for text back a forth a little later that night. Jaime, Suzanne, Jordan and I all have conversation partners that speak Arabic, so they are all friends. We all made plans to do some out of school activities with each other to introduce our partners to the Tallahassee area. I am excited to begin this journey with Abdulla.