Carlos-CP8

After our TEFL class on Tuesday, I took Abdel out to dinner. He was able to sneak in and pay for our last dinner together so I was eager to return the favor. I decided to take him to Super Perros. We had had previous conversations about food we enjoyed, and Abdel pretty much enjoys any meal complimented with rice. On top of that, he has told me that he loves plantains, which I remember Super Perros offering on their menu. When we got there, he was curious as to what kind of restaurant we were at. I had kept him in the dark about where we were eating, knowing he is open to new foods, and just told him to trust me. He was very excited when I told him the restaurant was Colombian because he was not very familiar with the foods. As we looked through the menu, I recommended him to the page with the more traditional meals and we had some fun doing some Spanish pronunciation for a change.

I was impressed with how comfortable Abdel was with handling a sit down restaurant situation, but he passed with flying colors. I am still amazed at his progress. He went from not being able to purchase items or properly communicate with people to help him at the airport (when he arrived 4 weeks ago), to being completely comfortable ordering in his second language at a restaurant. Being able to handle this normally nerve-racking situation, I am confident Abdel will be able progress to the point where he will be in good standing to score well on the TOEFL. His main focus just needs to be his listening skills. For our next meeting, we will probably be seeing a movie together to help with that area of weakness.