Larry TC-8

July 19th: Met with my tutees, Robin and Suk Joon, after the CIES class at 7:00 pm in the convenience store across the street. We had planned and prepared a week in advance for this Speaking Lesson Field Trip to a Chinese restaurant. The goal was for them to give me directions to the resataurant, handle all the seating/ordering chores, and provide me with answsers to food and cultural questions. I had prepared them with a driving directions vocabulary, terms related to the ordering of Chinese food, and fundamental words dealing with polite ordering and eating behavior. We met in the exact place I had given them. As we started, we spied Brian leaving the class and stopped to ask him to join us. He accepted our invitation and said he would meet us there. I had made up my mind (and threatened them) that if they could not give me exact driving directions we would not go. We only had one problem getting to the restaurant. Robin did not give me directions in a timely manner to make a left turn. That did exactly what I wanted it to do. It forced him to be creative. He was, and we successfully turned around, took another route, and got back on track. We navigated past, around, and along one-way streets, hidden road signs, and four-way intersections. I asked them to prounounce each numbered street leading up to Sixth. They did very well, I took a right as directed, and parked across from The Bamboo Restaurant. Both Robin and Suk Joon sighed with relief after this part of their ordeal was completed. Brian met us there and we proceeded into the restaurant. Robin handled the greetings and seatings. I asked about a buffet or menu selections. Robin is from Taiwan and coincidently so was our cook, who just happened to be standing by the buffet. She reprimanded Robin for not speaking in Taiwanese. I told him it was ok to speak with her in Taiwanese, but he had to translate what she said to us. He did explaining they were speaking in a certain "dialect" and explaine to us the background of the language. It was only spoken in two Chinese mainland provinces. I asked if he was a native Taiwanese or if his family had migrated to Taiwan. He told me they had gone to Taiwan about 80 years ago.

I believe they had a very good lesson in spoken English. We talked about their jobs, families, background, future goals, and the food we were eating. When we finished our meals, Brian asked for "doggie bags" and we explained another word was to ask for a "to-go box". I stated I would pay for the bill, but they had to pay the "tip". They were confused, but Brian explained how to calculate the customary amount. We stood outside the restaurant, and I asked them for feedback. They appeared to be happy and stated the restaurant field trip was very helpful and exactly what they needed to do to learn English. The gave exact directions back towards the University. Robin asked me to "drop him off" at the MacDonalds restaurant and Suk Joon directed me to his apartment located beyond the stadium. I will give them a short quizz next Tuesday to learn if they remember vocabulary words and what they think of our Speaking Field Trip.