I took on Mohammad in the meantime, one of the older Arab students at CIES and a member of the gang we've been hanging out with since the program started. First, he and I talked about his academic goals, what he wants out of CIES, out of me, so on and so forth. I learned that Mohammad is working towards his bachelor's in computer technologies, due to take the TOEFL test sometime in October. He wants to attend FSU, but there are a number of classes he needs to take first, which he plans to take the University of Utah - random! His attitude about learning English at this point seems a little lackadaisical - his grasp of speaking it is strong, but I'm not sure yet about his reading and writing skills. It might be a challenge to me to instigate the desire to learn in full in him because he told me, without sugarcoating it, that he's doing what he can to "get by" and not much else. Perhaps this attitude will differ when it actually comes down to it, but in the meantime, it looks like I have my work cut out for me.
The one thing he specifically said he's been having trouble with is notetaking during his listening classes. He said that he understands the videos and can speak about them, but taking notes in English quickly and understandably is difficult. We arranged to meet at the same time this week and I plan to look over his notes he's already taken to find gaps or problems, find a few videos of differing levels, and create with him an "abbreviation dictionary" using words he repeats often, to help make his notetaking easier. From there, I will have to keep thinking creatively to challenge him.
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