Larry TP 1

Today, I arrived early at FSU for the purpose of paying my daughter's housing bill. After paying the bill, I went over to the CIES lounge to review for the day's TEFL class. However, I instead stumbled into a meeting scheduled for assigning Tutor Partners to members of our class. I decided to participate even though I commute from Niceville on Tuesdays and Thursdays and have found two potential TP's within the Niceville area. I was assigned Hong Chan Chen (aka "Robin") and Suk Joon Hwang. Robin is from Taiwan and Suk Joon is from Korea. I did not have a lesson plan for this day and decided to do an impromptu lesson on personal pronouns and verb tenses of the "to-be". I wrote this on the board and explained what the lesson would cover. I asked if they understood and they both nodded in agreement. I wanted to find some idea of their spoken English level, so I performed the obligatory introductions following with as many interrogatives as possible. They listened carefully, hesitated, and then answered with correct but barely audible responses. I encouraged them to speak a bit more loudly. They didn't. I wrote my name on the board ("Larry Fuller") and suggested they repeatedly practice pronouncing it, on their own time, as it has consonant sounds that are difficult for many Asians, i.e. "L", "r", "F", and the "r" followed with a "y". I accentuated the social importance of pronouncing these sounds correctly, so native English speakers could clearly understand. I showed them what I thought was the correct position of the tongue when pronouncing these letters and how to speak/push from the diaphragm, i,e, the letter "f". I had them provide me with the correct verb that matched the personal pronoun under the simple past, present, and future tenses. I wrote everything on the board to ensure they could visualize the forms. I also asked them to complete each sentence. They did this easily. Suddenly, the lights went out. We changed our lesson to a discussion of why the lights went out and the discovery of new vocabulary words related to the subject to include "thunder", "lightening" and "electrical short". During the lesson, we also reviewed definite and indefinite articles. I explained how this gave meaning to each noun, and they seemed to understand the use rule. I asked them to provide one or two simple sentences. They did that. I noticed they seemed to tire or become a bit bored just as a head popped in the classroom door and announced the end of the class period. We agreed on a future class meeting time. I gave them my cell phone number; howevere, I didn't get theirs. After the class, I considered the idea of writing a general outline of subjects for the next four classes that would include lessons in subject specific vocabulary for each class, use of prepositions, adverbs, idiomatic expressions, numbers and dates, questions, regular and irregular verbs, simplicity in writing, simple punctuation, simple quizzes, etc. I would also like them to take me out for Korean food. I will pay. They can give me directions and explain Korean culture, food, and customs. The best of plans...

Carolina- CP 1

Nagwa and I have already become quick friends. We talked for less than an hour and in that time we were laughing and already feeling comfortable with one another.

As soon as I sat down with Nagwa, it was slightly awkward but we kept the conversation flowing. Her grammar and sentence construction is amazing--I found myself talking fast and using slang that I would with my English speaking friends--and she understood everything I said! I told her to interrupt me at any moment if I was speaking too fast or using words she didn't understand, and she said she wouldn't have to, she was understanding everything so far. We talked about her family--she's from Libya and has two older brothers and five older sisters--and how she moved here all on her own about 5 months ago. She is a nutrition major and decided to come here to learn English so that she could speak with more people back home and internationally. When I asked what she wanted to do with a nutrition major she said they only have 19 back home (I think she was joking, but it's a very low number none the less) and she wants to help the people of Libya become more aware about their own nutrition and health.

Nagwa is only 25 and has an excellent command of English language--we discussed how tobacco companies are now putting pictures of cancerous sores on their packaging and she commented in perfect English how could anyone still want to buy them after seeing those pictures. She lives alone in an apartment here but is looking to move in with a classmate from CIES. She is a completely independent Muslim woman and is so amazing. I can't wait for our next date at Black Dog playing scrabble this Friday!

Jeff D. CP1

Jordan-CP1

As soon as I slapped a name tag onto my shirt, Hamad al-Hammadi walked over to greet me. Then he gave a hurried apology and disappeared to put "the quarters in the bucket" -- he had to feed his parking meter. While waiting for him, I went into a classroom with Suzanne, Jaime and Francis, and Hassan, Muhammad and Abdulla. The three partners are Saudi and already friends (and were chattering away in Arabic before we paired off).

When Hamad returned we asked about each others backgrounds. He is from Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. He worked in the oil fields for four years, did something else, and hes since become a police officer. It is his work with the police that sends him to America: he is here to study cyber crime. Originally he was in Arizona, but he drove to Tallahassee for FSU's CIES program, and to continue his study here. He keeps a tent and stove in his car, because he loves to go camping, and wants to be able to stop anywhere he thinks is beautiful to make camp.

His English is great, and his conversational skills appear very fluid. He struggles with some vocabulary and sometimes gets stuck in trying to express himself, but he recovers quickly. I think we will focus on widening his vocabulary and maybe cover some more colloquial English, which I think would benefit him.

I asked him what his favorite part of living in the US was. He says it is being able to go to the beach, go to the mountains, go skiing, visit place like Las Vegas, all in one country. In the Middle East, he says everything looks the same, and you can never escape the heat (He loves the rain in Tallahassee). On asking what he likes the least, his answer was very quick: "Why do you pay taxes on everything? We never pay taxes in UAE!" Perhaps we'll spend a session discussing hydrocarbon windfall profits... I'm looking forward to meeting up again soon!

Carlos-CP1

Initially, meeting with my conversation partner on tuesday did not go as smoothly as I would have hoped. My paperwork was misplaced so I was not partnered with anyone. After sorting things out with Ryan, I walked up to one of the students who seemed to be just as lost as I was. This student's name was Abdel Konate, and apparently he could not find his partner. We sat down and started talking about basic things, such as home and family. He is from Ivory Coast and had just arrived to America last week. I was impressed by Abdel's English and told him I wish I could speak French as well as he could speak English. I genuinely enjoyed our conversation as we continued to learn more about each other. I'm very excited to work with Abdel because of how eager of a learner he is. He always has a notepad in hand to take down notes every so often, yet still remains completely immersed in our conversation. He hopes to be able to talk as quickly as the average American in conversation. Because of this, he even took initiative every so often to ask if I had any more questions to ask him. He did this, not to be rude, but so that he could continue to formulate responses off the top of his head and to practice quicker responses. Towards the end of the conversation, I told him that English is my second language and that I've studied other languages. I reassured him that I understood where he's coming from and I know learning another language is difficult. We've been in good contact since our first meeting and plan on meeting again this weekend for lunch or dinner.

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.

Erin - CP 1

I had a great time meeting my conversation partner for the first time on Tuesday. I was nervous at first because I had no idea how much English he would know or if we would have anything to talk about. However, it turns out that we have many of the same interests, from the type of music we like, to going to the gym. Honestly, I was surprised at how much English he speaks. He has studied English since he was a kid; the only obstacle was that he didn't have much opportunity to practice back home. Therefore, his speech is sometimes slow, but almost always flawless. I was duly shocked by his knowledge and comprehension of American slang; I did not feel as if I had to watch what I was saying in order for him to understand.



I could really relate to his effort to speak English because it reminded me of my own second-language learning. Many Spanish-speakers often compliment me on my ability to speak Spanish, yet I often feel self-conscious and am constantly afraid that someone will start speaking to me in Spanish and I will not understand them or will not be able to respond; similarly, I complimented him several times on his English, yet I could tell that he did not want to admit to any skills and just kept telling me that he was “improving” and had not been speaking well at all last week. At times I could tell that he took a while to process and translate in his head before saying something, especially before changing the subject or asking a question. Therefore, since his grammar and vocabulary are already almost flawless, the main point of our conversations seems as if it will be enhancing his fluidity.
I also would like to address more profound issues in our subsequent conversations, as our conversation today was mainly surface-level; this way, he will be able to practice vocabulary and grammatical structures which are not as commonly seen or as simple to use. I am excited to see the improvements the next few weeks will bring!

Larry-CP 1

I finally found my conversation partner(s) AND tutee(s). Their names are Rosa and Miyra (I'll double check "Miyra's" spelling next Monday, when we meet for our first class and another CP session). They live in nearby Fort Walton Beach. They were referred to me by a good friend and recent co-worker, who's name is Heidi. Heidi is from Columbia. Rosa and Miyra are from Guatemala. It did not take me very long to evaluate their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skill levels. They are Group Ones, levels 1 and 2. I'm sure the session took at least an hour. It seemed like five or six! I only survived because of my Group One, level 1 Spanish speaking ability! Heidi had directed me to their home address and had probably prepped my coming with a warning phone call. Rosa and Miyra were gracious and quickly invited me into their house. I soon discovered there were two complete families living in the house, and I could probably recruit their husbands and a young son as additional tutee and conversational victims. I asked one of the husbands if he played soccer, and he indicated "yes...he did." We talked about soccer and the USA's recent humiliation by Mexico. I told him I thought I recognized him as I had refereed numerous soccer games involving local teams comprised of local Guatemalans, El Salvadorianse Mexicans, and other nationalities. He said with a smile he remembered me, so I assumed I did ok as a referee. I thought, now if I can just succeed as a TEFL(ESL) teacher!

Halfway through our conversation(s), the young boy came running into the living room and looked up at me. He too was all smiles. I tested him with an introduction and he responded quite well. I surmised he had already picked up considerable language skills at his local elementary school. I didn't ask how long they had been in Fort Walton Beach. However, I made a personal note to make him my translator, when I got into trouble. I was able to ascertain the husbands were in the building trades. We strugged through the remaining conversation creating a schedule that fitted all of us. I left happy feeling I had hours and hours of the simplest things of which we could find meaningful conversation, and I could start with the fundamentals of lesson planning.

Suzanne-CP 1

Our first meeting with our conversation partners did not exactly go according to how I thought it would. For starters, I was hoping for a Spanish-speaking partner (since I'm headed out to Argentina) but didn't get one. Then, when I arrived, my partner wasn't there. So I snatched Jordan and Francis, also aimlessly standing around in the lounge, and the three of us approached a group of three guys who also seemed un-paired. I later found out that my partner, Albraa, was a friend of theirs, and all of us made tentative plans to hang out later, so it ended up working out really well.

The two guys I talked to the most were Hassan and Muhammad, both from Saudi Arabia. My first thought when I realized the sheer number of Arabic-speaking individuals in the program was surprise. For some reason, perhaps because of Florida's minority population and high number of Hispanics, I assumed most CIES students would be Spanish speakers. After talking to Hassan, he explained to me that a lot of Saudi students, almost all men, come to a university like Florida State because it's a prestigious place to get a business or computer informations degree - the favorite two of Saudi students - before going back to Saudi Arabia to work. I'm not entirely sure they understood why I was a creative writing major, but hey, different strokes!

Hassan was the easiest to talk to - his level of confidence with the language made for a very comfortable interaction. He was willing to take risks and make mistakes, and likewise seemed very interested in all of the TEFL students and where we came from. Plus, he had his collar popped - uber-American - and definitely knew how to "rock the swag." Muhammad, though less gregarious, was also very well-adapted to verbal English, though he admitted that when it came to writing and reading, his skills were not as good. Still, we talked about his passions - diving, and how he fought fear of the water: "you just have to see your fear and close your brain" - and the Saudi government. The highlight of our chat was when he taught me how to write my name in Arabic, then proceeded to show Camille hers so she could try to copy it on the board. Everyone laughed together and it reminded me of why I want to do this - because not only did I not expect Saudi conversation partners, but I learned more than I thought I even could in one hour session.

Erin - T 1

Last Thursday, I volunteered with the Panhandle Area Educational Consortium (PAEC) in their K-5 summer program. I assisted one of the teachers, with her group of 8 students who are around 6 years old. Overall, I was very impressed with their English; the major obstacle that I was noticed was that students were timid to speak, and especially to write. While the teachers speak to them in English, the vast majority of the kids have parents who only speak Spanish; therefore, their speech would, at times, come out as a mixture of Spanish and English.
I have realized the truth behind the chapter in our book about grammar...that it is not the be-all, end-all of speaking a language...that truly learning English is about communicating. Espcially for students who are so young and forming their first impressions of English, it is important to be more encouraging than accurate. Given how shy many of the students were, especially when it came to writing, addressing picky grammar rules and analyzing every mistake they were making at the time, would have discouraged them further. It is also important to acknowledge the validity of a student's response, especially when the student is a younger child, even if it is not the exact answer we were looking for. For example, I was helping a little girl with a workbook exercise which addressed the beginning sounds of words, and there was a picture of "ice"; she said a word several times, which was not "ice", and I kept saying "no, iiice..." until I finally took the time to listen to her and realized she was saying "hielo", which is "ice" in Spanish. Once I realized the validity of her response, I was able to encourage her by saying "yes, that is what this picture is; however, that words is Spanish. The word in English is 'ice'."
Overall, I was extremely impressed by the intelligence of the two girls whom I worked with most. I found that simply benig emotionally supportive of someone who feels out of their comfort zone can significantly alter the amount of skill they feel comfortable displaying. I can't wait to go back tomorrow!

Francis- CP 1

Tuesday was very exciting because I was assigned two Conversation Partners from CIES. When tea time started, however, neither of my partners were there so I tagged along with Jordan and Suzanne. We talked to a few students who were also without their partners. It turned out that both Suzanne's and I's partners were friends with the students. One of them provided me with the phone number of Dhari, one of my CVs. He is from Kuwait. All the students we talked to spoke Arabic. A few where from Saudi Arabia. They all spoke very well so we were able to keep the conversation flowing pretty well. We introduced ourselves talked about our majors and the careers that interested us.

I actually did get to meet one of my two conversation partners though. I think we missed each other by a few seconds in the lounge. Thankfully, Ryan, the CV coordinator, found me after I left with the previously mentioned group for one of the classrooms. Her name is Jee-Eun. She is a dance grad student from Korea. She was very gracious and talkative. She seemed very interested in practicing her English although she was already very fluent. I would say her speaking level is a 5 or 6. We talked about our degrees and our reasons for coming to FSU. I learned that she came to FSU because her husband began his PhD in Sports Psychology here. They have a 4 year old son who will probably be tagging along with us in our meetings. I'm pretty excited about that actually. Before Jee-Eun had to leave we exchanged phone numbers and agreed to do something this weekend. I think the first meeting with Jee-Eun will be a trip to the mall.

Later that night, after coming back from class, I got a friend request from Dhari. His profile name is Dary though, so I guess I'll have to clarify that. He messaged me so I'm hoping I can also meet with him this weekend.

Katie- CP 1

This week at the Conversation Partner meet-up hour before class, neither of my language partners were present, so I sat with a small group of students whose partners also hadn't shown up yet. It was a pretty well mixed group of Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, Puerto Rican, and Saudi Arabian students. I was pleasantly surprised to have sat with a group of seemingly rather high level students. It was very easy to chat with them, and they appeared to have a good grasp of the English language. While the East Asian students seemed to gravitate more towards each other, there was still quite a bit of communication and cultural exchange all around the table. They all seemed comfortable speaking English to each other and there was a very friendly atmosphere.

Having such a culturally diverse group of ESL students is really encouraging to keep everyone using English. Whenever the two Chinese students said anything to the other in Chinese, another student would tell them to, “Speak English! Speak English!” Towards the end, though, they began asking and teaching each other how to say phrases in their first language and other languages that they knew. Being second language learners living in a foreign country, it seems the students are more curious and open about other cultures, especially those of their classmates. It was very refreshing to witness and an overall pleasant experience.

Ramin-CP 1

It was great!

PAEC Volunteering: Week 1

On Thursday, 6/23/11, I volunteered with the PAEC (Panhandle Area Education Consortium) Program to work on teaching English to children of migrant farm workers. I worked with about 15 students in the Pre-K to 3^rd grade age group. I learned some interesting things about teaching from the experience. The one thing I wish I would have had was a better grasp of Spanish. I think I could have been more useful in helping them out. Many of the kids spoke only Spanish with broken English including basic phrases such as “Thank you”, “me”, “you”, and, of course, “snack”. I agree with D. Snow in that it is important to encourage students to be self-motivated in their studies especially since these children move around a lot during the year (See pp. 11-12).

The kids loved doing things with songs and games: Duck, Duck Goose and Tag were fairly easy. It wasn’t focused on language so much—maybe it’s one of those universal games?

We sang “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”—the kids liked that. Another song they liked was something classed the “Big Pig Song” that the teachers showed on YouTube. Here’s the link for your amusement (I’m telling you, the kids loved this one!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOu-QkmInKc

They started to get restless with a few things. Color and shape bingo caused restlessness in that it took too long for anyone to get bingo. Is it possible that kids need more variety or work the best with an element of fun?

One kid had on a Batman shirt and we talked about superheroes for awhile: He knew Batman, Hulk, Luke Skywalker, Star Wars, lightsaber, and Spiderman in English. I was impressed. Again, D. Snow covers connecting student’s interests with speaking English (See “intrinsic rewards” pp. 14-15). It is evident that he learned the English name for something he cared about: superheroes.