Meghan TS #16

Date/Time: October 26, 8:00 am

Location: Skype

Topic/Skill: Listening

Feedback provided to tutee: In this session, we practiced his listening skills by watching some fun youtube videos and summarizing them. He seemed to enjoy the videos, but had a hard time with understanding them, so I advised him to pay special attention to context clues (like what's going on in the video action wise while the conversation is occurring).

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 

I think listening is his weakest skill, although it is still fairly high level. I gave him a video to watch as homework and will review what it was about with him when we meet next.

Meghan TS #15

Date/Time: October 26, 3:00 pm

Location: CIES Building Student Lounge

Topic/Skill: Writing

Feedback provided to tutee: This session was sort of a continuation of the last session with this tutee. We practiced writing different answers to the same prompts we covered last time.

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 

She made significantly fewer mistakes this time, and seemed to recognize her errors more easily based on what we talked about last time!

Meghan TS #14

Date/Time: October 22, 3:00 pm

Location: CIES Building Student Lounge

Topic/Skill: Writing

Feedback provided to tutee: In this session, my tutee wanted to practice her writing skills, so we practiced with three prompts I made up, five minutes to write each. I then helped her to go through each one and fix her errors.

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 

There were a lot of small errors she made repeatedly, so I tried to find those errors and put extra emphasis on them so she could remember for next time.

Tatum TS #16

Date/Time: Monday, October 29th, 2018
Location: CIES lounge
Topic/Skill: Halloween
Feedback provided to tutee:  My tutee and I had a normal tutoring session and then we went and carved pumpkins at the CGE Halloween event. During this tutoring session, we talked about Halloween and the Halloween party she attended this weekend with her boyfriend. I gave her some Halloween and pumpkin carving related vocabulary and then we were able to use this vocabulary as we carved our pumpkins during the Halloween event. 
Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned:
 I learned more about my tutee and her life back in Shanghai. She grew up in Shanghai, the biggest city in the world, so we talked about the difference between living in a smaller city and living in a bigger city. She also mentioned that she is really enjoying living in the US and being able to celebrate holidays like Halloween because it is something she has never done before. 

Olivia CO#3

On September 19th I observed a G2 speaking class. This class was a little difficult to watch because the students were listening to some recording they made earlier in the term in the computer lab. As they were listening, the teacher and I got to chatting about how listening exercises such as this one can be helpful for students to develop listening skills. By listening to themselves, they have the opportunity to hear how awkward certain phrases can be. No one likes to listen to themselves, and most people can be rather critical of themselves. This exercise capitalizes on both of those aspects, and uses it to teach students how to improve both their speaking and their listening. I thought it was a clever way to work on both skills.

Olivia CP#6

On October 31st I met with Maria at Lucky Goat on North Monroe. I really like Lucky Goat, which is why I decided we should go. We talked about how America perceives itself on the global stage, and what Danish people think of the United States. I gave her my own opinions, stating that America has never behaved as we are behaving currently. The Trump administration is taking us into new territories when it comes to foreign policy. Therefore, this is new for us too. We talked about Denmark being a really nice country, and its size. Maria said that since Denmark is so small, there is a fear that other countries will boss them around or something. This was an interesting view to me, because I had not considered it before. I enjoy talking to Maria, because she introduces me to new topics every time we speak. I have learned a lot from her.

Olivia CP#5

On October 23rd I met Maria at Los Compadres on Pensacola street. A big part of American cuisine is influences from other cultures. In the western parts of the United States, Mexican culture influences the food in dramatic ways, so I decided that Los Compadres was a good introduction to Mexican food. She told me she had never tried Mexican food, because there are no Mexicans in Denmark. Honestly, that had never occurred to me. Mexican food is such a prevalent part of American culture, it never occurred to me that other people weren't familiar with it. Anyways, we talked about Mexican food, Danish food, and American food. I got to talking about Cuban food, and how it is more influential in south Florida. We shared critical moments. She told me how she wasn't expecting a cashier to ask how she was doing, so she answered honestly. This isn't want the cashier wanted to hear, but went along with the transaction anyways. I told her how in my experience, Latinos have friendlier and warmer relationships than white Americans. I told her my own critical moment, which happened when I moved to Tampa, Florida and didn't realize that my culture was a lot more welcoming than American culture.

Olivia CP#4

I met Maria at Momo's Pizza. I took her there because I wanted her to know American food outside of McDonald's and Chipotle. College towns always have really good pizza, and Momo's is a Tallahassee icon. We both got regular cheese slices. She noted how much cheese was on the pizza, and told me how her friend was obsessed with cheese. I asked what her friends in Denmark were doing, were they also on a gap year? She said yes, and responded that almost every student goes on a gap year or two before college. She also told me how to college admissions process works in Denmark, and it sounds so much easier than here. I told her about all the essays I wrote, the recommendation letters I got, the deadlines, and the test scores. The more she tells me about Denmark the more I want to go, or at least visit. We also talked about some issues minorities face in both countries, which was really interesting to hear about.

Olivia TS #16

On October 25th after a half hour break I met with Domingos again at Strozier. He wants to become an immigration lawyer in Florida. He is already enrolled in an L.L.M. program at the college of law and will start in the spring, but he wants to apply to a J.D. program. He asked me to help him look at different law schools with him. I used the different law school websites as material to help him practice his vocabulary. For example, the Florida State College of Law website offers courses on the legalities of migrants. "Legalities" is a word he was unfamiliar with, but using top-down processing he was able to figure out the meaning of the word. "Migrants" was another word he was unfamiliar with. Again, after using some top-down processing Domingos was able to deduce the meaning. He still has more work to do in order to be a lawyer, because lawyers are known to read and write a lot. He can do it though.

Olivia TS #15

On October 25th I met with Domingos at Strozier. I agreed to stay extra time to go over some things with him. He needed some help with a few of the concepts and grammar structures of A Higher Loyalty. We went over some of the problems he had with certain sentences. I explained that the way we speak English is different from how we write English. Comey was writing as if he was speaking to the reader. This makes for a more enjoyable experience when reading, but can be a little challenging when it comes to analyzing writing styles. We took notes of certain structures, and got to talking about law and order in the United States. Since we first met I can tell that he has improved his speaking abilities. His pronunciation is clearer, and he sounds more sure of himself. I think his main difficulty has been speaking. Portuguese sounds very different than English, and Domingos frequently transfers those sounds into English, making his speech unclear. Though, after weeks of talking about guns, how the supreme court works, what a governor does, what do different political parties want, and James Comey, he has come a long way.

Olivia TS#14

On October 19th I met with Domingos at Strozier. He told me that he needed to find a book for his grammar class. Domingos is a lawyer in Brazil with an interest in law and order. He is also interested in elections, politics, the Trump administration, and Obama. I recommended a few political biographies, such as Dreams from My Father, by President Obama, What Happened by Hilary Clinton, and A Higher Loyalty by James Comey. He decided to read James Comey's book because that book has more to do with law and order than the other books. I explained who James Comey is, why he is significant, and why he wrote a book. Domingos checked the book out, and texts me whenever he finds something in the book he likes.

Olivia TS#13

On October 17th I met Domingos at Strozier. He brought his speech, and asked me to look over it. I read it and looked over his grammar. There were a few points that needed help but other than that it was a good essay. He told me that his own teacher liked his topic a lot. We looked over some of his examples, like the UC Santa Barbara shooter. He wanted to highlight certain groups in gun violence, such as women. He talked about how some people feel that gun issues are women's issues because of safety. After we cleaned up his speech he told me he was invited to speak at a Students Demand Action meeting. Students Demand Action, SDA, is a pro-gun control group on campus who invited him to speak on his outsider perspective on gun violence. He tells me that Brazil is a very dangerous place with a lot of violence, but one is more likely to get shot in the United States because of guns. Overall his essay is going well.

Olivia TS #12

On October 8th I met with Yun Jung at CIES. We went over all of our materials for our teaching final, discussed timing, and handouts. FSU decided to close for the rest of the week due to hurricane Michael, so we also talked about general hurricane preparedness. We talked about different strategies, what to pack, how much money to pull out, and so on. Yun Jung had never experienced a storm the magnitude of Michael, so I told her to take it seriously. After that we continued to work on any last minute details, make sure links worked, and things like that. I was very nervous during this session, for a few reasons. One being I was going to Miami but leaving my car. My brother and I decided that driving 8 hours in two different cars would be too much, so we decided to take his. I needed an oil change. I was also very nervous about teaching. We both calmed each other down.

Olivia Treptow TS#11

On October 5th I met with Yun Jung at CIES. I was taking a mock LSAT the next day, so I brought my book to our tutoring session. I have a huge comprehensive book on the LSAT, so that I only need to lug one book around. Yun Jung flipped through it, and said it was really interesting. I explained a little bit about the test, how important it is, and why I have this huge book. Part of the test is reading comprehension, so Yun Jung read some of the passages and thought it was good practice. She said she might make her kids do some LSAT questions. This sounded like a lot to give a child, but if it works it works. Then, she told me about a South Korean exam for lawyers. She told me it was extremely difficult. I enjoy talking with her, and I can tell she is better at communication than when we first started tutoring together.

Olivia TS#10

On September 28th I met with Yun Jung. I had prepared some speaking topics to share with her. We talked about other governmental policies. We talked about minimum wage, and how that has changed. I told her about how the economics of the United States has changed who goes into minimum wage jobs. We also discussed what many Americans feel is the governments role in their life. Yun Jung told me about the same topics but in South Korea. South Korea is similar to the United States in many economic ways, I didn't realize this before. I enjoy talking to her about these things because it is nice to get perspectives from people who live in other countries. You learn something new every day.

Maria CP #6

Date/Time: October 31st 2018, 1 pm

Olivia and I met at a Lucky Goat coffee bar. We very appropriately discussed Halloween traditions and costumes. Olivia shared some of her creative costumes from previous years since I was going to a halloween party tonight and had to wear some kind of costume. I told Olivia how in Denmark kids don't go trick or treating on Halloween but on another holiday we call Fastelavn. It's in the spring and you dress up and go around town trick or treating so it's pretty similar. Then we started talking about Cuban traditions since Olivia is Cuban. She told me about the Quinceañera that you have when you turn 15. Similarly, I told Olivia about how your Confirmation is a very big deal in Denmark even though you're not very religious. We also talked a bit about politics and how Americans feel about their own country which is always interesting.

Olivia Treptow TS#9

I met with Yun Jung on September 24th at CIES. We talked about many aspects of American culture, especially more implicit parts of American culture. Her and I discussed the climate of anti-establishmentarianism that is prevalent in the United States, and how it manifests itself in different parts of the country. Some examples are New Hampshire, where there are few residents, but those residents decided to have as few taxes as possible. In New Hampshire, there isn't even a sales tax. They only have property taxes. On the other hand, in California anti-establishmentarianism manifests in a different way. People in California believe that the federal government should not have a say in how they do things, so California has repeatedly voted to allow progressive measure like same sex marriage years before the rest of the country allowed for that. We discussed this because it helps Yun Jung get a better idea of the United States as a whole, as well as give her the opportunity to express her ideas about advanced topics in English. It also helps her understand that the United States is not a monolith, and that even within different states there are many cultures. She told me about taxation culture in South Korea, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Olivia Treptow TS#8

On October 3rd I met with Domingos again at Strozier. We got coffee, and in line he was telling me about some of the issues he was having with his speech. He had trouble finding some statistics on gun violence. I explained that in the United States, many government agencies like the CDC, Center for Disease Control, won't do research on injuries and deaths that have to do with firearms because of certain laws. I showed him a few videos on Youtube from Vox Media that have a lot of helpful and reliable information on gun control. I also told him to be careful of fabricated sources, and we had a really good conversation on fake news and what not. Honestly, I really enjoy tutoring Domingos because he is very interested in learning about American culture. I was happy to see him using the speech as an opportunity to explore some of darker parts of American culture, rather than write a speech about something superficial. Domingos is so excited about everything American, it is almost contagious.

Olivia Treptow #7

On September 26th I met with Domingos at Strozier. He told me he was fascinated by what I told him about the gun control debate. He told me that for one of his classes he needed to write a speech, and wanted to do it on the gun debate in America. He told me how for him it was very different, because there are no guns in Brazil, though some politicians are advocating for the use of guns. Anyways, we talked about how to formulate a speech. I told him about the importance of keeping a certain flow, and that it is important to keep writing clear and concise. Clear and concise language is very important for writing in the United States. Apparently, it is not the same in Latin America. For example, in Brazil it is important to build a lot of background information, to the point that the analysis should be already clear to the reader. Anyways, we discussed a few topics and case studies for his speech. One of them being the student from Kent State who walks around with an AR-15, or how Elliot Rodgers shot women who refused to go on dates with him. At the end he said he would look up some statistics on his own.

Tatum TS #15

Tatum TS #15

Date/Time: October 26, 2018 3:00pm
Location: Study room
Topic/Skill: Presentations
Feedback provided to tutee:  My tutee had a presentation to give in class the following week so during this tutoring session she wanted to practice her presentation. We timed her presentation and I let her present a few times for practice. Then, I gave her feedback on her grammar, her rate of speech, clarity, and other aspects of her presentation that she was worried about. I also helped her make small changes to her presentation so that it was more easily understandable.
Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned:
 My tutee and I talked about public speaking and how it was much more nerve-wracking for her to give a speech in English because she often loses her train of thought when she is searching for the right word. Therefore, I encouraged her to practice and gave some pointers on public speaking that might make her less nervous. We also talked a little bit about the upcoming holiday of Halloween and she shared some funny stories about her husband, who lives in the US, and how he misunderstood the holiday when he first arrived. 

Maria TS #16

Date/Time: October 25th 2018, 12pm
Location: CIES terrace
Topic/Skill: TOEFL reading comprehension

We continued from where we left yesterday, which was TOEFL reading comprehension. We found an entire sample test and spent the whole tutoring session reading the paragraphs and answering the comprehension questions together. Each time I asked her to identify what type of question was being asked (Inference, Sentence Simplification etc.) This way she got more aware of what kind of answer she was supposed to look for in the text. The material was definitely not level-appropriate but since she is going to take the TOEFL test she needs to get used to answering comprehension questions about a text that is very academic and on an advanced level. I made sure to help steer her in the right direction when she was looking at the wrong place for an answer ("Try reading this sentence again"). We ended the session by going over the answers and checking the score. She got a very satisfying score and this definitely seemed to lift her spirits!

Maria TS #15

Date/Time: October 24th 2018, 2pm
Location: CIES terrace
Topic/Skill: TOEFL reading questions

The tutee will be taking the TOEFL test sometime this November/December and therefore, she really wants to practice the four different skills (Reading, Listening, Writing, Speaking). I myself have taken the TOEFL test before and have received a bit of tutoring when it came to TOEFL methods and I could definitely put that to use in this tutoring session. We started by going over the test as a whole and what it consists of. Then for the rest of the tutoring session we went over the different types of reading comprehension questions and practiced the trickiest ones. I'd found some samples of Negative Factual Information questions, Reference Questions, Inference Questions, and Rhetorical Purpose Questions. This seemed to help the tutee familiarize herself with the question types.

Tatum TS #14

Date/Time: October 24, 2018 9:00AM
Location: Skype
Topic/Skill: Vacations
Feedback provided to tutee:  Today we talked about my tutees recent trip to Sapporo, Japan. We worked on storytelling and structuring a story in a sequence of events as he described his vacation to me. The majority of feedback I provided was on verb tenses and phrases that connect sentences when telling stories such as then, next, therefore, afterward, etc. 
Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned:
During this tutoring session, I learned more about Japan and Sapporo. My tutee has been to Japan multiple times so we talked about each of our different experiences in Japan and what makes Japan different from the US and Korea. We also talked a lot about small towns in Japan and how many of them are very quaint and cute, in comparison to small towns in Korea and the US which are mainly centered around farming and agriculture. 

Tatum TS #13

Date/Time: October 22, 2018
Location: The Globe lounge
Topic/Skill: Thanksgiving, cultural differences
Feedback provided to tutee: During this tutoring session we mostly just talked casually about a few different topics. First, I provided some information on Thanksgiving and compared this American holiday to some similar Chinese holidays. We also discussed the themes of these holidays and how they are similar-- both American and Chinese holidays center around family and sharing food together. 
Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 
During this tutoring session, I learned more about Chinese culture and Chinese holiday traditions such as the Mid-Autumn festival and Chinese new year. We also talked about dialect differences in China, which I found very interesting since I am learning Chinese. 

Maria CP #5

Date/Time: October 23th, 2018, 6 pm

Olivia and I met at a local Mexican restaurant called Los Compadres to grab dinner together. In the wake of hurricane Michael, we talked about the environment in the US. Specifically hurricanes and how they seem to affect the people. Olivia talked about how these extreme weather conditions are starting to make some Americans realize that global warming is definitely happening and is very real. Denmark is not affected by extreme weather like some parts of the US is, but still, people believing that global warming is a hoax seem to be non-existent in Denmark. 

Then we went on to talk about our plans for halloween. We discussed costume ideas and Olivia told me that if I was going to attend a Halloween party I HAVE to wear a costume. Anything else would be frowned upon.

I told Olivia that my mom was coming this December to visit and we were going to rent a car but we weren't quite sure what we wanted to see yet. Olivia gave me lots of ideas of where to go, such as St. Augustine, Miami, or the Keys. 

Maria TS #14

Date/Time: October 22 2018, 3:30pm
Location: Tutee's place
Topic/Skill: Pronunciation, reading comprehension, vocabulary

The tutee had borrowed several ESL learning-friendly books from the library, because he was supposed to do some reading as homework. Appropriately enough, one of the books happened to be with fairytale stories from the Danish author, Hans Christian Andersen. All of his stories are read to Danish children and Andersen is very important to the Danish people. Therefore, we chose to read one of his stories (The Ugly Duckling). The tutee read aloud and I started noticing some pronunciation patterns. We talked about these patterns to make him more aware of them (for example: he had a tendency to neglect pronouncing the 's' at the end of plural words like 'eyes'). We wrote down new vocabulary and phrases and went over them afterwards.

Yun Jung CP #6

Date/Time: October 19th, 2018, 10:00 a.m.

Location: CIES Building

Topic/Skill: Future plans 

We talked about our future career because we almost completed our TEFL class.

I think Meghan is talented in education, especially in pronunciation which should be very clear for students to understand. I was impressed that she is taking gradual steps which is very focused in her future goal.

This could be limited in my generation; Our generation in Korea studied hard from middle school to high school to get into a high ranked university and felt like escaping from studying in college because we were stressed out from tremendous study until high school. In America, college students seem to study the most.

We talked about a little discrepancy between our major and current pursuit in English education. I feel I need to try not to forget my Japanese skills as well even though I'm eager to be an English expert. That's because 'Use it, or lose it' seems very real in language.
Meghan is majoring Chinese and theater. But she loves learning languages and believe even theater can help teaching. She plans to maintain her Chinese skills with effort and has started learning Korean.
I also hope any knowledge and skills in myself can work practically and valuably.

Yun Jung CP #5

Date/Time: October 15th, 2018, 3:00 p.m.

Location: CIES Student Lounge 

Topic/Skill: Cultural presentation

We had a talk about dark side of English education in South Korea, because I found there were so much frustration among moms' society. Many parents are trying to get their children to have practical skills of English like speaking and writing, but they have to deviate the goal into grammar and reading for school record when the kids enters into middle school. 

Many people are arguing what should be best evaluation and methodology for English based on fair opportunity in learning English. I think the biggest problem is English divide caused by education cost for the language.

In other cultural topic, I could get to know some words that stands for American culture in education for manner during our conversation, 'If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.' It seems like very common teaching that the kids heard the most when they are young. 

I think this can be very practical teaching for my children too.

'Put yourself in someone else shoes' sounds golden rule for kids in America, originated from the Bible.

And I found there is corresponding expression in Korea and China, ' 易地思之'.

Meghan CO #3

NOTE: This class is one I observed toward the beginning of the course, but chose not to write a blog about. I thought I would get a chance to observe several more classes, and since this class was led by a substitute, I wanted to record one of them rather than this one. However, I didn't get a chance to observe additional classes, and I really did enjoy observing this class, so I'm blogging about it a little late. Besides, I think there's always a possibility that I will be asked to serve as a substitute some day, so it's still a good learning opportunity.

Date: September 10, 2018

Time: 11:00-11:50 a.m.

Topic/Skill: Reading with Group 3-B
Book reading: Hatchet, chapter 4

Teacher Presentation: The primary instructor was absent today, so the instructor today was a substitute. She was very friendly and bubbly with the students, immediately setting them at ease. She started the class with a simple conversation with the students, giving them the opportunity to get into English mode, as well as practicing their English skills. From then on, the class was mostly listening to an audio recording, so she didn't do much else besides leading a short discussion about the book itself (like the meaning of the word Hatchet, and whether the book uses it as a tool for survival or for murder). She also introduced the homework assignment before officially ending class.

Classroom Management: Since today was a reading lesson, there was a audio book playing in the background while the students read along silently. There wasn't much to do with classroom management!

Student Participation: The instructor led a conversation at the beginning of the class, but otherwise the students mostly just read on their own as the audio book played. 

Feedback Provided: The instructor helped the students discuss the book briefly and answered a few questions about the homework. 

Lesson(s) on teaching you learned: For the most part this wasn't the most productive lesson for observing, but I learned a lot about what attitude to approach a class with. Bright, friendly, and happy! That's the best way to approach any situation wherein you meet new people, but even better when that situation involves those strangers having to trust you to not make them feel stupid. 

Meghan CP #6

Date/Time: October 19th, 2018, 10:00 a.m.

Location: CIES Building

Topic/Skill: Future plans 

We used this meeting to talk about future plans! We talked about where we'll go after going to South Korea (she will visit a friend in Busan after returning, and I will potentially be living in Busan). She told me about a church which may be a good place for me to go upon arriving if I wind up in Busan. We also talked about dating and eating in South Korea, as well as future goals as far as TEFL careers and ongoing education. I'm also extremely excited because she told me she would make me dukbokki for our next meeting. 

Meghan CP #5

Date/Time: October 15th, 2018, 3:00 p.m.

Location: CIES Student Lounge 

Topic/Skill: Cultural presentation

This meeting focused on discussing what we would put in our cultural presentation. We talked a lot about the pressure put on students in South Korea to learn English (among other subjects) and the socioeconomic rift caused and widened by different types of English education. It's very important for students to know English, because they need it to get into high ranking universities. Therefore, many students attend after school cram schools to further their education. Unfortunately, these schools are extremely expensive, meaning only wealthy families can afford them. This gap continues to widen as it's often only those who attend high ranking universities who have enough money to further their own children's education.

Meghan TS #13

Date/Time: October 19, 1:00 pm

Location: CIES Building Student Lounge

Topic/Skill: Speaking

Feedback provided to tutee: This session took place right at the beginning of the CIES session, so she didn't have any homework yet or questions about class materials. Therefore, we focused on practicing her conversation skills. I found a website with a bunch of conversation starters for ESL students of any level. I picked out the best questions which I thought were interesting, and we chatted about them for the entire time. 

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 

She gained confidence as the session went on, which I think was due to my method of correcting her errors and how interesting the questions were. I think she very much enjoyed this session, and I will try to design future sessions to help her continue to develop her speaking skills.

Meghan TS #12

Date/Time: October 17, 8:00 am

Location: Skype

Topic/Skill: Speaking

Feedback provided to tutee: During this session we focused on conversational intonation, and how different types of emphasis on different words in some sentences can result in different meaning. I went through a list of several sentences, reading them several times each with different intonation. At first he had a bit of a hard time understanding the difference, but he caught on very quickly, and by the end he was able to correctly explain the altered meaning of sentences with emphasis on certain words. We also discussed the rising intonation at the end of yes/no question sentences, and how people can misunderstand your speech for sarcasm if you aren't careful about using this type of intonation in normal conversation. 

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 

I found a really funny video by Studio C on YouTube to illustrate the importance of intonation in speaking, and I think that helped him understand a lot of my rationale. It also helped boost intrinsic motivation, as it was a very entertaining video. I would like to continue to use videos like this to introduce concepts in my tutoring sessions.

Maria TS #13

Date/Time: October 20 2018, 4pm
Location: Tutee's place
Topic/Skill: Pronunciation, minimal pairs, word stress, reading comprehension

The tutee expressed how he really wanted to practice pronunciation and specifically the sounds that a native Arabic speaker seem to struggle with. In this case we worked a lot with minimal pairs that for an Arabic speaker are p and b sounds. We went over some words that the tutee knew he had some problems with like "probably" and "bills"/"pills". I asked him to read through a text so I could point out his pronunciation tendencies. He needed to work a bit on syllable/word stress so I explained that concept to him. He read the reading material aloud and afterwards we worked on some comprehension questions for the text. The text was very good as intensive reading material since he learnt a lot of very useful new words but he was still able to comprehend the text.

Maria CP #4

I visited Olivia at her place and met her brother, Paul. We went to visit some of their friends and I got introduced to them. We all talked about all kinds of different cultural stuff, especially things regarding the college experience and dating culture. They told me a lot about fraternities and sororities which we do not have in Denmark. A very major part of American College is definitely the social experience and I suspect it is a little less about all that in Denmark (I have not started university yet so technically I wouldn't know). It was really great meeting some of Olivia's friends and talk to a bunch of college students!

Maria CP #3

Olivia introduced me to yet another local restaurant. This time it was the pizzaria Momo's and they served some really good pizza. While eating, we talked a bit about race and racism in the US and Denmark. I talked about how the racism in Denmark is mainly focused on the immigrants and refugees from the Middle-Eastern countries. Right now there is a major political discussion on whether or not to take more immigrants into the country and a lot of Danes are not very accepting of the immigrants/refugees. The most conservative, right-wing and anti-immigrant party has seen a lot of progress in recent elections. Olivia talked about immigration and how some Americans seem to feel about foreigners who come to work here. Then we also spent a lot of time talking about how delicious that pizza tasted. Pretty important topic to cover.

Maria CP #2

This time we went to a very local restaurant that served oysters. We got three dozens of oysters and had an oyster feast which was super delicious. Whilst eating oysters we talked a lot about the different education systems. To a Dane, the thought of paying a huge amount of money just to go to college is mad. In Denmark you do not pay anything to go to college (only the reading material but that's it). You will actually receive a monthly grant (approximately 800-900$ before tax) from the government when you are over the age of 18 and studying. This is possible because of the high tax rates. I value this very much because you do not have to worry about student debt or whether or not you can afford the education you want. Olivia told me about all of the financial stuff that goes into affording college: massive loans, scholarships, and the parents sometimes paying.

Maria CP #1

I met with my conversation partner, Olivia, at Starbucks in Strozier Library. We talked about some of the differences in American and Danish culture. While there are many similarities there are also slight differences. For example, we talked about how the Danish people are very private and not too talkative when it comes to strangers. This is quite different from American, especially Southern American, people. In this case we talked about Southern Hospitality. This really proved that the US consists of so many different kinds of people and even cultures. Especially the southern "How are you?" was pretty confusing when I first got here because I felt like I needed to actually answer that question and not just "Good, how are you?". I know that now.

Maria TS #12

Date/Time: October 18 2018, 12pm
Location: CIES Lounge
Topic/Skill: Complex Connectives and Reading Comprehension

This session the tutee had some exercises from her grammar class concerning the use of complex connectives. Specifically the words otherwise, so, therefore, and even though. She had some trouble with using these words in the correct context. We started going over several example sentences so she could get an idea of the different contexts. I then asked her to create her own sentences. She got a lot of them right and the few she did not quite get right, we went over even more example sentences and in the second try she seemed to have grasped the meaning. 

Afterwards she told me that she really wanted to practice some reading comprehension (TOEFL / IELTS) because she needs to take a language test in the near future. We went over a sample test from the IELTS and went through the texts and questions together. The text was definitely not level-appropriate but she still needs to familiarize herself with these academic texts. For our next tutoring session I will bring more level-appropriate reading material but still challenging (intensive reading)

Maria TS #11

Date/Time: October 10 2018, 6pm
Location: At the tutee's place
Topic/Skill: Articles

This session the tutee had some exercises from his grammar class concerning the use of articles. I've noticed that in his speech, he tends to neglect the use of articles and that might be because of his native language (Arabic). We went through several sentences where he had to insert either a, an, the, or no article. The difference between a and an was clear to him but he struggled with when to not use any article. In this case, we also talked about countable and uncountable nouns which seemed to help him understand the use of articles. 

When we'd gone through the exercise we had a very interested conversation about the relationship between Denmark and Saudi-Arabia. He told me that when he went to school, the teachers told him that they shouldn't buy these Danish products or support anything Danish because a Danish artist had created a very insensitive illustration of the prophet Muhammed. It was really interesting for me to hear what an Arabic person thought of the whole incident because it also caused a very big discussion when it happened in Denmark.

EveTS#16

Date/Time: October 17th, 8:00AM
Location: Skype
Topics Discussed: Today we started by talking about doctor visits. We discussed the differences between Eastern and Western medicine. Dujun confessed that he was not a believer of Eastern medicine until he had an acupuncture session by a local doctor and was healed from his severe back pain. We also talked about Korean Sumo Wrestling and compared it to its Japanese counterpart. This led us to a conversation about money in the big sport and how it influences marriages between sportsmen and their gorgeous wives:) Dojun told me the story of how he met his wife and we returned to the subject of Korean Medical system and maternity leave. It was interesting to learn, that, statistically, last year showed the lowest birth rate in Korea, which inspired the Government to make positive changes in the health care system by offering women more lucrative maternity leave options.
Lesson(s) I learned about my tutee/tutoring: I learned the fun fact about Dojun: he is 42 years old in Korean (!) which means 41 to us. When a baby is born in Korea, he or she is considered to be 1 year old. Fascinating!

Eve TS#15

Date/Time: October 14th/7PM
Location: Skype
Topics Discussed: Dojun and I dedicated a good portion of our class to discussing Hurricane Michael that just hit North-West Florida. We also talked about the recent FCU fight between the Russian fighter Khabib and his Irish counterpart McGregor. Turns out FCU fights are very popular in South Korea and they have their own wrestling sport that is called Korean Sumo. Dojun found it peculiar that a woman (me) is interested in such manly sport. Apparently, this is one of the cultural differences between East and West. Dojun educated me on the National Korean Alphabet holiday, Hangul Day, which was widely celebrated last week.
Lesson(s) I learned about my tutee/tutoring: Dojun explained the differences between Chinese and Korean languages and told the story of King Sejong The Great's invention of the Korean alphabet, after centuries of not having one and interacting only verbally in the Chinese language. It was a very interesting tutoring session, a fulfilling cross-cultural communication, filled with new information.

Tatum TS #12

Date/Time: October 15, 2018
Location: Skype
Topic/Skill: wish vs. hope, another vs. the other vs. other
Feedback provided to tutee:  Today we worked on the nuances between wish and hope and another, the other, and other. I first explained the difference between these words and then had my tutee create their own example sentences. If the sentences were wrong, I would correct them and explain why or why not they were incorrect. Then, I would have my tutee re-do the sentences. 
Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: At the end of the tutoring session we also talked about politeness in Korean and English. We discovered that "How are you" in the US is similar to "Have you eaten?" in Korea because both questions do not require a truthful response and are instead simply questions that people ask out of politeness. I also realized how confusing things like another/the other/other can be to non-native English speakers because, in addition to sounding similar, they also have very similar meanings that change only based on the context of the sentence. 

Tatum TS #11

Date/Time: October 12, 2018
Location: Skype
Topic/Skill: money, shopping in other countries (using apps, cash, credit cards, etc. to pay)
Feedback provided to tutee: In this session, we talked about different methods of paying for things when shopping. I provided my tutee with vocabulary for shopping such as paying with apps like Samsung pay/apple pay as well as using cash or credit cards. I corrected grammar and pronunciation as needed throughout the conversation. 
Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 
I learned about how common using Samsung pay in Korea is, and I talked about different methods of payment in the United States. I also learned about the different apps that are commonly used in Korea such as Kakaotalk, Kakao taxi, and other types of apps that people use in their daily life. I think it is really interesting because the US uses completely different apps (such as uber, venmo, facebook messenger, etc.).

Yun Jung CP #4

Date/Time: October 5, 2018,10am
Location: CIES Student Lounge
Topic/Skill: Critical Incident

Meghan and I talked about the critical incident.
I explained my experience in US last year to Meghan. I dreamed about very friendly relationship with neighbors before I came to America mainly because I lived only in high rise apartments in Korea that gave me little chance to talk to neighbors.
But I went through hardship of relationship with neighbor due to a huge dog that belonged to her; I felt a little scared because the dog's size seemed like a horse to my child at that time, and I've never had a dog before.
Although our family really wanted and tried to make a good relationship with the neighbor, it wasn't easy for us to be comfortable to see the dog's poops in our garden often, and jumping into our porch and barking at night.
We asked whether the house owner could build an ordinary fence that many neighbors had for the reason related with the neighbors' dog. But they seemed to talk to my neighbor to take more care of the dog.
Afterwards, my neighbor seemed upset. It was very hard for our family.
I'm not sure this can be one example of the critical incident. But I heard the dog in America is more like a family member, not just a pet. I've never had a dog, so I tried to understand the neighbor, but the situation was already not easy.

Yun Jung TS #16

Date/Time: October 5, 2018, 11:30am
Location:CIES Student Lounge
Topic/Skill: Speaking(Fluency)

In this session, my tutor gave me advice on my material for upcoming listening lesson.
I could think more about the speed of the listening material thanks to his advice, and I tried to plan how I could deal with possible students' difficulties of listening comprehension.
Unexpectedly, my tutor and I were requested to witness signing for notarization by CIES staff during the session. We signed documents to make sure to witness that the signature from who needed notarization was made not by force and had sound mind.
I could know about the notary's role, the reason why people needs notarization, and American culture for preparing for unexpected future. I found some cultural difference between my country and America, and I thought this system could be worth being introduced to my country.
My tutor has been trying to focus on my automaticity and fluency these days.
I really appreciate his effort to pick up a topic which I can be interested in.
It is amazing for me to feel the difference of my capability of speaking English before and after the tutoring from him every time. I think I'm very lucky to get tutoring from him.

Yun Jung TS #15

Date/Time: October 5 2018, 09:00 a.m.

Location: CIES Student Lounge

Topic/Skill: Speaking

In this session, my tutor helped me correct my errors on the material that I prepared for the listening lesson on Monday.  I think I still have difficulty in linking sounds when listening.

I was about to make a big mistake by using 'it was until 1950s' instead of 'it wasn't until 1950's'.

This became kind of tutoring for my writing as well, which made me realize my weakness and gave me a chance to know my errors on basics. I learned a lot from her correction.

And it was good to know that I have to use 'candy' instead of 'candies' when I mention it to conceptualize; 'How much money is spent on candy(i/o candies) on Halloween each year?'

I think I have to start studying grammar in use in details for my chronic errors on article.
I learned a lot from her nitpicking way of teaching for exact expression.