Ryan CP #1 Meeting Abdullah
I met Abdullah today at the CIES social. I was fairly lucky--without seeing any of my conversation partners at the social, I had resigned myself to chatting with any CIES student who wanted to talk (many did) just to see what their skill levels were like, and to help myself prepare for our scheduled meetings this upcoming weekend. I also wanted to see if anyone knew any of my CPs. After a few tries, I talked to Saoud, who told me he is from Kuwait, that he has been here for a month, and that he’s very good friends with one of my CPs. “OK no problem,” he quickly reassured me, turning away to call Abdullah upstairs and gratefully hand me off to my rightful conversation partner.
Abdullah was quite happy to see me, but conversation was much harder than I expected it to me. We quickly slogged through introduction questions. He quickly told me that he’d been here a week, that he was studying chemical engineering, and that he had a “brother, sister, father, mother” at home. The first ten minutes of conversation were like this, and it was clear that Abdullah knows some very basic vocabulary, but nothing in the way of grammar that he could construct a full sentence. Abdullah is just a few days into his fundamentals class, and eager to practice his English as much as possible.
After a bit, I worried he might be feeling discouraged rather than encouraged. He grasped for English words he did not know, and for a few minutes I felt like we were talking, but incapable of communicating with one another. Every time I had trouble understanding something, Abdullah would say “OK No problem”, nervously laugh, and give up on finishing that sentence. OK no problem, OK no problem. I changed my strategy, stopped asking about life in Kuwait and what he was doing this weekend and how he liked the States, and simplified everything. Questions like ‘Where do you live?’ and ‘What do you eat?’ finally got real responses. I think they must be working on learning the English answers for these types of questions in foundations, and it really felt like he was getting a chance to practice his answers. Simple present tense and simple words. I could see in his face that he was happy to succeed in communicating with me, and also to understand me a little better. In the end, we were laughing about my brother beating me up with his skills in Judo (which Abdullah happened to participate in back in Kuwait…I think).
Abdullah is a smart guy. I look forward to hanging out with him again, and I hope we can progress in our English conversational skills enough to better understand each other. In the mean time, I’ll really think about the types of activities we can do that will encourage him to use his English with me—it’s gotta be more than just sitting down and chatting at a coffee shop. Anybody have good ideas for an activity we can do together this weekend to promote his English skills? Let me know!
OK, no problem :)
`Ryan
I met Abdullah today at the CIES social. I was fairly lucky--without seeing any of my conversation partners at the social, I had resigned myself to chatting with any CIES student who wanted to talk (many did) just to see what their skill levels were like, and to help myself prepare for our scheduled meetings this upcoming weekend. I also wanted to see if anyone knew any of my CPs. After a few tries, I talked to Saoud, who told me he is from Kuwait, that he has been here for a month, and that he’s very good friends with one of my CPs. “OK no problem,” he quickly reassured me, turning away to call Abdullah upstairs and gratefully hand me off to my rightful conversation partner.
Abdullah was quite happy to see me, but conversation was much harder than I expected it to me. We quickly slogged through introduction questions. He quickly told me that he’d been here a week, that he was studying chemical engineering, and that he had a “brother, sister, father, mother” at home. The first ten minutes of conversation were like this, and it was clear that Abdullah knows some very basic vocabulary, but nothing in the way of grammar that he could construct a full sentence. Abdullah is just a few days into his fundamentals class, and eager to practice his English as much as possible.
After a bit, I worried he might be feeling discouraged rather than encouraged. He grasped for English words he did not know, and for a few minutes I felt like we were talking, but incapable of communicating with one another. Every time I had trouble understanding something, Abdullah would say “OK No problem”, nervously laugh, and give up on finishing that sentence. OK no problem, OK no problem. I changed my strategy, stopped asking about life in Kuwait and what he was doing this weekend and how he liked the States, and simplified everything. Questions like ‘Where do you live?’ and ‘What do you eat?’ finally got real responses. I think they must be working on learning the English answers for these types of questions in foundations, and it really felt like he was getting a chance to practice his answers. Simple present tense and simple words. I could see in his face that he was happy to succeed in communicating with me, and also to understand me a little better. In the end, we were laughing about my brother beating me up with his skills in Judo (which Abdullah happened to participate in back in Kuwait…I think).
Abdullah is a smart guy. I look forward to hanging out with him again, and I hope we can progress in our English conversational skills enough to better understand each other. In the mean time, I’ll really think about the types of activities we can do that will encourage him to use his English with me—it’s gotta be more than just sitting down and chatting at a coffee shop. Anybody have good ideas for an activity we can do together this weekend to promote his English skills? Let me know!
OK, no problem :)
`Ryan
I was going into this conversation partner program thinking that these would be the students that were higher levels and could actually communicate on a conversational level suitable for higher level discussions. As this does not appear to be true, I think you (and I) will have to change how we approach these sessions. Even with my partner, Sangwook, I found myself sometimes struggling to keep the conversation moving. That said, I'm sure there are many activities you could do that are simple, require basic level conversation, and could include aspects of American culture: bowling, running, touring campus...I'm thinking it would be better to actually DO something rather that just sit in a coffee shop and stare/talk at each other. I feel like you might run out of things to say really quickly, so it might be better to steer attention elsewhere by doing some sort of physical activity.
ReplyDeleteDoes he need help going to get groceries this weekend? Offer to take him to Publix (or Walmart). That's a vocabulary and culture dictionary on shelves. Plus, being new, it will help him get settled in and learn how to find things he needs.
ReplyDeleteGreg, that's a great idea! Ryan, why don't you take Greg's advice? It'll be a good CP session! =)
DeleteYeah, that's a great idea, Greg! Sounds like a trip to publix is in order... awesome!
ReplyDeleteWe have moved a lot, I remember how wonderful it was to have a local show me which stores to go to, and what kind of food locals often buy for their families. This did help me with practical vocabulary and culture.
ReplyDeleteJodie (I don't have my own account)