This Monday I met with Ngoc at Lake Ella for two hours. We walked around the lake with her sister, as well, and I explained to them the shops that surrounded the lake, the types of events they had, like Foodtruck Thursday and Farmers Market, and explained to her what people usually do when they come to this lake and why. It gave her a good look at American culture and what a typical afternoon looks like in Tallahassee, especially when the weather was as nice as it was! I gave her names of various animals we saw around the lake and asked her how it differs from Vietnam. She then asked me a few questions about the animals and my past time hobbies, etc. Once we were finished walking around the lake, we stopped by the coffee shop, Black Dog, where we ordered some coffee. She got to practice her ordering conversational skills and we talked some more. I asked her if she was having troubles with any particular lesson or assignment, and she said the biggest thing she needs help on is listening, writing, and of course, conversation. I told her before next session, what she should work on is watching movies in English with the subtitles so she can both read and listen to what they are saying, to get a better idea of what words sound like. I also told her to listen to English songs and podcasts, and try to only talk with her sister in English. Next session, I will be meeting with her individually, and we will be covering grammar and doing writing prompts, then discussing them afterwards.
My next tutoring session was with Turki. We met at the Starbucks on Tennessee Street, the usual spot, and started the session with a causal conversation about life and his short term English goals. Turki decided he didn't want to continue with the second session of CIES classes, and that he wanted to rather focus solely on passing the IELTS exam. He said he found the CIES classes to be helpful, but also distracting. He said he thinks he's gotten the most out of his classes and that it would be more productive for him to study on his own. Where I don't completely agree with his logic, it is his life and I trust his decision making. For this session he brought his own material that he wanted to focus on. This time it was a reading passage that I even found to be quite difficult, and I was once again impressed by his far reach in practice and ability. The reading passage was accompanied by a set of numerous comprehension questions that we reviewed and answered together. The qu...
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