For this tutoring session, Anibal and I used another timed speaking practice. I had been thinking back to some of our other practice while looking at the TOEFL speaking rubric and realized that even though Anibal’s answers are getting better in terms of grammar and structure, he doesn’t always answer the questions on the topic. I explained to him that the TOEFL grading also focuses on content and I read over the rubric with him. I think this was important because he was able to see what was expected of him when he goes to take the exam. This time, I was also able to utilize some of the handouts that I have from observing Mr. Ryan’s speaking class. I demonstrated to Anibal that for the advice questions, he should write down his plan in order to stay on topic. I think that this also helped him answer the questions better.
My third conversation partner meeting was with Josue, my conversation partner from Paris, France. He suggested that we go to a restaurant for this meeting, and recommended the Colombian restaurant on Tennessee St. called "Super Perros". I had never been to this restaurant before, so it was interesting to not only converse with someone from outside of my culture but also at a cultural restaurant with an atmosphere and menu different than what I am used to. Most of the menu was in Spanish, so we were able to bond over trying to figure out what the menu was saying, and ended up sharing a lot of laughs over it. During our meeting, we caught up on how he was doing at CIES, what he's involved in in Tallahasee, and discussed deeper topics such as the current political affairs going on in France. This led to a grander discussion about American politics, and it turned out we had similar views. It was interesting to connect our ideas across border lines, realizing we all want the ...
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