Today I observed Joel's tutoring session with his adult tutee, Kwon. Kwon is also my conversation partner, so we already knew each other.
Kwon had finished his exams at CIES and seemed relieved that he was finished. He showed Joel and I an award he had received at CIES for English composition. He seemed very proud of this to say the least. Joel asked him what he wanted to work on and he said speaking. They began their session with a conversation about Kwon's English history, starting from the time he began studying the language in middle school. Kwon said that in school he learned a lot of grammar and formal expressions, so when he came to school in America, he felt like he wasn't able to understand the language as well because it wasn't expressed the same way as in his studies. One thing he especially noticed was Anerican humor was hard to understand. He said he would be watching a movie with friends and everyone would laugh but he wouldn't understand why. Joel mentioned that American humor is sarcastic and sometimes vulgar, so for a second language learner, this may prove difficult. They both acknowledged that because of cultural differences there may be some jokes that second language learners may never understand.
We watched a few video clips to illustrate the examples of different types of humor found in Korean and American television. Kwon told us about "Konglish," which is where Koreans use English words but they have a different meaning to Koreans. For example the word "hunting" does not mean pursuing animals as game, but instead used as a word for picking up girls. This was the first I had heard of this and I found it really interesting!
Monday, August 3, 2015
Marco TS#6
Today David came to the Hecht house to help Chris and myself accommodate our schedule in the last week of the TEFL course and the obligations we had that day. David and I reviewed all the vocabulary we had originally started with and further corrected his workbook progress. Bruce sat with us and observed our session. David is getting better about learning words and his comprehension for how the story is progressing is improving. I'm hoping that by the last two sessions we have together he will not only be able to read more comprehensibly but also be excited to find the enjoyment in whatever he is reading next.
Marco CO#3
I sat in Ross' class today a group 4 speaking class. He paired us off and gave each pair two sets of questions about facebook. We went back and forth completing all 10 questions with each other. Once done he got us all to give our opinions about what we talked about during the questions. Then a debate on some of the questions would break out. This was a really good example of creative and critical thinking, building arguments and listening to someone else' opinion and then building off that be in in accordance or against it.
james TS 4
7/29
Second session with Nikolia, and he is in the the wrong mood to be in a tutoring lesson. I'm not sure who is teaching who. I learned a new word tonight "suka" and it is not very flattering. We washed dishes together and closed the restaurant. As we worked, I was asking questions about his past experiences just trying to get him to speak English. When he did speak, I would encourage more without correcting. Just wanted him to talk. Not sure if this is a tutoring lesson but I gained a lot from the experience.
Second session with Nikolia, and he is in the the wrong mood to be in a tutoring lesson. I'm not sure who is teaching who. I learned a new word tonight "suka" and it is not very flattering. We washed dishes together and closed the restaurant. As we worked, I was asking questions about his past experiences just trying to get him to speak English. When he did speak, I would encourage more without correcting. Just wanted him to talk. Not sure if this is a tutoring lesson but I gained a lot from the experience.
James TS3
7/27
My first session with Slava. Slava is from Moldova and has been in country for 5 years. His English is very good, and in my assessment, only has real problems with listening someone speaking at full speed. As suggested by Professor Kim, I am using "role playing" to help him feel more comfortable with casual conversation. Today I acted like a customer and Slava acted as the waiter. Using the "dumb American" approach, I asked all the normal questions, ie; where are you from, are you Russian, how long in country, do you like it here, etc.... He is very familiar with this type of questions and had very scripted answers. However, when I asked more specific questions about his English learning experience, he struggled with verb tenses. With his permission, I corrected his beautiful mistakes by using the proper form. I then began telling him a story about my dog, speaking with a southern accent and as quickly as that accent would allow. He would stop me when he did not understand something and we would discuss. I know this does not sound like much but it is helping me gain confidence in what I am teaching.
My first session with Slava. Slava is from Moldova and has been in country for 5 years. His English is very good, and in my assessment, only has real problems with listening someone speaking at full speed. As suggested by Professor Kim, I am using "role playing" to help him feel more comfortable with casual conversation. Today I acted like a customer and Slava acted as the waiter. Using the "dumb American" approach, I asked all the normal questions, ie; where are you from, are you Russian, how long in country, do you like it here, etc.... He is very familiar with this type of questions and had very scripted answers. However, when I asked more specific questions about his English learning experience, he struggled with verb tenses. With his permission, I corrected his beautiful mistakes by using the proper form. I then began telling him a story about my dog, speaking with a southern accent and as quickly as that accent would allow. He would stop me when he did not understand something and we would discuss. I know this does not sound like much but it is helping me gain confidence in what I am teaching.
James TS 2
7/27
Today was the first time I have had to talk with our new dishwasher Nikolia. He is very new to the country and I thought this would be a great opportunity for us both, so I am staying to wash dishes and tutor him after my shift. I have explained my purpose and he has agreed to let me teach him what little I know.
I have assessed that Nikolia's English is around a level 2 and has problems with verb tenses. Using my environment, I was able to demonstrate some simple tense forms. Actually, this is a wonderful way to teach because he is able to put things in their proper order. We are also working on his voice inflexion because typical of someone from Eastern Europe, he seems very angry. lol Yes, I just used a generalization.
Today was the first time I have had to talk with our new dishwasher Nikolia. He is very new to the country and I thought this would be a great opportunity for us both, so I am staying to wash dishes and tutor him after my shift. I have explained my purpose and he has agreed to let me teach him what little I know.
I have assessed that Nikolia's English is around a level 2 and has problems with verb tenses. Using my environment, I was able to demonstrate some simple tense forms. Actually, this is a wonderful way to teach because he is able to put things in their proper order. We are also working on his voice inflexion because typical of someone from Eastern Europe, he seems very angry. lol Yes, I just used a generalization.
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Jennifer TS#14
Today, I met with Boram and her son Astin at the Automobile Museum. Jacki and Joel tagged along and we all went through histories of automobiles, boats, and other sorts. Astin was super excited to see the (several) Batmobile(s) displayed in one corner of the museum. I was a tad bit scared seeing mannequins and dolls all around. It was like being watched!
But it was still a fun and educational experience for all of us. It was also a great way to introduce Boram and Astin to some American culture. Boram and I discussed and compared Korean and American culture. Towards the end of the tour, we all shared talks about what we have planned after the TEFL program, which was great practice for Boram and Astin.
But it was still a fun and educational experience for all of us. It was also a great way to introduce Boram and Astin to some American culture. Boram and I discussed and compared Korean and American culture. Towards the end of the tour, we all shared talks about what we have planned after the TEFL program, which was great practice for Boram and Astin.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)