Yesterday I met for the first time with my conversation partner, Saoud. We met at Atomic Coffee on Tennessee at six. We had been texting back and forth for a few days trying to schedule a meeting, and we were finally able to settle on a time and a place.
Our conversation started out a little slowly but progressed in pace as time went on. Saoud is from Kuwait (both my tutees and Saoud are from Kuwait! I think I am going to be very familiar with the culture of Kuwait after this TeFl class is over). He is enjoying his time in Tallahassee and has been here for six months, but he really wants to buckle down and start learning English. He is a good English speaker, but I can tell that he has some errors with making complex sentences and he struggled with a few vocabulary words.
We talked about outdoor activities and sports. Saoud likes to play pool and to fish. Apparently these are very popular pastimes in Kuwait because Ayoub, Mubarak, and Saoud all really enjoy playing pool and fishing. Saoud also likes to cook in his spare time and so do I, so for our next meeting, I think we are going to make dinner. I promised him an authentic Italian meal a la recipes from my mother, and he is going to make me a shrimp and rice dish. All in all, I think it will be a tasty exchange.
I look forward to meeting with Saoud again, and I think we are both going to try and come up with exciting activities to do so that he can experience as much of American culture as he can.
You are doing the right thing by inviting them for dinner! This sounds like a good friendship in the making!
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