KyungAh CO#2

I observed an IELTS class taught by Mr. Soheil Mansouri on Wednesday from 3pm to 4:30pm. The IELTS is a test (kind of like the TOEFL, I believe) that consists of listening, speaking, writing, and grammar. I believe the "perfect" score is a 9 and you must get at least a 6 (?) to be considered proficient. The class started off with Mr. Soheil asking how they are feeling and then one student had his phone out. He told the student "No phones!" and the student was saying "okay okay," but he wasn't putting it away. Mr. Soheil waited and kept saying "no phones!" until the student responded. There was a moment in the class where there was a little argument between the teacher and student; the students, apparently, don't study and go take the IELTS test (which cost money) in Tampa. Mr. Soheil was saying why do they go all the way to Tampa, waste money, and come back? The students said they go take the test for experience, to see how the test is like, and how nervous they feel when they do the speaking portion with an American person. Mr. Soheil told them if they want, he can give them an older version of the IELTS test and bring an American person to do the speaking portion and grade them on the exam. He was pointing toward the direction of that these students need to put in their mentality that they can't just "go" and take the test; you need to prepare yourselves before an Olympic game and just like that, IELTS test are for people who are ready to take it, not for people to gain experience. I think the class was a little different than what I had imagined because this is a test prep course solely dedicated for the IELTS test. You have to, inevitably, be more strict on the students because the main goal of the class is for them to pass the test.