Jude TP #1

First Tutoring Session with Ayoub and Mubarak

Today I had my first tutoring session with two CIES students, Ayoub and Mubarak. I was originally scheduled to meet with them next Monday, but we decided to meet today at the Hecht House at 7pm so that we could get a head start on our learning. I was originally very nervous to meet with two students considering I had never tutored English before, but I just took a deep breath and went for it!

 After class I went downstairs and met Ayoub and Mubarak. We made our acquaintances and got an empty classroom upstairs. I tend to get extremely talkative when I am nervous, so I just began speaking to the two boys. I was very excited and I quickly realized that I was talking much too fast. I nervously asked Ayoub, and he confirmed my suspicions... I was indeed speaking at a rate that was much too fast for two L1 CIES students. Okay! No problem... time to take it slow and go around making introductions. 

This eased the mood of the room considerably. Ayoub is 18 years old and from Kuwait. Mubarak is also from Kuwait, but is a little older (23 years old). I tried to keep the tone as conversational as possible at a basic level of English. I asked them about their experiences so far in the United States. Ayoub has been in Tallahassee for about 6 months while Mubarak has only been here for three weeks. They seemed nervous to share their opinions, but I reassured them there was absolutely no pressure at all and that I would not be offended. They both told me they had problems with the food, which is an opinion I told them that I shared! (I do enjoy a greasy piece of pizza every once and while, but I can see how it can get a little annoying). 

I asked them what they hoped to achieve through our tutoring session, and they said they wanted to work on basic grammar and conversation. I asked them if they had read the hunger games, and they said no, but they had enjoyed the movies very much. I asked them if they wanted to try and read the books together and they both seemed extremely excited at the proposition. I told them that I was would photocopy the first chapter and hand it out next Monday, they could take it home and read it, and if they were able to understand it, we could keep going, which made everyone happy!

Overall, I think the two are very eager to learn and I am also excited to teach. I look forward to our future sessions, and I think we have a lot to learn from each other!