Gale_TP#3

GaleTP#3

Gale Workman

Sept. 2, 2014, 7:15 p.m.

Hecht House

Abdullah Alswaid from Saudi Arabia (Arabic) arrived late for what was supposed to be a group tutoring session. (He may have been looking for parking, I’m not certain.) Then … he stood in the lobby and chatted with his Conversation Partner (who Abdullah had double-booked with our scheduled tutoring session) … so I tutored Abdullah independently later in the evening.

Abdullah is a Foundations-level student who has been in Tallahassee two weeks. He and his wife are enrolled in CIES. His wife is a home economist. Abdullah is a mechanical engineer who worked at a desalinization plant for three years. He is proud to be able to leave a good engineering job in Saudi Arabia to learn English at CIES. His goal is to improve his English (and TOEFL scores) and attend a graduate program in the U.S.  He is the second of eight sons.

Abdullah initiated conversation and responded confidently to most questions. When we discussed his role as the second son to help his younger brothers come of age, the abstract nature of the topic challenged his language skills. Similarly, our discussion of his respectful relationship with his sister was challenging for him. For example: Abdullah used the word respective three times when he meant respectful. He appreciatively accepted my correction, repeating the correct word each time. Also, we discussed the words serve, service and servant.

I asked Abdullah if he would like to bring his wife to our tutoring sessions. He said he would talk with her about it; however, when I probed just a little, Abdullah said his English-language skills are better than hers. Further probing confirmed that Abdullah prefers to work independently.

He agreed to bring some written exercises or assignments from his CIES classes to our next tutoring session so he can show me specific problems on which he’d like to work.