Marissa_TP#2

Marissa M.
Tutoring Blog #2
9/16/14

I tutored a new student, Jairo, from Colombia during my lunch hour.  The student has only been in the US for about three weeks and has a very basic knowledge of English and vocabulary.  I was able to communicate with him a little bit, but it took a while to figure out some things he was trying to say.  Honestly, it did help that I have studied Spanish and Portuguese and thus recognized the words he was saying to himself in his native language.

For our session, we looked at a classroom assignment his instructor had given out.  Since he is still fairly new to the program he was not able to complete the assignment during class time and was given the task of completing it for homework.  The assigned lesson was a crossword style puzzle with words from a textbook the class was reading on health.  The words students had to choose from were highlighted in the text.  This helped, however, I have to admit I still struggled with some of the words and was confused by this!  At first I couldn't believe that I was struggling to complete a basic crossword puzzle and find vocabulary to fit the spots.  At one point, I simply went and asked the instructor because I could not find the word - I knew what it was supposed to be, but the word length did not match the boxes I had to work with.  When I asked the instructor about the word, I found out that she had actually designed the crossword puzzle herself based on the text.  This was a valuable lesson for me!  It went back to what we have learned in class, which is to always have someone else check tests and assessments you plan to give to students.  If I was struggling as a native English speaker (with basic vocabulary no less), then I can imagine that many other students really struggled on it as well. 

Jairo and I were able to finish his lesson and speak for a little bit as well.  He asked me questions about learning Portuguese and what I had done to do so.  I gave him some of my tips which included using YouTube videos, talking to yourself, reading friends posts on Facebook in other languages, and always asking people for slang terms.  He liked the tips!

Overall, Jairo found the session helpful and said he wanted to meet again.  I found it helpful as well.  It was during this tutoring session that I realized how much I truly enjoy working with the students and trying to help them learn English.  I can relate to some of the struggles, but it gives me a sense of being able to truly help students that I do not usually get in my current daily routine.