Conversation Partner- Meeting with Heiku

First Meeting with Heiku

Friday I met with Heiku , also known as Tsu-Ping.

She wanted to give herself a unique American name. Very funny Heiku, because that is not American at all. I knew then this was a unique girl and we were going to get along just fine!

She was very excited to meet with me and had a lot of energy and enthusiasm. We went to grab lunch at the mexican spot across from the Eppes building. She quickly let me know that she was feeling very shy to speak English, and I told her not to be shy! Overall, I felt very comfortable talking with her and was able to understand what she was saying. I made sure to ask her a lot of questions so she would be the one doing most of the talking. There were a couple of points were the conversation struggled and we had to pause to help her find the right word. I asked her to write down the words we had struggled with in our conversation.

Heiku studied Engineering in Taiwan and wants to pursue an Industrial Engineering degree from FSU. Her father is an Industrial Engineer and she told me that it's hard for a woman to study engineering in her country, but because her father is an engineer, it's a little more acceptable. She hopes with her degree she can design assembly lines in factories.

Wow, this is one smart cookie!

She then told me how she's taken the TOEFL and failed twice. FSU requires a score in the 90's, and she's scored in the low 70's. I used to work at a photography school in New York, the International Center for Photography, and we only required a score in the low 50's. We were not accredited, and the course load was no comparison to that of an engineering students. With a score of 50 on the TOEFL, I can tell you we had students who struggled with communication. I was there first point of contact at the school, as the INS (Immigration & Naturalization Services) Coordinator. I assisted the students with their F-1 Visas and much more.

I hope that I can help Heiku with her English so she can pass the TOEFL in time for admittance in the fall at FSU. She is going to have to work really hard. I've given her 2 homework assignments. The first is to bring me pictures of her hometown so we can look at them and she can describe her country to me through the pictures. The second assignment was for her to find out what the textbook requirements are for her first semester in the engineering program and to go ahead and check out one of the books. She has only studied engineering in Chinese and I'd like for her to start reading and studying it in English.

I hope it is OK I asked her to do this, but I think its incredibly important for her to start preparing as much as possible.

Our conversation ended with my asking her if she had any fun plans for the weekend. She told me she had gotten in an argument with her roommate and was not sure what she was going to do. No, I did not ask what the argument was about, but was Very Curious!!

Linda