After many attempts -- twice for those who were counting -- I am officially not student-less anymore. I don't know what happened with the Korean woman whom I was supposed to tutor -- I"ll assume she was scared away for my being a poet -- but I lucked out for the most part when I met Kyung Hyun.
Kyung Hyun is a research scholar at the Dedman School of Hospitality. He's 37 years young, has been in the country for six months, is married, and has one five-year-old son. He didn't seem shocked or befuddled when I told him I was only 21; in fact, he didn't even flinch! That made me quite comfortable, honestly. But still, this is my first time ever being a tutor, and I might've mistakenly told him this fact after I had gotten carried with myself. I hope I have it cut for me because he wants to be more conversational with his English and he too wants to learn about American culture. This isn't CP-type communication, but I'll do my best to shape those lesson plans accordingly.
Unfortunately, I talked a whole lot more than him, so I need to stop that. ESOL students can't learn a language if they're not able to speak it because I'm eating all the words here, right?!
But this is what I did learn in addition to the basics:
He doesn't know the concept of 911 in this country, so I gave him some information about when would be the appropriate time to contact either the police or ambulance, or even the fire department. I don't think he understood the concept in my hopeless explanation, so next week, I'll let him know for sure.
He loves seafood. I had gone down a row of items one might be able to find in a butcher shop, i.e. lobster, halibut, et cetera, and I had him say the word as I pointed to it. Pronunciation is pretty clear, so I moved forward!
His wife is in the hospital( >_< ), and it turns out that Kyung isn't comfortable asking the doctor questions. Normally, this is true of everyone, but I would like to focus my lesson for next week on what sort of information he and his doctor could share with one another, not entirely about his wife, but everything, really. Do you think this is a good idea, Ramin (and others)? I don't want to start with something like this if it is going to be emotionally draining for him, but if he's uncomfortable asking for doctor's advice, etc., then he has to know the basics, I think! This will also give me the opportunity to clarify about the 911 emergency system, which I definitely need to go over again.
We talked about other things of which I unfortunately cannot remember, but I assigned a reading for him to do -- he asked for one -- and, being me, I gave him a poem. It was the only I had at my disposal, I promise. I just told him to read for comprehension and to underline the words he didn't understand so we could talk about it next week briefly. If I at least have some grasp of his reading comprehension, I think I could form my lesson plans to fit his level more appropriately.
Basically, this is what I did with him today: (1) He read an email for me that was sent from one of my professors, (2) he pronounced a few words for me, and (3) I gave him a poem to read.
We'll be meeting next Monday, and that day, I shall have a more grounded lesson for him that's appropriate for his level, which, according to Karen, is a high beginner!
We'll see how that poem works out; after all, it might be too difficult for him to understand. Oops!
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Maybe you should bring in general hospital and medical terms and or practice questions so that its not specific to his wife, but its essential for him next time he goes to the hospital. That was it doesnt' drain him emotionally.
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