I contacted Karen Gotti at the downtown public library last week about their ESL tutoring program, and on Tuesday I had my first meeting with "Y." Y is South Korean, and the wife of an international student at FSU. They moved to Tallahassee in March, but because they live off campus and she doesn't drive, she rarely uses English in her daily life. Y studied English at school, so she has a good foundation, but she is very shy and has minimal confidence in her English ability.
Tuesday's meeting was simply an introduction. We met at the downtown library, and used one of the cubicles on the third floor reserved for the ESL program. I'm not really sure what to plan for next week, because I sense her understanding is pretty high and she really only needs practice and encouragement. Maybe a game to keep her talking? The only thing Y requested was to be able to practice her pronunciation. She wants to bring in a newspaper next week and read aloud to me. I'm thinking that would be an ok idea for the first 10 minutes or so of every lesson, at least at first, but obviously she can't read aloud forever, and it's also not very communicative. But as it's the only thing she's asked for, we're going to give it a try.
Y is also newly pregnant and is worried that at her upcoming doctors appointments she won't be able to follow what the doctor is telling her. I'm going to try to think of ways we can work on this problem in advance, but I don't know how much help I'll be because, a) Y was a health care administration official in the S. Korean government, so her health terminology in English is actually one of her strengths, and b) her biggest problem will be following what the doctor says, and I imagine - whatever it is - it'll be pretty involved. I told Y it was totally fine to ask the doctor to speak slowly and repeat things, and that it was likely much of the information the doctor covered would be available in writing, and she should be sure to ask for that. Any suggestions on ways to help, re doctor visit? I'll be looking into it.
Finally, I spoke with Aleks at the Globe (where I am also looking into volunteering) and she gave me contact details for an informal association of international students' spouses, which I can pass along to Y. I think it would be great for Y to meet up with them at the park or something. As the spouses are from all different countries, English is the lingua franca and Y would have an opportunity to practice her English!
Reading aloud is good pronunciation practice, but it is also important that she has a model for listening to how things are pronounced. You can serve as this model or use online material or books with audio for this. You also need to give her feedback on her pronunciation weaknesses and focus some activities around helping her practice them. I like the idea of developing scenarios that you can practice with her. Think about what functions are necessary (requesting, questioning, complaining, thanking, etc.) and in what situations they can be applied. Some classes can be outside the library (or on the phone) where you are applying the skills in the real-world.
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