Chris - TP # 7

In my last days in Tallahassee, I was scrambling for tutoring opportunities. After realizing that none of the TCC students were going to contact me to set up a session, I didn't know what to do. Luckily, Ramin sent me a list of CIES students who were still in town.

I met up with Mecit, who I had met when he helped Tony and I out with our recorded lessons. Mecit is a very friendly guy from Turkey. I met him in an empty Strozier Library in the morning after traversing the ever-changing maze that the construction workers outside constructed.

Since this was the first time that I met with Mecit for tutoring, we were a little hesitant and didn't know where to start at first. Mecit told me that he feels he needs to work on reading and listening. I suggested that we read an article online. He told me that he doesn't like to read, even in Turkish, but he knows that it's important. I chose an article on the WikiLeaks controversy. Mecit read it aloud as I followed along. We would stop after each paragraph and talk about the definition of unknown words and pronunciation of some words. This exercise took a long time, with all the defining words and explaining the meanings of each paragraph. He told me that he usually understands individual paragraphs, but has a hard time getting the big picture. So, when we finished, we reviewed and summarized the whole article.

Mecit told me that he is taking the TOEFL exam for the third time, in a few days. I told him to call or email me if he needs help with anything. We will probably continue meeting up after I return form winter vacations.