Benjamin_TP_#2

Date: 1-15-15
Location: CIES, Lounge
Topic: Introduction, Evaluation
Feedback Provided to Tutee: Told tutee her skill level seemed high, but she needed more confidence

For my second tutoring session, I met with Feng Shuo, a student from Beijing, China. It was obvious to me right away that Shuo is intelligent, curious, and friendly. She seems to have learned quite a bit of English and her grammar is very good. She does speak very slowly, but correctly. She stressed this fact herself, and she told me that she had anxiety about it. In class she speaks slowly, and she was embarrassed that the other students must wait for her to finish all she had to say. I told her not to worry about this and that with practice she will begin to speak English faster.

This semester Shuo is taking a few courses at CIES and, from what I understand, a course at FSU that prepares foreign students for graduate work. I think this course is called "Discussion of Theory of Communications", but Shuo had a hard time pronouncing this, so I am not sure. She said that she would like help with homework in this class and that she also need to work on preparing to retake the TOEFL.

Shuo has a degree in Advertising from a university in China and wants to do graduate work in Integrated Marketing Communications. I believe she needs to raise her TOEFL score to accomplish this, but I am unsure as to how that whole process works. She is interested in working in the Media or Film industry, especially in management. I'm not sure what kind of position that would be.

As for learning English, Shuo enjoys listening practice, reading novels, and watching movies. She dislikes speaking, and this is obviously an issue with anxiety. I asked her if she tried to speak English with her Chinese roommates and she said no. I told her they should try to speak English in their apartment. She also expressed a need with vocabulary help, but when I had her read a few passages from one of her homework assignments, her vocabulary skills level seemed high.

For future session with Shuo, I will bring TOEFL study materials and help her with her speaking skills. I think just getting her to speak more confidently, louder, and quicker will help her a lot. She has a lot questions about American culture and stressed that she wanted to learn more about it, so perhaps that is an angle through which I can get her to dialogue.