Docster CP #2

This past weekend I met my second conversation partner, Alban, whose native language is French. He came to Tallahassee from the Ivory Coast only three weeks ago, and has only been speaking English for that amount of time as well, although I know he is also in a level 1 grammar class. It was a bit difficult for us to understand each other over the phone, so we texted each other to set up our first meeting. Speaking with Alban was more challenging for me than with my other conversation partner, so I really needed to be patient and slow down my speech, or often reword what I was trying to convey. We went to Brooklyn Water Bagel and got lunch. Despite only being here for a few weeks, he was able to order his own food without any problem (something I couldn't have done three weeks into my first foreign language class). I was very impressed with how much command he had of his speech for his level. I found out that he enjoys speaking with his roommates, and going out with them to the bars in his neighborhood. Even more than that, he stressed how much he looked forward to playing soccer with his peers from CIES, and seemed a little disappointed to find out that I did not follow soccer. He plans to study computer science after he finishes his sessions at CIES. At times in our conversation, Alban would pull out his phone and use a translator application if we could not understand each other. Occasionally, I would use it myself, especially when we were discussing computer terminology and there were no synonyms to compare those terms with. In general, however, I would say that we were able to successfully communicate without the use of any reference throughout approximately 70% of our conversation. After I got home, I took some time to read about Alban's home country, the Ivory Coast, of which I knew next to nothing. I was surprised to learn that there were two very recent civil wars in his country. I am curious how to best bring up these politically and emotionally charged topics, and hope to explore this in class this week.