During our first International Experience/Conversation Partner meeting, I talked with five CIES students over 50 minutes.
My first partner was Zaid, an 18-year-old student from Kuwait. His English was fantastic, with hardly any accent. We talked for about ten minutes about Tallahassee, plans for the future, and Florida State University. Zaid said that he likes Tallahassee because his town in Kuwait is very quiet. He also said that he had passed the IELTS exam already, but he had scored a 5.5 and FSU requires a 6.5. I was very impressed with his English, and thought he would surely do better next time on the exam.
Afterwards, I sat with Emily and Johanna, who had prepared an entire interview--we actually didn't have time to answer all of their questions, as my TEFL classmate, Kayla, and I explained the evils of the Monsanto corporation in detail. They both had excellent English as well, and although Emily had a very thick accent, I was able to understand her. Emily was from, I believe, Costa Rica. Johanna, from Brazil, had virtually no accent--I didn't even realize she was a CIES student at first, as I thought perhaps she was an FSU student doing a class observation! Their questions--all pertaining to American eating habits and healthy living--were very insightful and interesting; I thought they had prepared very well. We suggested they check out the Lake Ella farmer's market, and I recommended the Macclay Gardens for a beautiful nature walk.
Finally, I sat with Burns as he spoke to two other students from Kuwait. As I had arrived a little late to their conversation, I didn't catch their names, and I mostly observed their conversation; however, I did ask them a few questions about what they like in Tallahassee, if they missed their home, etc. They had a nicely planned chart to record their interview questions and answers, and they were very organized.
Overall, I was very impressed with the students' English--many of them have only recently come to FSU after studying in EFL countries. It was definitely a fun class experience, but I think there were too many TEFL students per CIES students. Maybe next time I will be more proactive about snagging a partner quickly.
I can see there was some good linguistic and cultural exchange going. Remember to ask the CIES students about their perspectives on issues as well. This exchange is as much for you to learn about different cultural perspectives, as it is them.
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