Kayla_TP_#3

Date/Time: January 26th, 12:00 pm
Location: CIES first floor meeting room

Working with Asma was a real delight. She got right to the point and pulled out some of her class notes. She had a lot to ask me about the difference between using "to" and "for." For example, she had written down "People should travel abroad for experience other cultures," and was confused as to why her instructor told her that "for" was the incorrect word. I used some examples to explain why it was incorrect. These examples included: "I went to CIES to practice my English skills," "I like to run during the afternoon," and "I like to sing with my friends." I explained to Asma infinitives and gerunds. We then went through gerunds, showing the difference between "look at the dancing man" and "we were dancing at the club." She could see that dancing was used but in two different ways.
Asma had me help her with articles too. I presented the difference between saying "a Florida State student," and "an FSU student." I told her to worry more about the sounds--to put the vowel "a" before a consonant sound, and to put the consonant "n" in "an" before a vowel sound. She seemed to understand this concept.
Finally, she pulled out her phone and asked me about some idioms and words that she didn't really understand. The first phrase was "living off the grid." She asked where the grid was, so I had to explain that the grid was a technological term and that you can't physically live on the grid. I said that when you go camping, or go anywhere without cellphone service that you are living off of the grid. When you are completely disconnected from technology, that's when you are "living off the grid."
She also asked me about the word "outproduce." I started to break down the word, "out" as a prefix, and asked what produce meant. Then I said "factory one outproduced factory two--factory one had made more products than factory two." She then came to the definition of "outproduce" by my example. Then she asked me about more words that start with "out." I explained outstanding and said "if Mary's grades are outstanding, then her grades are..." Asma then finished the phrase with "her grades are better than everyone else's grades."
I was really excited that Asma was excited with what she learned and how I explained things. One of her friends popped in during our tutoring session and asked me to be her tutor now too.
Super positive experience for me. :) I think one-on-one teaching is my strong suit. Now I need to work on presenting in front of a class. >.<