Regina TS#3

Regina Sosinski - TS#3

Saad Alburaiken

 

Date: July 12, 2017

Time: 7:00 - 8:00 pm

Location: Starbucks

 

Topic/skill: General assessment/getting to know each other

 

Saad and I met at the Starbucks on Tennessee Street behind CIES/Hecht House for our first session, which consisted of getting to know each other and a general assessment of his English skills. He is at level 3 in all CIES classes, and said he would most like to work on writing (spelling, some grammar) and reading (vocab, pronunciation) during our tutoring sessions. I learned he is 25, was born and raised in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and that he's been in the U.S. for about 6 months taking classes at CIES. Like Abdulrahman, Saad also has a Bachelor's degree, although his is in Business Administration. Saad is extremely motivated, and is already quite good at speaking English. He said what's really helped him was watching American movies with English subtitles so that he can hear and see the words being spoken. Seems like a good idea! We discussed his presentation for his speaking class tomorrow--topic: "What advice would you give someone about life if you knew you were going to die." Saad said his presentation was about people who are successful in life even though they don't go to college. He thinks he might call it "Heroes Without School." He showed me a video clip of Steve Jobs giving advice about life knowing he is going to die. It's powerful, and I understand why Saad is inspired by it. I wish him luck on his presentation.