Corbin Ryan: Conversation Partner Meeting #4 with Mohammed AND Naief

            I met with Mohammed, Naief, as well some other Kuwaiti CIES students at Café Shisha. I’m no stranger to hookah myself, but I held off from any since I wasn’t feeling so well. The seven of us sat in a circle on the floor together and just chatted and talked, smoking, drinking coffee. It was a very relaxed experience. I felt that there wasn’t so much social pressure; there is a lot more to talk about in a group rather than when it’s just two of us having a conversation. After showing off the few Arabic words that I know, the group immediately taught me some swear words in their language, which they found to be very entertaining.

            Angel Rios was there as well, and because he was there, I realized that this hookah session wasn’t just a hookah session at face-value; it was very much an opportunity for these students to feel more relaxed to practice English as a communication skill. Not only that, Angel is building relationships and trust with his students, who will definitely learn more in the classroom (not to mention what they learn outside the classroom) much more effectively. With two native English speakers there, the vast majority of the conversation we all shared was in English. From what I noticed, very little Arabic was spoken between that group of friends that evening.

            I would be very wise to take the same kind of opportunity with my future students, to meet with a group of them outside the class for a group activity that they all are comfortable with and enjoy, all while practicing English conversation. Of course, I must learn and keep in mind the appropriate ways of interacting with students inside and outside the classroom, depending on which country I plan to teach in.   

Corbin Ryan: Conversation Partner Meeting #3 with Naief

            I met with Naief last Monday evening. I met him at his apartment and then we went to Olive Garden together. Apparently, that’s his favorite restaurant after the Indian restaurant within the same shopping center.

            Naief first came to Tallahassee last October to study English at CIES and then returned to Kuwait the following December. He came back to study at CIES in January of this year, so he has been here in the United States for about seven months. His speaking and listening abilities are at a noticeably higher level than other CIES students who I have interacted with, and there is no doubt that this is because he has had a lot more practice and exposure to our language. Actually, Naief lives with my other conversation partner, Mohammed, who has only lived here in Tallahassee for the past five weeks. The two have become good friends.  

There were only one or two instances where he was confused about a question I asked or an idea that I shared. For example, he had to ask what I meant when I asked him about the most major differences he noticed between Kuwait and the United States. Once he understood the question, though, he told me his observation that students have a lot more freedom in choosing their studies. Naief said that in Kuwait, a student is required to commit to their major with the government, because they want to make sure that they will have enough students who major in the sciences, mostly. I must be conscious of these differences when teaching my students in the future, wherever I go.    

Corbin Ryan: Conversation Partner Meeting with Mohammed #2

I met with my conversation partner Mohammed for the second time last Thursday evening. We went to Gaines Street Pies and walked around Railroad Square a little bit. He told me about what things are like in Kuwait as we shared a cheese pizza. He told me that tattoo parlors, dance clubs, and alcohol are all illegal in his home country. But, he did say that hookah is extremely popular there, and, according to Mohammed, 95% of the population smokes cigarettes.

Mohammed asked me how much a tattoo costs. I didn’t have a very good idea, and asked why he wanted to know. Of course, he told me he’s thinking about getting one here in the United States. He showed me a photo of a tattoo he already has on his stomach. I found it interesting that he didn’t just show it me, that he chose to show me a picture. A cultural difference, maybe? Perhaps a social faux pas where he comes from? Maybe most Americans would have done the same thing, anyway, and I’m actually the one who doesn’t realize it.

            Like I have posted about before, Mohammed’s speaking and understanding are pretty decent for someone whose only experience is that he’s studied English in school for a few years back in Kuwait. One of the only things I noticed this time in regards to his areas of improvement for my conversation partner is that our conversation isn’t very fluid. As in, there were many times where he or I would ask a question and an answer would be provided, and then silence would follow. Like many other intermediate speakers, maybe Mohammed’s English vocabulary is limited in that he only knows basic words for each set of ideas there are to talk about, which could account for why in a single conversation, we switch between many different subjects.  

Corbin Ryan: Conversation Partner Meeting #1

Last Thursday, I met with one of my conversation partners, a guy named Mohammed from Kuwait. He is here in Tallahassee to work on his English in the hopes of passing the English-fluency exam so that he will be eligible for admission into American Universities. This is his first visit to an English-speaking country. He has studied English since elementary school in Kuwait, and expressed that he doesn’t have very much confidence in his English-speaking ability, but I found that he was very easy to communicate with. There was only one instance in which we couldn’t understand each other; I think he was telling me how his parents met each other and I had trouble understanding the familial connections that played a huge part in his story.    

            We went bowling at Crenshaw lanes. After about five minutes of being there, I find out that Mohammed played for his school’s bowling team for two years. He beat me by maybe twenty or thirty points. Afterward, we walked over to Landis Green, hung out on some benches, and watched people play frisbee, football, walk their dogs. We talked about the many different accents that English-speakers have not only in the US, but also worldwide. I showed him a little Landis Green secret that can be found in front of Landis Hall. I shan’t reveal it here; those of you who know the secret already, zip it. Those of you who wish to know what it is, come ask me and I would be privileged to show you. All in all, it was most definitely a successful conversation partner meeting. I look forward to seeing how much my conversation partner will improve his English.