Lindsey CP#3

          Yesterday I met with Eugene again in the lounge for tea. One interesting thing that we talked about for a while was his difficulties with writing. I was surprised that he would have a problem writing, because his spoken grammar is almost perfect. However Eugene explained that it was expressing his ideas in longer writing that gave him trouble. He explained that he writes very well in Korean, and enjoys expressing himself by quoting and paraphrasing famous stories and proverbs. I found this interesting because in English, it is usually inappropriate to include those sorts of anecdotes in professional writing (he studies Criminology). He thinks that is the first reason writing gives him trouble - he has very limited knowledge of the sorts of references English speakers use in writing. Second, the format for essays here is very different. I told him that we'd learned a little bit about the Korean format in class. He expanded on it, and thought that the Korean sentence format might have something to do with why the main idea is usually expressed last in an essay (in Korean, the verb goes last). He knows that he just needs practice, and tries to put effort into his CIES essays.
          We talked more about his family. They are all doing well. They went to Disney World last weekend -  apparently his daughter is a huge fan of the princesses. Eugene and his wife had a good time as well, since they could recognize the characters. They are still enjoying their house in Tallahassee, and his daughter likes having the space to bike. Eugene is still worried about her going into a local kindergarten. Apparently she went to an English school back in Korea, but was very shy and hesitant to talk to foreigners. I suggested that he might be able to find a tutor for her through CIES.