The other day I met Nasser, my tutee from Kuwait, in Strozier. I was immediately impressed with his English (he is only in Group 1); although his grammar was far from perfect, he seemed to be able to express everything he wanted to say, and understand most of what I said to him. I asked him how long he'd been here, and he said for about six months. He hadn't studied English much before coming here (only in high school), but has been putting a lot of effort into learning the language. He said that when he first came here, he only knew a few words and wanted to go home, but his parents encouraged him to keep trying for at least a year. Now he wants to stay and get a degree here.
Nasser didn't have very much homework that he needed help with, so we mostly just got to know each other. (I did help him with one short assignment. He was supposed to write out directions to his apartment. That was interesting and difficult for me because when I give directions, it's usually in grammatically incorrect sentence fragments.) Nasser graduated high school in Kuwait and is hoping to go to a business school in Florida. He described the system of public education in Kuwait, which I found interesting. Apparently public schools there (which most students attend) are very standard - the classes, curriculum, and tests are often exactly the same in schools across the country. He seemed proud of his country's system, and only complained that his English classes weren't very good. He had a lot of questions about the high school I went to and what I got to study there. He was also eager to ask about universities in Florida. I didn't know much about business schools, but I wrote down a list of the bigger universities in Florida.
Before we left we talked about when we might be able to meet up again. I told him about International Coffee Hour and it sounded like he might want to go.
Nasser didn't have very much homework that he needed help with, so we mostly just got to know each other. (I did help him with one short assignment. He was supposed to write out directions to his apartment. That was interesting and difficult for me because when I give directions, it's usually in grammatically incorrect sentence fragments.) Nasser graduated high school in Kuwait and is hoping to go to a business school in Florida. He described the system of public education in Kuwait, which I found interesting. Apparently public schools there (which most students attend) are very standard - the classes, curriculum, and tests are often exactly the same in schools across the country. He seemed proud of his country's system, and only complained that his English classes weren't very good. He had a lot of questions about the high school I went to and what I got to study there. He was also eager to ask about universities in Florida. I didn't know much about business schools, but I wrote down a list of the bigger universities in Florida.
Before we left we talked about when we might be able to meet up again. I told him about International Coffee Hour and it sounded like he might want to go.
Hi Lindsey,
ReplyDeleteThat is exciting that Nasser is inspired to share what his education is like in Kuwait. I find comparing education systems to be an interesting conversation. Kuwait sounds similar to the U.S. in that both systems are standardized. Did he take physical education classes in Kuwait?
...also, can you elaborate on the International Coffee Hour? I am unfamiliar with it.
ReplyDeleteI didn't ask about that - I'll have to next time.
DeleteInternational Coffee Hour is at 5:00 (possibly 5:30...I'm not sure) at the Globe every Friday. There is free tea, coffee, and snacks (often traditional dishes from different countries). A lot of people meet with their conversation partners there, but many go alone as well. It's a really friendly environment for finding interesting people to talk to, I'd recommend going sometime :)
Cool, thanks Lindsey for the information!
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