Lila Mandela TP#4

I met with Daehwan on Monday, July 22. He wanted me to help him with the FSU TA Speaking Exam. Initially, I though the material would be really easy for me to tutor. I quickly learned that the exam was FAR from easy. The exam covered map memorization and navigation, scenario descriptions using drawings, and problem solving. I never felt so terrified of an exam before! I was eager to help Daehwan because I felt that if I was in his situation, about to take an important exam in my second language, I might cry. After looking at the sample exam and giving it time to sink in, I was less intimidated by what was being asked of me. Since I was helping with a speaking exam, Daehwan would record my answers for future reference and after making the recording, he would mimic my answer’s structure and pronunciation. After seeing the exam, I asked Daehwan to e-mail it to me so I could be better prepared for the next tutoring session and so we could cover more material in the set amount of time.  For most of the answers that he prepared, the grammar errors were minimal. I think that he did a pretty good job with developing clear and concise answers for his mock exam. Sometimes his sentences were awkwardly written and so I would tell give him alternative ways to say certain things so that the listener would understand what he was trying to say. I think his conversational English is a bit slow but very clear which is good since he’s preparing for a speaking exam. Hopefully my tutelage will be enough to help him pass!