Mary_CP8

For my next meeting with Nimah I took her shoe shopping at Shoe Station, since I saw that she had recently broken a pair of her favorite sandals. She was astounded by how cheap the shoes were and I taught her some of the basics of bargain hunting in America. We both only paid $5 for our shoes! They weren’t half bad either. . . On the way back to her house we talked about driving. She said that in Saudi Arabia women are not allowed to drive, and the only possible way to do so would be to go out in the desert and practice hoping no one sees you. I thought that was a little ridiculous and encouraged her to try to learn while she was here in America; it seems like a useful skill to have.

Mary_CP7

My last meeting with Michelle was bitter-sweet. I’m amazed at how much her English has improved; her vocabulary has expanded four-fold. Her pronunciation is still slow-coming, though. I think a factor of this is that she lives with her uncle, a French speaker as well. The immersion really does make a difference in a students ability to communicate, but for me it has been good practice considering I will most likely be teaching English as a foreign language when I go abroad. We were able to talk about a variety of topics. We talked about her church, Spongebob Squarepants, and handsome men to name a few. We also exchanged Skype names so hopefully we can keep in touch!

Mary_CP6

Nimah and I went to Sahara for our next meeting! I was so good, even Nimah thought it was comparable to her native favorites. When she walked into the restaurant the Lebanese waitstaff immediately began speaking Arabic with her, it was interesting to her Arabic being spoken. I’m more impressed with the Arabic students at CIES hearing how different our two languages are. Nimah spoke to me about how dating works in Saudi Arabia, evidently she gets a lot of pressure to get married from her friend because she “has a pretty face.” She said a man will approach her father with the idea and if he looks promising will arrange a marriage when he wants. I asked if this arrangement bothered her at all and she said it didn’t because romantic relationships was not something she wanted to be bothered with; she’d rather focus on studying, which made sense to me.

Mary_CP5

My next conversation with Michelle was a lot of fun. I found she responds well to my humor, even with the language barrier. I thought it would be a problem that Michelle and I don’t go off campus and immerse ourselves culturally, but the one-on-one conversation in a relaxed environment like CIES is the best possible practice for her at the moment. We talked about a lot of interesting things. She said she likes to wear makeup and nice clothes but her parents think it doesn’t makes her look respectable. That kind of surprised me, considering in America when we want to look respectable we try to cover up with makeup and designer duds.

Mary_CP4

For my next meeting with Nimah we took a walk around campus and decided to eat at Pitaria. She says it’s the closest thing to her native cuisine she’s encountered since coming to Tallahassee. I insisted she has to try Sahara and we decided to have a pre-Ramadan dinner there within the next few days. Her brother wasn’t able to pick her up, so I offered her a ride home. Her family lives in Southwood; I’m amazed at the commute some of these students have to make! She said it is sometimes stressful, but that it is worth it to have her family with her during the holy month.

Mary_CP3

My second conversation with Michelle was at CIES. She expressed to me that it was most convenient for her to meet immediately after her English classes. Her English has already improved after just a week from last talking to her. I can really see how teaching lower levels can create a greater sense of gratification for the teacher. Sometimes I find it extremely difficult to understand Michelle’s accent. I usually try to get her to speak more slowly, but if that doesn’t work I have her write it. I was pretty shocked to see how excellent her writing and composition is! I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to understand a language so well, but not be able to use it effectively in conversation.

Mary_CIP

Demet's uncle jammin'

For my cultural immersion project I was invited over to my Turkish friend Demet’s house for a traditional dinner. Her uncles had come in from Turkey and were staying for the month. This was there welcoming dinner, and it was quite a feast. Although Demet is not a devote Muslim, she said her uncles were, and that they probably won’t shake my hand when I meet them, which I thought was interesting. It seemed the women were busy at work preparing the meal while the men conversed in the foyer. As a guest I was allowed to relax, but I felt more comfortable helping the ladies out (not to mention I can’t speak Turkish). The meal was delicious, it seemed like there were endless amounts of courses, hummus, yogurt, rice, meat, lentil soup, these awesome little sweet doe balls, etc. I was beyond stuffed. Everyone was very considerate and kind and I felt very welcomed. The uncles had brought some of the families favorites back from Turkey with them. One of which was a case of fermented carrot juice (it’s as nasty as it sounds). One of Demet’s uncles brought a traditional Turkish instrument (like a guitar) and played for us; it made beautiful music. Overall, it was a new, interesting, and fun experience.

Mary_TP12

A lesson was learned the hard way today, unfortunately. This was the last session David and I had before he took the TOEFL, and what was supposed to be just a brush-up review, turned into a four hour all out cram session in reading! David had told me previously that he didn’t have trouble in any of the other sections of TOEFL except for the speaking, but in reality he had the most trouble with reading and had such an aversion to it that he didn’t want to practice it. We spend most of this extra long session concentrating on one essay and its practice questions. I had him skim it once; he could discern that it was about ants. I asked him what about them? This time I had him read the whole thing encouraging him not to get discouraged by the words he did not know (it was admittedly difficult vocabulary). We then started answering the questions, there were only ten, but it took about two hours to get through them all. I did my best to not give him any of the answers, but instead guide him to what the text can explain. It was an extremely long process, but the point I was trying to get across was that he is capable of finding the answers on his own. The moral of this story for me is when tutoring or teaching you need to find a balance between topics and don’t rely on your students acknowledging their shortcomings. I understand the rationale behind diagnostic tests now.

Mary_TP11

It’s two days until David’s TOEFL exam, and we’re just now getting to other areas of the test! David told me today that his English teachers suggested he stay and continue with CIES a little longer before he TAs for chemistry, but of course, David’s impatience and self-confidence makes him determined to TA next semester. This session we did dictation. I would tell a longer story while David took notes and afterwards ask him questions about the main ideas. He did very well at this. I made the story up off the top of my head about what I did that day, he didn’t understand everything, but he definitely got the main points. I wish I could say the same for the dictocomp. I prepared a three sentence narrative for him to copy word-for-word. I tried to keep it straightforward although realistic for an adult to say. David gets stressed out by words he doesn’t know, and unfortunately his vocabulary is more limited than it appears when first speaking with him. I tried my best to explain vocabulary as best I could which lead to us practicing words that end in “t” which he evidently has trouble saying.

Mary_TP10

I came into this practice session intent on helping David in areas other than speaking. I thought a good transition would be dictation, which could lead to reading in the future. First though, we continued work with speaking. I wanted to make sure he was at a level at which he could comfortably pass the speaking portion. I went online and found some sound files of other people asking the prompt and examples of good responses. I would play the question for David, he would answer, and then I’d play the example answer. I’d then explain the differences and ways in which he could improve his answer. This required note-taking on my part. I was surprised with how much he had improved since our last meeting. I’m not sure if it’s the pressure of the fast-approaching exam or the fact that he’s really improving, but it’s rewarding for me as a teacher to see, and I feel comfortable moving into practicing other areas of the test.

Mary_TP9

David responded really well to my more authoritarian approach. I tried to replicate what the TOEFL would be like the best I could. When speaking practice began I wouldn’t answer any of his questions; I’d only say the prompt and when time was up. I didn’t respond to his stalling questions either. He tends to like to ask questions which require a long answer from me, which would be fine to practice his listening, but he’s not actively engaged in the conversation. Which brings me to my next realization: Up to this point, we’ve really only been practicing speaking. I can tell he’s improving (although I’m not sure if it’s the practice or the fact he feels more comfortable around me) but he can’t possibly be perfect in the other portions of the test. I think next time I’ll bring something else to practice for a different portion of TOEFL.

Mary_TP8

Overall, my experience with David has been a good one, but I’ve run into some problems. I mentioned before his wandering mind. Well, I wasn’t kidding. Often I’ll say something or ask him a question and he’ll go off talking about something else. I think it’s his unconscious deflection tactic, but it’s hard to keep him on track. Up to this point our relationship has been very amicable and low-key. I think he’s using this as a means to put off tough practice. For instance, instead of listening and answering the prompt, he’ll ask me a question. I’m not sure how I’m going to do it, but I think I need to take on a more authoritarian role.

Mary_TP7

David’s TOEFL exam is in less than two weeks! He seems to think our tutoring sessions are a big help, so I agreed to meet with him almost everyday here on out. I think the consistency is best thing I can do for him. He has a wandering mind, so keeping him focused outside of CIES will be a good thing for him. I found a website that has TOEFL prompts and a timer for speaking, so now we can simulate a real test-like experience. I could tell he was trying much harder this session to follow the model I told him to practice last session, but in order for him to do well, we’re going to have to really hunker down this upcoming week!

Mary_TP6

The reading materials I prepared for Ahmed for our second session finally got put to use this time! It’s actually the story I used for my reading lesson plan. Since I had some time from last session to plan it out, I wanted to see if my lesson plans had practical application. I’ve noticed a difference between my tutoring partners. David, with his Spanish background, has a much easier time figuring out the meanings of words. Ahmed however, needs context. Which is a more difficult and frustrating method of figuring out a foreign words meaning. I found a lot of this session was spent encouraging him to allow mistakes, and as a teacher I had to allow some mistakes slide to help encourage him.

Mary_TP5

In my second session with David I got a better idea of my role in his studying. Although he is immersed in English at CIES, his living situation is in the home of fellow Colombians who out of home-sickness request he speak only Spanish with them. I asked if he would like to be conversation partners, and he said he would like that but not until after his TOEFL exam. We then practiced the speaking portion of the TOEFL with prompts I had found off the internet. I gave him a strategy for most of the speaking questions. I told him to say his general answer in one sentence (ex. “My role-model is my father.”) and then explain generally why in one sentence (ex. “He is intelligent, kind, and brave”) and then give a specific example (a memory, an instance, etc.). I told him to practice explaining things in this way in his head and out loud for practice.

Mary_TP4

I didn’t anticipate how frustrating it would be have a tutee not show up for a session. This happened last week when Ahmed and I agreed to meet later in the week to study relative pronouns. It’s not easy for me to get over to campus (it’s about a 30 minute drive) and to find time between work and school to get out there. I had gone online to do research and found worksheets, and thankfully those came into use at our next session. Ahmed apologized and I said I would text him from now on to make sure we could meet up. I found that when it comes to difficult subjects, like relative pronouns, it is best taught in the simplest of terms. We checked the worksheets together and I would ask, “Is it a subject, object, or possessive?” He usually got that first part right. Then I would ask “Is it a person, thing, place, time, or explanation?” I had to describe some of those terms, but once it got the hang of it he could get most of them right and correct his own mistakes.

Mary_TP3

My second tutoring session with Ahmed was focused more on grammar than reading. He was having a lot of difficulty with relative pronouns; namely, when to use which ones. I have to admit I was a little blindsided. I had prepared reading materials for this tutoring session and researched ways to help teach reading (intensive, extensive, skimming, etc) but he was intent on getting this concept down. So, I’ll save the reading materials for another day. The problem is, I haven’t given much thought to relative pronouns myself. I had to read his notes, which were good but incomplete. I did the best I could to explain which are more commonly used for what, but I told him I’d bring material for relative pronouns next week.

Mary_TP2

My second tutoring partner was David. He has a huge personality and gregarious nature. We met in the lounge and he explained to me that he was studying to improve his scores on the TOEFL in order to TA a chemistry class this year. He said the odds were against him and he really needed my help. I don’t know much about TOEFL, specifically what it’s standards are and what it looks for in the student responses. I asked him what his biggest weakness was, and he told me it was the speaking portion. I was surprised, because conversationally he could speak very well. I asked him the standard way in which the speaking is administered and he said it is usually a response to a prompt. I ran a few prompts off the top of my head: “Explain your favorite hobby” etc. His responses were broad and repetitive. Looks like I need to do a lot of research so I can help!

Sydney_CP5

For this tutoring session with Abdullah, we wanted to get a good grasp on what the TOEFL exam was going to entail. We went over the different sections of the TOEFL, how much time he would have for each and the structure of the test. I wanted to make sure that he was very familiar with the format of the test so he would feel comfortable when he was taking the test for real. We found out that his Reading and Speaking were his weakest links, so we decided that during our sessions we would focus more heavily on those. I found a great website that has practice READING TOEFL tests.

http://www.examenglish.com/TOEFL/TOEFL_reading1.htm

First we practiced with smaller paragraphs, but fairly tough material. Very science heavy passages. I think that Abdullah really enjoyed reading about science because that is his area of study back in Saudi Arabia. We did timed readings at first, trying to retain as much of the information as possible, then trying to answer questions about the passage. After the first tutoring session that we had a definitely had a better grasp of what we needed to work on.

Charles_CP5

For my last CP blog I chose to write about the international dinner. I sat with Kari, Brian, Stan, Sydney, Claire, Jackson, and some CIES students. Some people switched around at our table and one of my tutoring partners Mg ended up sitting with us along with another student who attended my class earlier that day; his name escapes me currently. I taught my class on Thanksgiving so when I noticed that they had pumpkin pie on the dessert table I had to show them. It was interesting that I had just taught them about that dessert and they had it available for them to try. Soufiane sat with us as well, he is one of Stan’s tutoring partners. Soufiane is from Paris so we had a lot to talk about in regards to soccer. We agreed on many things about the sport and his favorite team Real Madrid. Sydney even got to practice her French a little. After we watched the performances we all talked about many different things at the table from Ramadan to music. I ate a lot of different types of food, I tried to get a little bit of everything but that was impossible. Mg was eating a lot because it was his first meal since the sun went down. We enjoyed our dinners and the presentations of the awards before all taking pictures and leaving. I learned a lot in this class, not only about teaching English, but also about other cultures and people of the world. 

Annalisa_Cultural Immersion Project

Growing up in Guyana, there were three main religions: Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. Hindus and Christians make up the majority of the population, though Muslims are a very large minority. I was raised as a Baptist Christian even though most of my family at the time was Hindu. That was the only denomination of Christianity that I knew until I moved to the United States and learned about all the others. There were other denominations of Christianity in Guyana, but as a child in the countryside, one really never thinks about it. I’ve had the opportunity to attend services at several other churches such as Methodist and even a Jehovah Witness service. When the cultural immersion project was assigned, I had two ideas for what I wanted to do. The first was to attend a Hindu temple and the second was to attend mass at a Catholic church. I could not get a hold of the Hindu temple in time, so instead I attended morning mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church.

            My curiosity of attending mass was finally satisfied. I have friends who are Catholic and I’ve studied Catholicism when I minored in religion in my undergraduate studies, but my preconceptions were corrected as I sat with the rest of the congregation and listened to the sermon.

            St. Joseph’s was the biggest church I had ever been in. It was somewhat an awe-inspiring place to be. The ceilings were high and the church itself was apparently modeled like Catholic cathedrals throughout the world. In this aspect, my preconception of what the church would look like was reinforced. I got there a little over five minutes before mass would begin and I observed the diversity in the congregation. Since it was the 8am mass, I had the completely false notion that it would be filled with the elderly, mainly because they wake up earlier. Instead, it was a good collection of people of all ages as well as differing ethnicities. Winter Haven, my town, is a fairly homogenous population of Caucasians so it was surprising that there were so many Asian and African American congregates.

            As mass started and altar children and the priest walked to the altar, I was surprised to find that the priest was Haitian. I found that he had a thick accent and though I understood what he was saying, I could not catch every word. His English and ability to communicate with the congregation as well as his use of intonation was impressive; I guess it would have to be to speak to a native English speaking audience. I thought that the priest would stand at the altar and speak, but he walked around a little as he delivered his sermon.

            There was a lot of singing throughout mass and it was very helpful to have the lyrics up on screens on either side of the altar and also a lady leading the signing with a mike up in front. The hymns were different from the ones that I am familiar with and some of them were in Latin.  Another thing that I noticed throughout the service was the recitation of creeds and prayers such as the Prayer of Penitence, in the beginning, and the Proclamation of Faith, towards the middle.

            The priest then gave communion, or Eucharist, and the Lord’s Prayer was said. The congregation formed lines in which they took the wafer and wine, which according to Catholic theology is transubstantiated into the body and blood of Christ.

            Then the concluding rites were administered through the priest praying and then the congregation replying. The alter children and priest then left while the concluding hymn was being sung. When the priest left, then the congregation left the church.

            As I felt it would be improper to take pictures during mass, I asked the pianist, who was the last person in the church, if it would be okay to take some pictures which are shown throughout. The entire experience was a positive one. There were times when I felt apprehensive as I didn’t know when to kneel to pray or when to make the sign of the cross; I followed along what everyone else was doing more or less. The people were very nice and welcoming and the very formal mass that I was expecting was a lot more personable than I thought it would be. I'm glad that I had the opportunity! 

Charlie_CO3

For my third class observation, I sat-in on Ms. Walters' 1B composition course. The majority of the class was spent correcting mistakes they had made on a test. Many of the students struggled with choosing the main idea/concept of a paragraph and didn't understand how to decide what information was the most important out of all of the text. Ms. Walters' explanation was to try to find concepts or ideas that appear multiple times throughout a block of text as they might be the most important. I enjoyed how the class felt very easy-going and how students didn't seem afraid to ask questions or to make mistakes. Only when you make mistakes can you learn how to do it better, and it seemed as if the entire class had that mindset and was eager to make beautiful mistakes so their English could improve.

Charlie_CP3

After Yi-Jhen and I finished our tutoring session following the cancellation of my culture class, she, Joyce, and I sat around in the CIES lounge while they asked me the etiquette of dating in America. First of all, I'm probably not the person to ask for dating advice. Secondly, poor Joyce has experienced horror stories in regards to dating in America. She went on a date with a guy who asked her to pay gas money and to split the meal. I told her that in America, we would call this guy a "jackass." It was a lot of fun getting to talk about the differences in dating between America and Taiwan and what is considered "normal" in each culture. For example, neither of them had heard of "gas money" before, nor were they familiar with the dynamics in double dates. I hadn't had conversation sessions with more than one partner, and it was nice to get more opinions than just my own.

Charlie_TP6

So after having to cancel Brian and my culture class due to a lack of students, Yi-Jhen asked if we could spend the time tutoring instead. She explained that she thought her receptive skills had improved dramatically since she'd moved to Tallahassee, but she thought her speaking needed the most work. She wanted to tell me about her weekend and have me offer feedback on grammatical and pronunciation errors that she made during her story. As I listened, I noticed that her English has improved an incredible amount since the first time she and I met. She told me about some boy she had met in whom she was interested, and her visit to Alligator Point. The only errors she made while telling the story were a few confusions with tense and lack of vocabulary. I corrected her as she asked me to do, but overall she needed very little help in sharing her story.

Sydney_CO3

The last class that I went to observe was Calyn's Reading Class. Her class is a Level 1 class, so every student was a beginner. I am really glad I observed more than one level of Reading class. It is so helpful to be able to compare the different levels. I came in early to talk with Calyn before her class started. She told me that all of her students were male and all were Arabic. Something interesting that I noticed was that all the students were leaving at the end of the week to go back to their hometowns for Ramadan so Calyn's lesson plans were going to have to be pushed up. She was very understanding and accepting of the changes and she did a great job of making sure the students got all the information for their final exams. When the class started, she introduced me and I gave a little background about myself. I used the phrase "brownie points" in my introduction and so Calyn asked her students if they knew what those were. We spent a few minutes dissecting that phrase, then we moved on to going over a pronoun quiz from the earlier class. All the students did very well on the quiz. Calyn did a great job of explaining foreign vocab. She speaks very slowly and enunciates very well. The lesson that day was on summarizing and paraphrasing and the differences between both. We read a short passage on "Telecommunication" and the students were given note cards to write a short summary. At the end of the class, we read along with Calyn as she read aloud to a book. All the students were very interested in the story.

Sydney_CO2

For my second class observation, I got the pleasure of sitting in Wayne's Reading class. I sat in on a Monday class, so they had homework due over the weekend. At the beginning of class, Wayne handed back the student's homework. Their homework was to read anything they want for 90 minutes outside of class. Then Sunday, at noon, the must send an email (in proper email form, which they went over for another class lesson earlier) with at least 2 unknown vocab words, the part of speech, the definition in their own words, and correctly use them in a sentence. Then during the next class period he asks one or two students to do a "vocabulary presentation" on two of the vocab words, then the following class they will have a quiz on some of those words. A few interesting things that I noticed while I was observing Wayne's class was that everyone was very excited about being in his class. He is a great instructor with a lot of experience. I wish I had a teacher that was as passionate about reading and literature as Wayne. Another interesting thing I noticed in his class is that every time he gave the class a time limit for an activity, everyone in the class took out either their phones or their watches and set a timer. I have never had that happen in one of my classes.

Sydney_CO1

So my first classroom observation was a Level 2 Grammar class. The instructor was a very young lady, Alexandra Ramos. I got to her class about 15 minutes early and so I helped her set up for her lesson. She told me that she was very new to teaching English, only three weeks in! There were only about 4 students in her class, so it was very quiet and personal. The first part of her class, they went over the homework from the previous class. Alex projected the students sentences on the white board and then went through some corrections with them. The lesson for the day was on articles, and count and non count articles. During the class, I noticed that the instructor used very advanced language like, idiosyncrasy, to explain some of the lesson. It was very hard for the students to understand some of the instructions that she was giving. Yuki, one of my conversation partners was in this Grammar class and he did very well in the class. The instructor did do a great job of giving handouts to her students on the count and non count articles. At the end of the class, Alex showed the students different pictures of objects, cats, toys, trees, milk, water, and air- and they had to decide it those nouns would require a count or non count article.

Brian_Cultural Immersion

For my cultural immersion project, I attended a service at Jacob's Chapel Baptist Church. My friend Jiwuan picked me up early on a Sunday morning, and on the way there I started getting concerned about staying awake through an entire sermon. Once we took our seats and the sermon began, however, my attitude quickly changed. From our seats, we had a great view of the band, which included a drum kit, bass, guitar, an organ and two saxophones. From the first shimmering chord played on the organ, I was hooked. The service opened with some songs that the audience joined in singing. With hands clapping and cheers of "amen," the atmosphere quickly became very lively. 

From the opening songs, the service flowed naturally and seamlessly from one activity to the next. Different speakers made announcements, both a choir and a group of children preformed songs, baskets were passed around for donations while the band provided a gospel soundtrack. At one point, the speaker and the audience performed a sort of call and response while reading a passage from the bible. The pastor would read one verse and the audience would read the next until we had completed an entire chapter. This quality of audience participation wasn't limited to scripture reading. Throughout the entire service, the audience was much more than a passive observer of what was going on. Particularly emotional moments were punctuated with "Amen," "that's right," and my favorite, "keep talking about what you're talking about!"

As the service progressed, you could feel the excitement in the room continue to grow. This continued through the sermon, titled "Walking the Tightrope of Faith." The preacher was a charismatic, young, dynamic speaker, animating his words with waving hands and stabbing the air with his fingers. As the sermon neared its end the preacher's cadence increased, and bluesy organ chords swirled underneath his fiery conclusion. The service reached its emotional peak as the audience erupted into a cheer and the band burst into full song. The entire experience completely exceeded my expectations, and I'm so thankful I got the opportunity to attend.

(Note: it seemed inappropriate to be taking pictures during the service, so these were taken from the church's website.)

Claire_Cultural Immersion

For my Cultural Immersion assignment, I wanted to 'immerse' myself in a cuisine entirely different from what I am used to rather than going to a religious service. So, when Fei invited me to her Hot Pot dinner I was ecstatic to try this traditional Chinese cuisine. Prior to my experience, Hot Pot was described to me as Chinese fondue.

Brian and I drove to Fei's friend's house, who is also from China, out in Miccosukee. We got a little lost and almost turned around and headed home, but then we found the beautiful brick house in the middle of an open field. When walked in we were greeted by Fei, five of her friends, and a table decorated with all of the different ingredients used for the meal. It worked out well with the small group we had because too many diners sharing one pot could lead to spills and longer cooking times. In the middle, there is literally a hot pot of simmering water, spices, some kind of soup broth, and pieces of meat. It is "hot" as in temperature and spicy! Around the pot of broth, Fei set our prawns, tofu, crab, quail eggs, sliced meat, mushrooms, seaweed, scallops, tripe, and a variety of fish rolled into balls.

Fei explained to us that hot pot is a very popular dish in China because it is a communal meal where everyone can contribute something. She told us that where she comes from many families cannot afford to buy a lot of food for themselves so joining forces with others is a great way to stay nourished and feed your family. Chinese hot pot has been around for more than 1,000 years! It originated in the north, and then spread to southern China during the Tang Dynasty. In time, regional variations developed with different ingredients such as seafood and the availabilities of different types of vegetables. By the Qing Dynasty, the hot pot became popular throughout most of China. Today hot pot is used in many modern homes, particularly in the big cities. We all sat down with our bowls and started picking out ingredients then dumping them into the pot. You have to keep an eye on each ingredient so it is not undercooked or overcooked when you eat it. Expensive and delicate ingredients, such as the scallops and quail eggs, are put into what looks like a mini strainer, hung on the side of the pot, and cooked individually. It is important to watch your food not only to monitor the cooking time but also making sure no one steals it! 

Mini strainer given to each person to cook certain ingredients and, of course, chop sticks!

Quail eggs!

One of the ingredients that looked the most interesting was the tripe. I had no idea what tripe was, but because I am an advocate for adventurous eating I stuffed a huge piece of it in my mouth. Fei and her friends giggled because it took me forever to chew. The texture felt like spikey rubber but after it was cooked in the broth it wasn't half bad! After I got the piece down they told me that tripe is the lining of the stomach of cattle. In fact, Fei's friends told me that a cow actually has eight different stomachs! I asked them why on earth do Chinese people use cow stomach in their dishes? Fer's friend responded, "We Chinese will eat whatever we can get, you know!" It made me think about my eating choices. Why on earth do I eat certain foods in my own culture? Fast food is just as rubbery as tripe I suppose! 

Tripe.

The great thing about hot pot cuisine is that you take your time in between bites while waiting for the food to cook. This leaves room for great conversation and also time for one to digest their food. Even though I was surrounded by mostly strangers, I felt right at home once I got the hang of using chopsticks and cooking each bite of food right there in front of me. Fei and her friends were so hospitable and made my first hot pot experience was an absolute treat. I'd like to try this out one day with a group of friends!

Stan_Cultural Immersion: Ramadan!

Hello Everyone! I hope that you all are enjoying your break in between classes. Though many of you may not look back at the blogs to see this post, I wanted to share my cultural experience...

In the year 2012 (Gregorian)/ 1433 (Hijri) I resolved to observe the fasting ritual of Ramadan. For those of you who have never fasted, fasting strengthens your will power, your body, mind, and spirit. I have fasted many times (usually some form of juice fast), but I have never observed a fast quite like this...

During Ramadan Muslims fast from sunrise until sunset for one lunar calendar month(30 days). They abstain from food, water, and sex as well as any substances they usually partake of despite traditional regulations (intoxicants such as caffeine, tobacco, and alcohol are prohibited by Islam). Due to my past-fasting experiences, I found that abstaining from food during the daylight hours was not so difficult, but abstaining from water was quite a challenge (especially for the first couple days). Initially I felt a bit dehydrated, but as I endured the fast my body adapted and I was able to establish a rhythm that kept me adequately hydrated as well as nourished.

Every morning I would set my alarm to awake me about a half hour before sunrise. I would drink 1 large glass of water, and 1 small glass with a packet of emergen-c (about 30oz in total). I would then go back to sleep for a couple hours. When I awoke for the second time, my fast had already begun. I picked up some tea tree infused toothpicks from  New Leaf Market. These helped me to salivate when I was extremely parched and also freshened my breath during the day. I would break fast in the evening  after sunset with some coconut water, fruit and nuts. After my first meal (breakfast), I would would wait about a half hour, and then I would have a large salad. On certain days I integrated cooked foods in the evening. I found that because cooked foods break down slower they helped to sustain me throughout the day, but also require more energy from the body and therefore more water thereby amplifying dehydration.

For my cultural immersion I decided to go to the Islamic Center on Old Bainbridge for Iftar (the evening meal when Muslims break their fast)on Wednesday, August 8th. I asked Soufiane if he would like to accompany me since he is a Muslim and lacks transportation to and from the center. He was obliged to join me, and so we(my girlfriend, Katie and I)  picked him up at about 8pm (Iftar fell at 8:29pm on this particular day).

When we arrived at the center at just after 8 we were not quite sure that we had the right place, because the lot was empty. We were certain that it was the Islamic Center, but perhaps they weren't having service this evening. I asked Katie to wait outside so we could check it out, we walked up to the door and saw two gentlemen setting a table with dates and water (the traditional Muslim break-fast). It seems we were early. We stepped inside and spoke with the gentlemen who were organizing the break-fast for a few moments. I explained to them that I was doing a "Cultural Immersion Project" for a program at FSU, and they invited me to take pictures and ask questions. They asked that we remove our shoes. Soufiane and I stepped outside to remove our shoes, and I waved Katie off.

Soufiane and I sat inside while the gentlemen continued to set-up. People started to filter in as the time passed. Despite the fact that Soufiane is Muslim, he seemed as, if not more, uncomfortable than I. Surely, this was a new experience for both of us.

At Sunset, the Imam or prayer leader said a short prayer in Arabic, and then we feasted on dates and water. A few people were also dipping their dates in sour cream, but as you may have guessed...I didn't partake (little did I know I would eat dairy before the night was through).

After our date feast, it was time for Maghrib the "evening prayer" prayed just after sunset. A gentleman instructed me in the ways of Wudu, a traditional cleansing done before prayer. Devout Muslims pray at least 5 times a day. The five obligatory prayers are Fajr (just before sunrise), Zuhr (after true noon), Asr (mid-afternoon), Maghrib (just after sunset), and Isha (at Dusk).

After Wudu it was time for Maghrib, the evening prayer. During prayer, Muslims alternate between four postures; standing, bowing, kneeling, and prostrated(on hands and knees with forehead touching the floor). A leader guides prayer in community settings. Everyone knows when to change position, because the leader will say "Alluah Akbar," meaning God is great, to signal a change in position.

When kneeling Muslims rest their hands on their knees and often extend the index finger of their right hand which signifies that there is only one God. 

Traditional Prayer Service:

The women and most of the children took part in service in the back of the temple. There was a blue partition separating the men and women. They also dined in a separate area.

After Maghrib, we feasted on Hungry Howie's and Publix cake. Due to my dietary restrictions I refrained from eating pizza (mostly because I knew that the cheese would mess me up!), but I broke down after several offers and ate some bread and cake (which was not without regret!)!

After we binged on pizza and cake, we went back to the prayer room for Isha, the final prayer of the day. It appears that the five prayers that are observed are the same or similar, they only differ in Raka'ah. Raka'ah is a repeating unit, or cycle of postures. A Muslim performs a different number of Raka'ah for each daily prayer.

When we completed Isha, the service for the evening was concluded. Everybody was glad to have me their and they invited me to come to future services. They recommended I return on a Friday, because that is their main service. Unfortunately due to scheduling conflicts, I didn't return until the final evening of Ramadan.

The ceremony was much the same on the final evening of Ramadan, but Isha was followed by a post Ramadan celebratory speech. The food was significantly better as well! We broke fast with watermelon, pineapple, grapes, and dates, and we had Indian food following Maghrib : )

There were many CIES students present on both occasions...

Ramadan is followed by a day of celebration called Eid-ul-Fitr or simply Eid. On Eid, Muslims are forbidden to engage in fasting rituals, because this is a time of celebration rather than abstinence.The morning of Eid everyone in the community gathers for Zakat. Zakat is a form of charity or tax that the Muslim community is prescribed to take part in at the end of Ramadan.The Tallahassee Islamic Community celebrates Eid/Zakat at Godby Highschool on Ocala and Tharpe. Soufiane and I were invited to take part in Zakat. We were told that if we would like to participate we should arrive at Godby at 6:40am.

We arrived at Godby for Eid prayers at 6:45am, and I feared we were late. As fate had it, we were one of the first members to arrive. I was told the number of Muslims present would be in the thousands, and though I don't think it quite reached those numbers...the Gymnasium in which the services took place definitely filled out...

Ramadan is a time of spiritual reflection, improvement and increased devotion and worship. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities, its purpose being to cleanse the soul by freeing it from harmful impurities. Ramadan also teaches Muslims how to better practice self-discipline, self-control, sacrifice, and empathy for those who are less fortunate; thus encouraging actions of generosity and compulsory charity (zakat).

Overall, the fasting, the feasting, the prayers, and the celebrations were a great experience. Though I am sure I will fast again in the future, I am not sure I will ever again observe a fast of this nature.  

If you would like to see more of my photos from these events, you can view them at:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.779862354407.2122733.197603276&type=1

As-Salamu Alaykum!!!

Charles_TP12

During our previous meeting we worked on some reading comprehension exercises that Mg seemed to like but he mentioned that he wanted to practice more on pronunciation so I prepared some exercises for our last meeting. We met at Starbucks and we went over some of the exercises. I also thought that going over homophones with Mg would be relevant to the lesson so I had a chart containing the most common homophones prepared. We started with the vowels on the pronunciation worksheet (listen below). Mg seemed to have some issues with the “u” sound found in the word union. We went through the “u” section on the worksheet and came up with examples for every type of “u” sound that can occur in English. We came up with words such as bull, dull, cute, union, stuff, and cup. Mg was writing the words as we defined each different sound in correlation with 1-4 in the “u” section on the worksheet. The vowel “e” was a little less difficult than “u” for Mg but he still had some minor difficulty with words such as “beta.” I explained that it can be said as “ay” which Mg wrote down and began pronouncing. It seemed as if writing everything helped Mg retain and pronounce the words present. We didn’t have much time after finishing this worksheet so we decided to quickly go over the homophones. 

I explained to Mg what a homophone was and used some examples such as “meet” and “meat.” He said that he had heard of this before but he liked reviewing pieces of the English language like this. I asked for an example and he provided “their” and “there.” I told him that was a perfect example and it actually appeared on the list (found below). We went over the list together with me reading every fifth set and Mg reading all in between. We quickly ran out of time so we said our goodbyes. Mg is a very nice guy and he is very smart. We wished each other the best of luck in the future and I told Mg that he can contact me with any questions that he may have in the future. 

http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/frank/KISS/kiss22.htm

http://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/homophones-list.htm

Charles_TP11

For my last session with Majdi, we met at the global cafe for international coffee hour before going to his house. Majdi told me that he had TOEFL exercises that he was working on at home so we decided to walk there. Majdi had the reading portion of the TOEFL coming up so I wanted to help him review the material. He said that he felt confident with his answers but he still wanted me to take a look. The passage that he was working on was about an American novelist. The passage was a few paragraphs with 8 multiple choice questions following. I asked Majdi if he could read the passage and he did. I could tell that he had been working hard on the passage to get ready for his exam. One line that seemed to confuse Majdi was “...this novel features a tenacious female protagonist...” He did not know the definition of “protagonist so we went over a few synonyms of the word. We came up with “main character” and “lead character” which seemed to clear everything up. I noticed that Majdi also had everything in his house labeled with sticky notes. I thought this was interesting and a very good way to learn through immersion. We finished his lesson and then I told Majdi that I will be leaving town the next day. He was not too thrilled but I told him that we could keep in touch and we both wished each other the best of luck in the future. Majdi was not one of my original TPs but I am glad that I got to start meeting with him. He taught me a lot about his culture and I feel as if I helped him a lot with his English. 

Annalisa_TP6

Wednesday of last week, I met with my tutoring partner Rashed for the last time. He had already taken most of this exams so he didn't need help with his classes. He told me that he had just come from the career center because he wants to apply for the master program in International Affairs in 2013. The people over at the career center told him about getting his resume and personal statement ready for the application. So instead, I guess you could say we had a lesson on resumes and CVs and the types of things people put on their resumes and CVs and things they don't. Rashed said that resumes are a lot less formal than our formatted standards for both resumes and CVs. We also talked about personal statements and what a potential master's student candidate would write on their personal statement rather than just telling about yourself. We also went over the application process for applying to schools and letters of recommendation and how everything is done online. I hope that everything works out for Rashed and that he gets admitted into the program!

Mary_CO 3

The final class I went to was a listening class with Natalie. She initially warned me that the class is using a new listening book and Olga’s new listening activities (which are evidently longer than Ramin’s old ones) that has made Natalie need to readjust her teaching methods to afford extra time. On one hand, I see how this change is annoying although necessary. Natalie seemed to have a status quo that yielded good results and it is now upset, however, I think it is important to be open to change to make sure you are offering the best education possible to your students. Natalie included individual, pair, and class work in her organization of the class, which seems to me to be the the most effective framework for a successful class. She had the students trade worksheets on which they defined idioms they had just learned and grade each other. I thought this was an effective time saver for the teacher, but to give a worksheet and immediately take it up doesn’t let the student have the material to review and memorize while it is still fresh in their minds.

Ioana_TP6

For the last time I met Kosuke at the international dinner. Since he wanted to focus on speaking we ended up talking about what he made for the dinner. Him and Yuki made sushi rolls for the dinner. They had avocado inside and other yummy ingredients. I really enjoyed eating what they made. They tasted very good, a lot better than most other Japanese restaurants in the area.

Kosuke also talked about the fact that he had to borrow Yuki's clothes because he did not bring any traditional Japanese clothes with him. I didn't know why he had to wear traditional clothing though. The other international CIES dinner I went to only some of the performers wore anything that can be considered traditional at all. We were actually all talking about how Kosuke looked like he was wearing something that sushi rollers would wear in Japanese restaurants. Everyone laughed a bit at the statement. While people were performing Kosuke was talking about Yuki. I thought it was interesting that he stereotyped Yuki as an Osaka-jin or person from Osaka. I guess it was because compared to other Japanese people, people from Osaka are more lively and outgoing instead of shy. That is how I saw the comment.

At the very end we took a picture together and went on our own ways, I really hope I will get to see him during the school year and continue speaking with him. He is a really fun person to be around.

Jackson Cultural Immersion

While it has been a few weeks since I partook in my Cultural Immersion, I still remember the experience as vividly as if it were only a few days ago. As soon as I found out about this project I knew right off the bat what I wanted to do - go to an Islamic mosque. Seeing how Ramadan was approaching and I had already developed a strong bond with my conversation partner, Omar, I saw the opportunity. I began asking him all types of questions in preparation, mainly the type that would ensure that I wouldn't offend anybody. "What should I wear?" "Is there anything I need to do?" "Do I need to pay my respects to the leader of the service?" Etc. Also, in preparation, I learned everything I possibly could (through wikipedia mostly) about the prayers and actions involved in a typical mosque service. Omar seemed to find humor in my concern with doing everything "right" so as not to offend anyone but I explained to him that this was an important moment for me and I wanted to get as much out of it as possible. So on Friday, the very first day of Ramadan as well as the holy day of the week for Muslims, I got ready to meet Omar for the service. We decided we would be going to the Islamic Center of Tallahassee (also known as Masjid Al-ansar) which is located on Old Bainbridge Rd. 

**I'll go ahead and say this right now: I didn't take any photos during this Cultural Immersion. I had to use my judgement to deem whether or not it would be appropriate and given it was the holiest day of the week on the first day of the holiest month of the year, I thought it would be better not to. All pictures I'm using are found using google.

(Photo of Islamic Center of Tallahassee) 

I arrived with both Omar and his friend from the CIES, Amar. Right off the bat I knew that this was going to be a very memorable experience. The first thing we did was take off our shoes before we entered the mosque. As we walked in there were three things that were readily apparent. The first was that there were no seats, only a carpeted floor, where everyone in attendance was sitting either on their knees or with their legs crossed.

The next thing that I immediately noticed was that almost every pair of eyes were fixed on me. Since we were running a little bit late, the service had already began. As we walked to the very back corner of the room to get a seat, I both felt and saw everyone staring at me. Clearly, tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed patrons were not a frequent there. And lastly, there were no women to be seen.

The Imam (or leader of the service) was in the process of delivering Al Khtbah (sermon/speech) as we seated ourselves. He was speaking very quickly in a monotone voice, alternating between both English and Arabic. I later found out that he was reading from the Al-quran (Quaran) in order to reinforce the points he was making. I have to admit, I wasn't able to understand as much of the service as I would have liked, but I was by no means disappointed because it wasn't until 15 minutes before we arrived that I found out that the Imam would also be speaking in English. The day's Al Khtbah had an obvious message: Ramadan and it's importance to Muslims. I learned that Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. The other four being: Accept Allah as the one true god, Salah (prayer five times a day), Zakat (charity), and Al Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca). The rest of the Al Khtbah was about just what exactly Ramadan means to Muslims. It is not only an homage that Muslims pay to Allah, but it is also for their fellow man who may not have access to food or water. The Imam went on to say that everyone should do their best during this holy month to help people any chance that they get.

At the very end of the service the Imam lead the men in attendance in their Al Sogod, a practice where they bow, stand up, and bow again. During this, Omar suggested that I just sit back and take it all in. It is one of the most powerful moments for the Muslim faith when they do their bowing, and I could tell that this particular moment, veiled in silence, was of great importance to every person in attendance. Even the elderly men who were not able to walk without the assistance of a cane were doing it.

After the Al Sogod, the service was over and people began filing out the doors. During this process many people approached Omar and myself and said "Al Salamo Alekm" which is a greeting that means "peace on you." After I had put my shoes back on, Omar ran back inside to volunteer some of his time to help around the Islmaic Center and I saw a group of 5 or 6 muslim CIES students, including one of my conversation partners, Awad. I introduced myself, wished them a "happy Ramadan" even though that is an incorrect way of expressing that sentiment, and tried my hardest to say "Al Salamo Alekm."

Once Omar, Amar, and I had left we discussed what my feelings were about the experience of going to the Mosque or "Abroh lil almasjid." I told them how happy I was to have partook in this experience and thanked them both for guiding me through it. They expressed that I had an open invite to attend whenever I wanted, an offer that I'm confident I will take up during my last year at FSU.

Jackson_CP6

Last Friday night I  with Brian, Claire and their Conversation Partner, Dohoun. It was a great night, which included getting to know in depth more about a culture in which I will probably be immersed in the next couple of years (South Korea) as well as exposing Dohoun to a Tallahassee staple - First Friday! We started off the night at Claire's home. Take note of how I referred to it as a home and not a house, place, or pad. It's extremely quaint and cute and feels just like a little home. We drank wine, listened to vinyl, and talked about some things that were different in South Korea. I think the funniest tid-bit that we picked up from the conversation was the differences is the "club scene". In South Korea, there are some clubs where the men sit down, and women are LITERALLY dragged by the wrist to the men by bouncers at the club. The men then tip the bouncers, who will bring more women who are attractive relative to the size of the tip they received. We were all laughing at how absurd this sounded, but Dohoun insisted that the women wanted to be treated like this - "they wouldn't be there if they didn't want it to happen." Once we got to First Friday we walked around and watched a couple bands play as well as checked out a couple of art exhibits. It was great getting to know Dohoun in more depth and pick his brain about a country in which I am most likely going to move to. We discussed many things about Korean history, and he informed me that Japan ruled Korea as early as 100 years ago. We also talked about the relations between North and South Korea. He said that for him personally, he has nothing against North Koreans and he actually feels that there is a sense of brotherhood between the people of both North and South Korea. It is only the politics of the governments that get in the way of there being a healthy, prosperous relationship between the two countries. Dohoun hopes that one day the two will reunite in harmony, but he doesn't foresee this happening in his life time. Lastly we talked about food. I told him about a famous South Korean movie which I loved called Oldboy and how during one of the scenes the main character eats a live squid. I mentioned to him that I wanted to try this and he said that he personally has and that it is rumored to increase your "stamina." He also told me about how they serve dog in South Korea, usually in soup, and how this also increases your "stamina." I plan on eating a bunch of great food if and when I move to South Korea, but live squid and dog might take some courage to attempt!

Jennifer_CP7

Last night I went to the International Dinner with my two conversation partners Joyce and Yi-jhen as well as my ITA Serena! It was an absolute blast! They all got to meet some of my friends who came to the dinner as well as my boyfriend. We all decided to sit at the same table and hang out and talk before the dinner started. All the musical performances were fun, and I was especially proud of Yuki's performance since he is my tutoring partner. I was also proud of Yi-jhen who got a certificate because it is her first semester here - she gave me a shout out when she talked on stage! I really loved trying all the international foods too. We all talked about the different kinds of food, and whether we liked them or not. Sadly Serena had to leave a little early, but I told her we would meet up for some fun after I returned from my trip to visit my family. After the dinner was over, I took a picture with each of my conversation partners and Yuki! (Pictures: Yi-Jhen is next to me at the top, along with my friend Lauren who came. Then Yuki is below that, and Joyce and I are in the bottom picture).

This is my last CP blog, as I have 10 in total combined with my 3 ITA blogs! I just want to say you guys were all awesome classmates this semester and I am so glad I took this class. I have learned SO much. I plan on being involved in CIES in some way even after this class, and I loved getting to know all the international students. I am so sad this class is over, and I wish I could have come to Milano's tonight! Thanks for being such awesome peers, this is truly a class I will never forget. :)

Charles_ITA4

Today I taught my class in CIES during lunchtime. I had asked my ITA Wangsuk if he would like to come to my class and he did. The class went well but I had not eaten so after I asked Wangsuk if he would like to get lunch with me. At first I insisted that we could go wherever he wanted but Wangsuk is very polite and made me choose. I asked if he liked American-Mexican food such as burritos and he said yes so I suggested Tijuana Flats. He told me that he had never been there so I felt as if I was showing him something new. Tijuana Flats is a chain but I think it is one of the better ones out there. When we got there I helped him order and we sat down. The handball semi-final game happened to be on between South Korea and Norway. Since Wangsuk is from South Korea we watched it together. Unfortunately, South Korea did not win but it was still fun to watch. Wangsuk really enjoyed the food, we both got burritos with chips. We talked a lot about other cities in America and how he is applying for many different schools for a PhD program. He asked me what cities I would like to live in and he had actually applied for some schools in the cities that I said. After we left the restaurant we stopped at publix and then came back to campus. Wangsuk had to go to the library to work on his thesis so we said that we would talk later. We may go to a pub later tonight. 

Stan_TP13

Yesterday (08/08), after our listening session, Soufiane and I went over composition homework that I had assigned to him. We had watched "Howl's Moving Castle," with Yuki and done some comprehension questions one Friday afternoon. I asked him to write a brief summary of the film over the weekend so that we could go over it together. He did so and was able to provide it promptly the following Monday afternoon. I told him that I would take a look at it and discuss it with him at a later time (we were currently in the midst of conversation with a large group).

His summary was good. It wasn't quite the way I would tell the story, but he delivered his message very well. There were very few grammatical errors and a few words were misused. I felt that the most constructive way to work with him on this assignment, since we had the vantage of one-on-one interaction, was to re-write the assignment, merely focusing on structure and grammar, while maintaining the message. We read though the summary sentence by sentence and retyped the entire summary. 

One of the most notable things that I witnessed him learn was the difference between "called" and "named." In the beginning of the summary, he described the main character and said there was a girl "called" Sophie...I mentioned that you 'could' say that, but more appropriately it would be "a girl 'named' Sophie." He said that he had never heard this before. He said he always writes this way and no one had ever mentioned it. Charles, who was observing the session, mentioned that in the romantic languages they typically use "called" instead of "named." The most brilliant, and therefore 'notable' thing about this was, that as he continued to read through his paper, he was automatically changing 'called' to 'named' without me even mentioning it.

When we finished typing up the 'final draft,' I emailed it to him for later reference. I gave him the rough draft so he could compare them later if he so chose to. For most individuals this method may prove of very little to no use, but since Soufiane is so eager to learn, I believe it worked very well. He is one of the few people I would say, that actually might refer to that assignment at a later point. (If given that option, I can't say for sure that I would!

Stan_TP12

Yesterday (08/08) I met with Soufiane, Jose David, and Mire for a listening lesson. This time around Mire provided the song... 

This was her first time doing this type of exercise with me so I am sure she did not know what to expect. I asked her what her favorite listening song was, and she replied, "uh, I don't know, 'Whistle' I guess," though it sounded more like she said 'weasel' in her think Spanish accent. 

So, while she was taking a bathroom break, I pulled up both the lyrics and audio/video for "Whistle" by Flo rida. For those of you who have never listened to, or heard of this song, let's just say that most people might not deem the content appropriate for a classroom environment. However, I felt that it was a great teaching moment (the line between appropriate and inappropriate are very obscure to me), after all, we are all adults, no?

This did in fact prove to be a very good teaching moment for a number of reasons...

1. Flo rida's pace forced the tutees to listen intensely.

2. The content stimulated conversation.

3. The nature of hip-hop uses a lot of puns, idioms, and metaphors that required explanation and modeling.

4. There was a definite cultural aspect to the manner in which the artist directed his words at the females which also required explanation.

When we finished with Flo rida, we moved onto California Dreaming by the Mamas and Pappas which was much easier and self explanatory by comparison. I think the only real hang-up in this song that required explanation was the noun "Preacher." None of the tutees had come across this word yet, but a brief explanation was enough for them to grasp the concept.

Soufiane had another song prepared by Aloe Blacc, but we didn't have time for it. He wants to work on it at a later date, during break perhaps. That cat is so eager to learn. Gotta love it!