Monday, July 9, 2012
Jackson_ITA3
Yesterday I had my 2nd Skype chat with my ITA, Zhongjun. While at first we had some of the same internet connection issues as our first chat, things cleared up almost immediately and it was "smooth sailing" from that point on. We decided from the get go that it would be fun to do something together while we Skyped and we agreed that chess would be a good game, with both of us claiming "I'm not that good." Apparently "not that good" for him and "not that good" for me meant two completely different things! After a few rounds of getting whooped Zhongjun began giving me advice, which included planning up to 5 moves ahead of time. Since his language is very rudimentary and his accent is very tough for me to understand, I think that playing games or sharing some common experience (such as funny youtube videos) is a good foundation for our conversations to be based on. If we are playing a game like Chess, the language is universal. Because of this, it makes our communication much easier and fluid. Even though we were initially assigned as "Skype" partners, we both have agreed to meet this week in person for lunch! I'm excited to see how things are different between Skyping and actually hanging out in person with my ITA.
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The first time you met with Zhongjun, did you find that Skyping with a stranger was awkward at all? Also, having him explain the game of chess to you is a great way to gauge their ability in English and to encourage them to really utilize the full extent of their vocab. Good thinking!
ReplyDeleteThanks man! Yeah I actually did find it a little bit awkward. Since Zhongjun's English didn't allow him to have fluent, progressive conversations I found that it was more difficult to convey my thoughts to him because I couldn't use gestures and mannerisms that I would usually use in person. Do you also have a Skype ITA partner?
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