Kari_TP1

So, today I met with my tutee, Jaewoo. He is a young man from Seoul South Korea and is doing his best to learn the English language. Initially, over our first exchange of e-mails, he said that he had no confidence in his English speaking skills and needed desperate help with grammar, speaking, and listening. However, when I met up with him today, I found that he is very good with written English and is a much better speaker than he gives himself credit for. What I tried working with him on today was listening and speaking. At first I had no idea how to help him with hearing and understanding, and when I thought back on how I learned to deal with listening and speaking with Spanish, I couldn't really remember going over any special techniques other than just practicing. So what I did for Jaewoo, was asked him about a topic of interest that he enjoyed, such as food, sports, science, and asked him to tell me about what he knew about each subject. I found out that he was in the military for 2 years, as is custom for every man in South Korea, and also taught snowboarding and swimming. I also found that his listening and comprehension was easier if I spoke slowly. I looked through his lesson book a little bit and was able to get the gist of what he was going over in his classes. I'm not sure how much to teach him grammatically or correct him in his speaking, because I don't want to confuse him with what he is learning. Right now he is borderline between levels 2 and 3, but on literature and reading he is on the higher end of 3. In terms of helping him with speaking and listening, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
We were able to practice for about an hour and a half, and we plan on meeting up again tomorrow night.