On our second meeting (Thurs 7/12) Yao and I "met" on Skype. I would like to use this post to share my experience of Skype of my first ESL Skype meeting...
For those of you who have never used Skype, Skype is a web-based software that allows you to communicate with another user from computer to computer using chat, talk, and video simultaneously. It is a great tool, but it still lacks many elements that are present in face to face communication. In our conversation we didn't use video (I honestly felt a little uncomfortable asking) so this eliminated the use of body language (which I find very helpful in situation where there is a language barrier). Though we had a good conversation (we talked for an hour and a half about Meditation, Buddhism, and China) I honestly felt as though the conversation would have flowed much more smoothly in person. It seems like there where many points in the conversation where we were either talking over each other (trying to start sentences at the same time), or were in moments of prolonged pause. I asked her if she would like to meet in person next time, in the library or at a cafe, and she said she would prefer Skype...and so, we set up another appointment for an awkward, but educational conversation! haha...
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