RossTS#16

For this lesson with Wenkai we again worked on his writing, I had him rewrite the answers to the last weeks questions but rewording the answers. This activity was a bit of a challenge but he said it helped his expand the way he was able to talk about his work.

We followed the same pattern as last time, reviewing the writing and working through the corrections together. However this time I started to focus on some of the smaller errors in order to improve the overall quality of his writing. 

By having to explain the same things several different way he said that he  was having to push the English he was conferrable using and the fact that he could was a nice surprise for him. 

RossTS#15

For this lesson we reviewed the writing assignment that I gave him. He had four 500 word answers. The questions focused on his research and describing the processes he used.  I read over the answers before arriving and came prepared with several queries and questions. We went over the corrections together, I explained the corrections and asked him to explain why he made some of the wording choices that he made. We work-shopped each question for about 15 minutes so that we could really look into each answer.

We focused on correcting the wort 30% of the errors with a major focus on grammar errors. The work-shopping was effective and by the last question he was able to spot the reoccurring errors and fix them. 

RossTS#14

For this lesson I had prepared several discussion questions and several situations so that we could practice his spoken English. We took turns going over the material and the responses to the questions. The focus of this lesson was to work on proper word choice. We discussed why you use certain words and not others.

By focusing on some of his awkward word choices and helping him notice how they are awkward we were able to improve his spoken English and the ease at which  he will be able to communicate. We talked about the differences between the US and Chian as well as places we had traveled. 

After the lesson was over I emailed him so short answer questions to work on for the next session

RossTS#13

For the second session we met on campus. This lesson was focused on helping Wenkai explain his work clearly. I asked his several questions regarding his research and critiqued his responses focusing on grammar and clarity.

Working with his to improve the clarity of his speech so it is more easily understood was a big priority of his because it was something he had been having trouble with. Because of the technical language involved it is important that he is understood as clearly as possible. He has a strong accent so a lot of the clarity errors come from this, however they are significant enough to impair the ability of someone to understand what he is trying to communicate.

RossTS#12

I met Wenkai at the Starbucks on Tennessee Street, we discussed the areas of his English that he wanted to work on and came up with a plan on how to achieve the goals that he wanted to achieve. His main focus was on how to improve his scientific writing and his social English skills. While he is fairly fluent in English his accuracy and sentence structure can be a bit off.

We discussed his previous English language learning experiences and the methods that he found most helpful ad what he found least helpful.  We came up with the methods that he wanted to use as well as a plan for working on the areas he had indicated. 

Marissa TS #16

My final tutoring session with Stephen was about speaking skills. We focused both on pronunciation and correct word usage. We spent the first part of the tutoring session going over minimal pairs using sounds like b/v, y/j, and short vs. long I (“this” vs. “these”). Stephen can hear the difference between these sounds when clearly pronounced or can figure out the word being used from context but cannot distinguish minimal pairs easily. We spent a little bit of time going over the phonetic mechanics of the pronunciation of these sounds, which seemed to help him pronounce them better. We spent the second part of the session in casual conversation about life in Guadalajara, where Stephen has just moved and where I studied a few years ago, with me occasionally pointing out errors in his pronunciation and grammar. Stephen is aware of the rules of grammar and correct pronunciation, but sometimes skips over them while trying to get his ideas across quickly.

Marissa TS #15

My fourth and final tutoring session with Cyan also focused on practicing for the independent writing portion of the TOEFL. I sent him a copy of the grading rubric and had him write another composition based on one of the topics, and this time in going through it I focused more on specific grammatical errors and awkward style. One thing I noticed with his writing was a tendency to overuse commas or not use them when necessary. He would use slashes to state two connected ideas (“imagination/intelligence are important…”) and use commas in a similar fashion for more complicated ideas, rather than connecting his thoughts with transition phrases or new sentences. We also went over subject/verb and pronoun/antecedent agreement, in particular making sure to use the correct verb conjugations for single vs. plural subjects and making sure the antecedent to which a pronoun is referring is clear within the sentence. Cyan occasionally has a tendency to omit the pronoun “it” in impersonal statements. 

Marissa TS #14

For my third tutoring session with Cyan, I sent him a list of possible independent writing topics he might find on the TOEFL. Cyan is aiming to get at least 110 total on the exam so that he’ll be eligible for grants to complete his MBA, and he thinks that his biggest weakness is probably the writing section. We discussed the general organization for academic writing in the US—using a thesis statement, introducing one main idea in each section of the essay, and elaborating on those ideas with supporting evidence and arguments. Cyan wrote responses to one of the topics I sent him, and I looked over those to determine which areas he could most use improvement on. Overall his writing was still pretty high level, though I noticed he had some trouble utilizing transition phrases appropriately, so I made some suggestions as to how he could use them better and sent him a resource that listed different transition words and phrases by meaning. We also talked about rephrasing sentences to present them as stronger arguments.

Marissa TS #13

For my second tutoring session with Cyan we focused on how to improve his understanding of English grammar so that he would be able to practice questions for the verbal section of the GMAT (the business school entrance exam).  Mainly we were focusing on the section about “sentence correction,” in which test takers are given complicated sentences with one part underlined and are asked to find the best alternative version of that section from the multiple choice options. This section of the exam can be difficult even for native English speakers if they don’t understand grammar well. I sent him some resources that outline strategies for tackling these questions, and together we went over some of the main grammar concepts that come up on the exam. We reviewed parallel structure (matching verb tenses, prepositions, etc.), subject/verb agreement, pronoun/antecedent agreement, as well as comparison words (much, less, better, etc.). 

Marissa TS #12

My third tutee is Cyan Umbert Lopez. He currently lives in Spain and works in the technology industry with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He already has a high level of proficiency with English, but wants to continue studying it in order to do well on the TOEFL and GMAT so he can attend business school in the US. Cyan is actually from Barcelona, inside Catalonia. Because of this he speaks both Spanish and Catalan. We did a short exercise going over some minimal pairs in English, and I realized while going over pronunciation with him that Catalan actually has many sounds in common with English that don’t exist in most dialects of Spanish. He has few problems reading and listening to English due to consuming plenty of English-language media, so in tutoring him we decided to focus mainly on writing skills and a few pronunciation issues with speaking.

Marissa TS #11

My third tutoring session with Stephen focused on correct preposition use with reference to the writing he had previously shared with me. We worked mostly on the differences between on/in/at. Stephen had little trouble distinguishing between these three in their most literal meanings (i.e. designating the location of one object with reference to others), but had some difficulty in using them correctly with expressions of time and other, more abstract notions. I sent him a website with a list of rules specifically pertaining to these prepositions and when to use each with different situations (specific times, dates, locations, etc.) We went over several idiomatic expressions using these prepositions (keep in mind/on my mind, arrive at the conclusion…etc) and I had Stephen come up with example sentences using them in their more abstract meanings. He rewrote a few sentences from his writing to use these prepositions correctly and sent them to me for review. 

Marissa TS #10

For our second tutoring session, Stephen sent me a longer sample of his writing in English. He actually has a strong enough grasp on written English (having consumed a large amount of English literature) that he writes his own fiction stories in English. He chooses to do this because he knows it will have a wider audience appeal than works written in Spanish, even though his Spanish writing would come across more fluidly and naturally. I read and carefully went through about 1000 words of his writing and focused on a few specific and repeated grammar and stylistic errors. Like other Spanish speakers, Stephen often has trouble using “it” in impersonal statements and sometimes forgets pronouns in sentences, resulting in the subject being unclear. There were occasional examples of run-on sentences and awkward paragraph divisions that split up ideas and made the progression unclear. We largely worked on ways of rewording sentences and paragraphs to make them sound more natural and clear.