Shanti CP#1

Today, May 13, I met with my conversation partner for the first time. His name is Kyu. We went to Starbucks and then to Momo's pizza after. He is in group four at CIES and his English is very good. Kyu is getting his doctorates degree in Business. He is at CIES because his teacher told him he needed to improve his academic speaking and writing. Kyu told me he has been in the U.S. for two years and is from South Korea. He does not need help with grammar at all. Kyu speaks almost perfect English. The only things he did not understand were slang words I used. When he didn't understand a word he would ask me what I meant. He also was curious about which words were considered offensive such as "picky". He wanted me to explain if this was an offensive word or an okay word to use. I told him it would depend on the situation and person because some people may take offense to it. I explained that it usually isn't a negative word but to just be aware of how some people might take offense to it. I also had a hard time explaining the word sassy to him. He understood it a little in the end but sassy is a hard word to explain because it is a very American term. The hardest thing about speaking to him was monitoring my speaking. He was okay with the speed but it is hard to edit out all the slang I use because a lot of the time I don't even realize a word is slang. I hope that these meetings will be productive for both of us. He would like to practice more formal speaking. I think this will be helpful for me because it will allow me to be more conscious of what I say. There was one thing he told me that I did not quite understand. He tole me he wanted me to use "gentler sentences". I don't quite understand what he means by this so if anyone has any ideas please let me know. :)