Stephanie_TS#3

Last Thursday, I met with Saleh at the Starbucks next to Chick Fil A. He brought some homework with him and also had some questions for me. He was very confused about when to use “who” and “whom”, how to use past perfect continuous, and his interviewing skills. He was also very nervous about his IELTS exam that he was going to take over the weekend. I assured him that he was going to do great, and that if he needed any extra practice at any point to call or text me before the exam. We did some research together on my iPad about the definition of “who” and “whom” because I wasn’t too sure about that and I did not want to give him the wrong answer. I got a little nervous at first when he asked me because I did not know the answer, but he liked doing the research together and said it was very helpful. We did some examples together in his notebook, and he got a better understanding. I wrote down a few sentences using each, and then I asked him to give me examples using each so that I know he understood. We did the same thing with past perfect continuous (without the research because I knew the answer to that one), and I think it really helped him. I made the examples relevant and some of them even funny, because I could tell he was frustrated with these concepts and I wanted to ease some of his anxiety about it. I constantly reminded him that it is okay to make mistakes, and that sometimes that is the best way to learn. I also gave him some good websites to go on if he ever has any grammar questions and I am not around. For the last 15 minutes of our session, we practiced interviewing skills. I sat across the table from him and pretended to be the interviewer. I asked him about his personal and academic life, playing the role of just a friendly person asking questions and also the role of an employer. He says that helped and that they also do that for the IELTS exam.