Last Saturday, I tutored Jamil at the Starbucks across from
CIES. It was my first time meeting him, so I wanted to assess his English
skills. Jamil speaks very well, probably at about a level 3. He was able to
correct a few of his mistakes, which was impressive. Jamil is from France and
has a degree in Business Law. He is in America to learn English and then move
back to Paris and continue his education as a lawyer. Jamil said that his biggest
challenge is speaking. He gets nervous,
especially in formal oral exams. I told him that that is perfectly normal, and
that I wanted him to feel comfortable in a one-on-one setting. So we just
talked casually, and I asked him questions about his life and he asked me
questions about mine. At first he was very shy and only giving me one sentence
answers, but the more I opened up, the more he began to open up and go into
detail. It turned out we have a lot in common, and he said that this was a very
positive experience for him. Jamil said that normally whenever he has
conversations with native English speakers, they make him feel insecure because
they are always saying “what?”, and he things it is because of his thick French
accent. I will keep trying to create this relaxed environment for Jamil
throughout our sessions, because I can tell that it goes a very long way.
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