Stephanie_TS#10

Last Saturday, I met Jamil at the Starbucks across from CIES. Jamil says that he has been very self-conscious of his speaking and wants to practice with me as much as possible. So, we sat there and talked again. I asked him questions about his life, his adjustment to America, his plans upon returning back to Paris, etc. He is at about a level 2 speaking rate, he speaks slowly with many errors. I tried to make the environment as comfortable and non-judgmental as possible. Jamil says that whenever he talks to American people, he gets nervous because he is aware of his errors and he feels that they look at him funny. I would help him with a few corrections in his grammar, but for the most part I just listened, nodded, and smiled. At first, he was very shy and wasn’t giving me long answers at all. But the more I just asked him questions and sat there and smiled, he opened up. I think that’s all he needed, someone to just not judge him and give him the chance to express himself. Jamil says he gets very frustrated with himself while speaking English, but I told him not to. In the past, Jamil and I have spoken about music and how we both like to play instruments. So, I told him that learning another language is just like learning an instrument. At first, you play so many wrong notes that sound really bad in a song. And it can be very frustrating, especially when you practice a lot. But practice really does make perfect, and it is important to be resilient and keep going. Keep practicing – reading, writing, speaking, listening, and grammar – as much as possible. You WILL make mistakes but sometimes that’s the best way to learn.