After a lot of confusion the first week on who my conversation partner actually was, I finally got it figured out. I have been talking with more than just my conversation partner, because many of the IEP students will hang out after their classes are over. Many of them come over to talk, resulting in a very different experience than my first conversation which was one on one. My partner is very shy, and usually gets tired of speaking English after a while. Not that I can blame her!!! Lina, my real partner, is 18 and very nice. Her English is excellent, and I have learned that she is in one of the higher levels of English.
Norelly, who is my accidental partner, is much older than Lina and me. She has a more difficult time with English, and asks me to slow down often. Lina, Norelly, and a few other IEP students and I all were talking today, about a wide range of subjects. They are teaching me some Spanish (not that I am learning it very well) and I am helping them with English. One thing that this is helping me with is actually learning more about English. Today, I was trying to explain the difference between "may" and "can". I know that "Can I use the bathroom" is grammatically inncorrect, but I cannot tell you why. I also cannot tell you why "may" is correct and what the difference between the two is. Thinking about the subtle differences in words is a whole new thing. Some words mean basically the exact same thing if you look at their definition, but in a sentence they can have incredibly different meanings. Talking to my conversation partner(s) has showed me how much language is learned, rather than taught. I also have a newfound admiration for all teachers who teach another language, because they have to answer questions that I don't think I ever could answer.
English is hard, I get that. I just can't explain why.
Norelly, who is my accidental partner, is much older than Lina and me. She has a more difficult time with English, and asks me to slow down often. Lina, Norelly, and a few other IEP students and I all were talking today, about a wide range of subjects. They are teaching me some Spanish (not that I am learning it very well) and I am helping them with English. One thing that this is helping me with is actually learning more about English. Today, I was trying to explain the difference between "may" and "can". I know that "Can I use the bathroom" is grammatically inncorrect, but I cannot tell you why. I also cannot tell you why "may" is correct and what the difference between the two is. Thinking about the subtle differences in words is a whole new thing. Some words mean basically the exact same thing if you look at their definition, but in a sentence they can have incredibly different meanings. Talking to my conversation partner(s) has showed me how much language is learned, rather than taught. I also have a newfound admiration for all teachers who teach another language, because they have to answer questions that I don't think I ever could answer.
English is hard, I get that. I just can't explain why.
Megan,
ReplyDeleteI had never thought about something like this before. I don't think I can explain the differences between "may" and "can" either. I find it interesting that you seemed to have more of a conversation group rather than just one partner. I bet that came with some extra challenges that those of us who just met with one other person had. Anyways, I agree about english being hard. I am just thankful that I was born english-speaking.
Travis