Dana TS#1

I met with Abrar at CIS for my first tutoring session.   There was a miscommunication about the meeting place, and luckily I called her 15 minutes after the start time, only to find out that she was waiting downstairs in the student lounge. Abrar Is a young woman and mother of three boys. She is from Mecca,  Saudi Arabia. Arabic is her first language. She has been at FSU for about a month. She previously studied English in New York, but was not very satisfied with the course.  She feels she didn’t learn much there. She also did not like the teaching style, which was teacher-centered, sage-style. She thought it was a waste of money. She really enjoys the student centered approach at CIES.  

     Abrar is a medical Doctor, i.e. M.D..  She practiced in her home country for about seven years as a general practitioner. She is trying to gain entry into the FSU public health masters program. Her short term goal is to pass the GRE and her medium term goal is to pass either the IELTS (British) or TOEFL (American) English exam. Her long-term goal is to get into the Masters program in public health. She is currently living in TLH with her husband and youngest child who is in the first grade. The child is an English speaker. Her husband is attempting to get into the Masters program in business administration.
     In her spare time Abrar he likes to cook meals and play with her kids. She also enjoys swimming and fishing. Her family has a home at the Red Sea. We discussed surf-fishing and deep-sea fishing. Although she likes to cook, she lets the family chef prepare the fish she has caught. We did not discuss catch and release, but that is for a future discussion. I think I am going to take up fishing again; one of my childhood activities.  LOL  She says that the weather in Tallahassee is similar to her city, Mecca,  in that it is hot and humid there as well. Tallahassee is a smaller city than Mecca. Mecca is a holy city, and as we all know: Tallahassee is not.  LOL

     Abrar would like to speak English, so she could socialize and communicate better with her American friends. For her, grammar is the most difficult. Reading comprehension and answering test questions is also a challenge. She would like me to help her with reading comprehension and answering test questions. She received a grade of 6.0 on the IELTS, but a 6.5 is required to pass.   We discussed a common beautiful mistake that I have heard many foreigners make,  which is the use of the phrase "too much"  instead of very much. 

 We agreed to meet this Friday at 1 PM.  The meeting exceeded my expectations.

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