As we were going over the article from the ESL newspaper I was shocked by how much he comprehended. The article was about how school districts are slashing bus routes to help with expenses. Alberto asked us what slashing meant and how to pronounce routes. He did not hesitate with asking questions. Majority of the time he could understand the meaning of the sentence even if he could not understand all the words. He reads with ease but lacks confidence when pronouncing some words. To keep him reading we have asked him to read another article out of the newspaper for next week.
Next, we reviewed his previous notecards and made new ones. Alberto was extremely excited by this. One of the questions was why do American celebrate Thanksgiving? He understood the answer but said he has always been puzzled by the expression Thanksgiving. There is no spanish word for Thanksgiving so instead they translate it in a phrase that means the action of giving thanks. Alberto said he never understood how a phrase could be one word in English. After making ten notecards Alberto said that was enough for today that he needs to take baby steps with all this information. He excitedly reviewed what he had asked him to for next week and said he would spend a lot of time practicing. I suggested that he might even try doing homework with his children because it would help his English and by his children describing their homework it would probably help them learn it too. Alberto seemed to think that was a great idea. I continually blown away by how eager Alberto is to learn. I have enjoyed helping him become a more confident person.
4 comments:
I think words are fun, but also confusing when trying to explain what they mean to someone who does not have an equilevent word in their native language. Thanksgiving is an odd one, but it basically means a time to give thanks, so it makes sense in English to combine them. Anyway, I think this is a common occurence (at least for me it is) when I find myself understanding the question and wondering at the answer myself as I search for it. I liked the idea of Alberto working with his children and I also think you and Katie are helping him so much. I'm glad he liked the notecard idea from your last post; it seems to be helping.
I'm glad that you have done such a great job! your partner has been improving his English a lot as I can see.
I like your post though. However, I think that you could put more of your feelings and description in it.
Great work!
Jimmy
glad to see it's going well between you and your partner. i have also been lucky with a partner who is eager too learn. hope it continues to go well for you and your partner.
Hi Anna, Great post. I think your work with Alberto is going well and that you are doing an excellent job helping him. The note cards are a great idea. English is a tough language, no doubt about it. But the best way of learning it is speaking it. About words like Thanksgiving? We create words by putting other words together because English is related to German, which is where the practice comes from. Best,
Dan W
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