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McKenna TS #20

Date: 9/9 Location: Dirac Library Topic: Fun Vocabulary, American Phrases and Idioms, Florida-Specific Terms Feedback Provided: We went over a lot of fun and unusual words and phrases, such as “whimsical” and “bite the bullet”. I taught her the meaning of each one and gave examples about where and when they may be used. Lessons Learned: In this session I learned just how many American phrases do not make sense to someone who hasn’t spent a lot of time speaking to English speakers. I chose 6 different commonly used idioms that I felt may come up in my tutees conversations. Even though I knew that these don’t make much sense without context, as that’s obviously what an idiom is, my tutee even brought up other encounters she’s had with Americans that she felt didn’t make sense. She told me about a person she spoke to who told her they’d “shoot” her a message, which she said made her uncomfortable. I explained that shoot in that context just means to send, but it made me realize just how m...
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McKenna TS #19

Date: 9/2 Location: Dirac Library Topic: 2025 Met Gala (American Events; Specific Colors and Fabrics) Feedback Provided: I provided feedback on different specific colors and materials, such as “maroon” instead of red or “satin” instead of silk. There were many words like this in the video that we watched, so I also went over the pronunciation of them. We also talked a lot about American culture in the fashion world, such as why the Met Gala is such an influential event and what the “Superfine” theme meant for the history of Black-Americans. Lessons Learned: In this lesson I learned to pay better attention to the vocabulary used when choosing videos and materials. I chose this specific video because it used a lot of specific descriptors instead of generic ones (ie. navy instead of blue). Based on our last session, I thought this would be a fun and interesting video to go over, as my tutee really liked learning the more niche and specific words. I did not realize, however, just how many ...
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McKenna TS #18

 Date: 8/25 Location: Online Topic: American Clothing (Specific Names and Proper Attire) Feedback Provided: I provided a lot of feedback about pronunciation of words such as jacket, maxi, and jean. I also provided feedback about the difference between a jacket and a coat, as well as the reason why people don’t call jeans, “jean pants”, but we call other jean outfits things like “jean shorts” or “jean jackets”   Lessons Learned: This lesson made me realize that a lot of students who are learning English do not know specific versions of the vocab words that they do, such as a button down shirt versus just a shirt. I learned that this kind of vocab can be very important to implement in lessons as it can be critical to explaining or understanding certain things in English. 
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McKenna TS #17

Date: 7/28 Location: Online Topic: Food in Pittsburgh and Tallahassee (Conversation and Phrases) Feedback Provided: I provided my tutee feedback about the meanings of certain phrases and accents in Pittsburgh, such as yinz and hoagie. We talked about how slang words and accents can be very regional and specific. I also provided feedback about the pronunciation of “sandwich” and the difference between a sandwich, a broad unspecific term, and a hamburger, a specific type of sandwich. Lessons Learned: This lesson taught me that unfamiliar accents can sound like an entirely different language. My tutee had some trouble understanding the video about Pittsburgh because of the accent and it made me realize I have to pay closer attention to the dialect in which the speakers in videos speak in in order to determine if it will be too difficult. 
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McKenna TS #16

 Date: 7/17 Location: Online Topic: Jokes, Phrases, and Sayings (Adam Sandler Tonight Show Interview) Feedback Provided: We went over a lot of jokes and phrases that were said in this interview. I explained the meaning of sarcasm and a hyperbole and also why Adam's phrases did not necessarily mean what they said. Lessons Learned: I learned that American English, and English in general, has so many complicated ways to phrase things that make it really hard for a non-native speaker to understand something that is not be said in a direct manner. For example, Adam was making a joke about himself being fat, and said that his “gut is hanging over”. My tutee was really confused about this. I expected that she wouldn’t understand what “gut” was referring to, so I expected to talk about that, but I did not expect that would be really confused about what it means for something to be hanging over. I eventually was able to explain it to her, but it taught me to review every aspect of speech in...
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McKenna TS #15

 Date: 7/14 Location: Online Topic: Everyday Activities and Feelings Feedback Provided: I gave my tutee a lot of feedback on word choice during this lesson. We talked about the day she had and how she felt during the certain activities she did, as well as looked at a picture of patrons in NYC and talked about how they might be feeling. I taught her the meaning of the word metropolitan in regards to a metropolitan city. We also talked about how certain words make more sense in a cultural and casual context even those the original word may be grammatically correct.  Lessons Learned: I learned that it is sometimes difficult to explain why certain words or phrases would not be used even though it is grammatically correct. Sometimes my tutee will say things that are technically correct on paper, but sound uncomfortable and would not be typical speech for a native English speaker. I do try my best to explain why it wouldn’t be used, but most of the time find that just saying that it...
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Venus TS #20

Date/Time: Saturday, July 19th, at 10:00 AM Location: Lucky Goat Coffee Topic/Skill: Academic Small Talk, Networking Confidence, and Conversation Transitions Feedback provided to the tutee: In this session, Nejoud and I tackled one of the most terrifying things in academia,  networking small talk. Specifically, how to approach those awkward moments at conferences and receptions. We opened with a warm-up discussion about awkward professional conversations. Nejoud shared a few relatable stories from previous events where she wasn’t sure what to say, especially in English. We discussed cultural differences in how professional small talk happens, and I introduced the idea that in U.S. academia, small talk isn’t just fluff, it’s the bridge to meaningful connections. Our mini-lesson focused on a three-stage framework for transitioning from casual to academic conversation: Friendly Opener : “This is a great event, isn’t it?” Light Question:  “What brought you to this...
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