Annabella CP #1

Date: 07/22/21

Topic discussed: Education and language learning

Cultural and/or linguistic topics you and your partner learned: Sara is from Saltzburg, Austria and was my roommate in Tallahassee for the 2020 fall semester. Even though we became close, there were a lot of things about her life prior to coming to the U.S. that I didn't know. Especially after meeting with my tutee and seeing how their level in English compared to one another, I wanted to know more about how she became so well at speaking English. Sara mentioned that it was a requirement in school to take English classes which she started at around 12. She told me how much she loved it and how it made her realize she wanted to be a teacher. Because of that, she is now majoring in Education and English. Currently, she is studying for exams at school which is a huge deal in Austria. They have massive exams at the end of their term that they study all year for and that is why Sara and many Austrian students are under so much pressure. It was interesting to see how different our language learning experiences were. I do not have many good memories with mine and I remember Spanish teachers preparing me for exams and not for speaking Spanish or improving my skills. It had me thinking about how I want to teach my students and prepare them in the best way possible that gives them confidence in their fluency and accuracy in English.