Tutoring has commenced
Last night was tutoring session #1, at a library about a mile from my house (so once the weather gets nicer I can bike there). I hadn't prepared anything formal, as I just wanted to do some introductory stuff and get a sense for how good her English is. And fortunately it's pretty decent. She actually quite the self-starter, and watches this show on one of her Chinese stations that teaches English.
She's in her mid-40s (by my estimate) and has one adult child who is working back in China now. She's been on the continent for around 11 years, having spent the first 8 or so living with her husband and son in Montreal. She's able to communicate her ideas when speaking, which is a big help for me. I haven't seen her writing yet but she says it's not very good.
One of her main goals is to become a citizen, so I can probably combine that with the basic English teaching to accomplish two goals at once. And hey, we already got something accomplished, as she now has a library card. We'll be meeting every Wednesday for a few hours, so I guess now I have to put together something resembling a lesson plan.
And I've already learned something myself - Chinese women typically do not take their husband's family name when they get married. So there you go.
She's in her mid-40s (by my estimate) and has one adult child who is working back in China now. She's been on the continent for around 11 years, having spent the first 8 or so living with her husband and son in Montreal. She's able to communicate her ideas when speaking, which is a big help for me. I haven't seen her writing yet but she says it's not very good.
One of her main goals is to become a citizen, so I can probably combine that with the basic English teaching to accomplish two goals at once. And hey, we already got something accomplished, as she now has a library card. We'll be meeting every Wednesday for a few hours, so I guess now I have to put together something resembling a lesson plan.
And I've already learned something myself - Chinese women typically do not take their husband's family name when they get married. So there you go.