Third Meeting With Alessandra

Alessandra and I had our third meeting after a two week break.  As I mentioned before, she and her husband took a trip to California last week because her husband gave a speech over “Geology and Wine”, whatever that means. She talked about the trip for much of the talk.  She said that she enjoyed California a lot and that she would love to return if she stays in America for a long time. 

After we finished discussing the trip, Alessandra asked me to help her with a few things. First up was help with her iPhone.  Alessandra has mentioned her technologically impaired nature before, and the questions she asked were not difficult at all. She needed help with things like basic settings and updating apps.  She asked how to set up the weather app so that she could check the weather in Italy, and I showed her how.  I took it as a sign of her homesickness.  Checking the weather of my hometown when away on a trip is something I do as well.  I guess it’s connects you to home in some strange way. 

Next, she asked help with some of her assignments for her ESL classes.  Her class was reading the short book “Million Dollar Baby”. She needed help with the meaning of the word “political” in a certain usage.  The way the author used the word was incorrect as far as I could tell.  Alessandra also asked me to listen to her read two stories and decide which one was funnier.  The stories she told were short but included very difficult words for someone new to English, such as “obnoxious”. I was impressed with her ability to sound out everything with great clarity.  She has only been taking classes for less than a year yet already has the reading level of middle school student or higher. 

Toward the end of the talk, Alessandra informed me that there is a possibility that I may be assigned a new partner.  New ESL students have started taking classes, and some of the older students will lose their partner so the new students can practice as well. We both agreed that this seems unfair.  I certainly would like to continue to meet with Alessandra, so hopefully nothing will happen.  Please let me know if anyone else’s partner mentioned something like this!

Ciao!