CP #1: Almond-flavored Confusion

September 3, 2013

I took advantage of the Tea Time put on by the Conversation Partners program this Tuesday to meet my future tutee and conversation partners. I find myself with more time these days, and I spend some of it baking. I’ve never been someone to bring baked goods to get-togethers, so I figured I’d make up lost time and brought a platter of chocolate chip cookies to CIES. What could be more American?

            The hallway was congested with students filling out nametags. Yaneli, my tutee, found me (how many tall redheads can you expect to find in a given place?). She knew one of my partners, Luis, and offered to text him. I can tell we’re going to have plenty to go over together; she asked me, “I text Luis?” with a concerned look and a hand gesture towards me. I thanked her and met my other partner, Mehmas, who was nearby chatting. He shook my hand, grinning, and invited me to sit.

            Mehmas is 20 and from Kuwait. He wants to be a “petroleum engineer; you know, with oil,” which I have never heard of but am sure exists, especially in the Middle East. He has been here for 6 months studying English. “When I first came here, I did not know what ‘yes’ or ‘no’ means,” he shared ruefully. I told him he has clearly improved a lot. Mehmas had some errors and asked me to repeat myself at times, but I’m impressed at his bravery to come to the U.S. without any previous knowledge of English. The one comment he made that was really confusing for me was, “When I go other places (other than school), it is better to by my car.” I heard “to buy” my car and explained it was best to just say “by car,” which was the structure I think he wanted to use. He wanted to know if his sentences were correct, though, and was open to my suggestions.

            Luis found us in our corner and greeted me with a kiss on my cheek. I like the affection of Hispanic cultures and am accustomed to the beso, but I should probably clarify how North Americans like their space. Luis came here from Mexico three weeks ago but studied English in middle school and high school. He spoke more fluently than Mehmas, which doesn’t surprise me considering both his previous studies and the similarity of Spanish to English. Luis aspires to join FSU as a music major, which apparently requires a 7.5 score in English in ILs? ELL? I wasn’t familiar with the test, but Mehmas was and reacted with surprise. “FSU only requires 6.5,” he asserted. “No,” Luis said calmly, “Not my major.”

            We were chatting amiably about traveling in Florida when another student approached me. “Rosalie! I am your conversation partner!” she said as she swooped in for a hug. I was not aware of having a third partner, but Luis jumped up quickly to give her his seat. We were glad to have her. Isabella is Brazilian, energetic, and talkative. I learned she is an engineer here on scholarship. In Brazil, she works in a lab with bacteria that breaks ammonia bonds. She throws herself wholeheartedly into communicating, an admirable endeavor considering she has a very low level of English. I found myself focusing on her while the boys continued chatting. I like that all of my partners speak different first languages; this way, English is their common language. They understand each other better than I do!

            I brought up the upcoming trip to St. George Island this weekend, and my partners were intrigued. “How many times..?” Isabella asked, tapping her watchface and motioning forward. I was lost. Mehmas leaned in and said, “She means is the beach near?” She was asking how far away—how many units of time away! A friend of Mehmas’, Mohamed, joined our conversation. He explained he recently had a presentation for which he needed to make a salad (?). “What would you put in a salad?” he asked. “Mine was very simple. I put carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber…”

            “Mushrooms?” I ventured. “Sliced almonds?”

            “Almonds?” No one knew what almonds were. Luis soon understood, confirming they were almendras in Spanish. He was able to share that with Isabella, since Portuguese is close to Spanish. Mehmas and Mohamed were still confused. While Mehmas whipped out his phone to translate from English to Arabic, Isabella took it upon herself to explain them (since all I could come up with was “It’s a nut!”). “Brown, outside” with her thumbs motioning outwards, “and white, inside. Hard,” she explained. The translator saved the day, and Luis wrote down the new word in his notebook.

            I think our group has a good dynamic, and I hope to see them in a group as much as possible. I’m looking forward to learning from my diverse partners and our language adventures and misadventures!