In the next tutoring session with Andre, I decided to change it up and work on listening. This was one of his weak points, so I wanted to emphasize it. We met in the computer lab of CIES.
To properly gauge Andre's listening ability, I first dialed up the YouTube video of a popular rap song. After describing the tube to him, he was a little apprehensive because of its speed. I told him that it was just a warm-up. Plus, the lyrics were written on the screen for him to follow along.
Even so, he struggled mightily. Simply put, the pace of the music was too quick and the rapper spoke in a modified version of English. He cut off many words, like jumpin'. Instead of summarizing the minute of music, I asked Andre to listen again and write down phrases that caught his ear. This went much more smoothly, as he could articulate main points of the song much better.
I decided to tone down the pace a bit, so I picked the famous Motown song, "It's Rainin' Men". Not only was it slower, but Andre actually recognized the song. After a few listens, he summarized the song in three sentences that were complete, correct, and understandable. I complimented him on his hard work and the lesson ended.
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