Jose is an Older Man

This guy is probably, and I'm guessing, in his late 40s or early 50s.  He's attending this week's  English Conversation Group.  He told us he never misses a chance to go and speak English, so he travels to other nearby conversation groups on different days.  What's nice about our English Conversation Group is that there's no pressure and no one looks at you funny or is rude to you, if you can't pronounce a word correctly,' it's a very relaxed environment and we talk about "whatever".

I can't believe that people can be really rude to others because they can't say a word perfectly.  Another student of mine was in a hospital attending her clinical requirements and one of the Respiratory Therapist yelled at her and told her to "learn how to speak English first and you'll be a better Therapist".  The woman who said this was from another country with a very, very, slight accent, not as perfect English either. My student felt awful and lost even more confidence in herself. She's a timid, introvert and walked away feeling hurt. 

Back to Jose; he decided to attend a local junior college to take an ESL class.  He said he paid alot of money, nearly $500 for two credit hours and a book.  Jose has not been working for over 9 months since he was laid-off from his job. 

If you were to talk to Jose, he can understand and speak English pretty well; enough for him to get by in a conversation everyday.  He doesn't understand alot of slang and idioms that we use today.  For example, we were talking about "shadowing" someone at work and he had no clue what that meant.  I never realized how much we use slang or idioms on a daily basis.  Here's a few examples:

• Take it Easy
• A Dime a Dozen
• A Drop in the Bucket
• Don't Bite My Head off
• Once in a Blue Moon
• You Crack Me Up
• Off the Record
• Hit the Sack or Hit the Hay
• Out of the Blue
• A Piece of Cake
• Bite the Bullet
• A Taste of your Own Medicine

Just by adding idioms in our daily conversation can easily confuse someone who is learning the English language.  I try not to add them in my conversation group, 'cause sometimes, it takes awhile to explain what some of the idioms mean; and that can get even trickier and more confusing for others. 

ESL Conversation Group: Hawkeye

His name is "Hawkeye". He and his wife left China and arrived in Canada 10 years ago.   He's attending an English Conversation Group to improve his speaking skills, so he can fulfill his goal of  practicing medicine in the United States. This is his story. 

He worked in Canada as a Medical Researcher in a Lab. His heart was always to pursue a career as a family doctor.  You see, back in China, he held a Medical Degree and was also a Surgeon for one year.  But because he needed to pass the licensing exams in America, he moved to New York and lived with his parents and brother, attended school and received his Master's Degree.  His wife continues to live and work in Ontario Canada and waiting to get her visa papers.

For the past year, he has been shadowing doctors to observe their skills, see how they communicate with patients, learn administrative duties, and a myriad of medical responsibilities. He's still unemployed and is taking advantage of this learning experience. 

Not an easy task to shadow or follow a doctor all day in a hospital setting. 

Hawkeye has to contact a doctor individually by phone and/or email and ask if he can shadow them.  Often times, he has to pay the individual doctor for their time since most of them are too busy.  Sometimes, it can take awhile before he can find a doctor who will meet with him and agree to mentoring. 

Hawkeye then "practiced" his interviewing conversation for next Spring.  He added that he came from a big family, and there were alot of elders living with them, including his grandparents.  His grandmother lived a very old age and became paralyzed.  Helping sick people feeds his soul and completes his life. He knew at a young age that he would pursue an education in medicine, earn his medical degree and become a doctor. 

His dream is to be able to speak English clearly, utilize the leading-edge technology in medicine while helping people feel better and get healthier in America.

Note:

If you're interested in learning to speak, write, and read English and would like more information, here are a couple of links:

http://www.toastmasters.org/

http://www.literacyvolunteersillinois.org/about.asp

http://literacyvolunteersdupage.org/

http://www.literacychicago.org/

Even better---  Volunteers are always needed!  Training and certification is free!  Help others learn the English language, the hours are flexible and you'll make new friends too!  Contact any of the organizations listed above for more information on how you can become a Literacy Tutor.