Stephanie TS # 16

Thursday 3:00-4:00 PM CIES. Before meeting with Ahmed today I asked if he wanted to focus on IELTS preparation or homework, and he said IELTS. To prepare for our meeting, I found this great resource that had FAQ’s on the exam and a video that explained different test taking strategies (http://ieltsliz.com/ielts-listening-multiple-choice-essential-tips/). We watched a video about the essentials tips for the listening multiple choice section and I think it was extremely helpful for him. Instead of having him practice a bunch of questions, the entire video focused on just one question and the woman in the video went through step by step what the question meant and how to approach it. She also pointed out how all 8 possible answers would be mentioned in the audio clip, but that doesn’t mean they are all the answer. It is important to hear how the speaker is talking about the possible answers and all the ways the speaker will paraphrase the question. I thought this was really good advice for Ahmed because he struggled with this when we practiced previously. The question asked what is “recommended,” so Ahmed and I took time to write down all the different words that mean “recommended” that the speaker might use. We came up with “it is beneficial…” “I advise you to…” “you should…” and so on. This was a great activity because when it came to the actual practice portion, Ahmed knew to not only focus on hearing the word “recommended,” but all the other synonyms possible. After the activity, the video provided some of their synonyms for “recommended”, and the final one was “if I were in your shoes…” Ahmed didn’t understand this phrase and I explained it to him by talking about the movie Freaky Friday. We watched the trailer together and he really enjoyed it! It made the session a lot more fun. I told him a little bit more about what the movie is about and he said he is going to watch it with his wife and son! We ended the session writing down some good vocabulary words that are the opposite of “recommended” like “it isn’t permitted to…” “it’s banned…” and other really helpful words. It was perfect because in the movie trailer, the daughter said “I can’t go on Jake’s motorcycle, I’m not allowed,” which tied in really well with these words! I definitely see Ahmed making progress.