I\nworked with a non-native English speaker as a \u201ctutor\u201d of sorts. We met through\na language learning app and have been in contact since. I help with their English,\nand they help me with my Portuguese. So, while it is not a traditional tutor\nrole, it is still a role that requires a lot of knowledge of the English\nlanguage. My partner has taught me a lot in terms of what to expect from\nsomeone who is learning English. Learning a different language is not an easy\nfeat. There is a lot of patience and understanding needed in order to truly be\nable to teach someone English, let alone a whole classroom full of students. I met\nMaeve, my partner, on a language app called HelloTalk. I wanted to learn Portuguese,\nand they wanted to learn English. Throughout this experience, I have gotten to\nknow more about Brazilian culture than I knew before meeting them, and they\nhave shared the same sentiments about American culture. It is fascinating how\ntwo different cultures can also overlap and share similarities with one\nanother. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nmainly taught them the basics of grammar, as that was something they wanted to\nmaster. It was difficult to keep to the prescriptive rules of grammar, as I am\nused to breaking grammar rules. However, it is very important for an ESL\nstudent to learn the basic grammar rules before they can break them, and that\nis exactly what I ended up teaching. I also taught them different variations of\nthe vocabulary they already knew, as well as some \u201cslang\u201d that is commonly used\non social media today. What I learned from them was a bit different. I did\nlearn more Portuguese than I already knew, but I mainly learned about how I\nrespond to ESL learners and the fact that I adapt to how they speak in order to\nmake it easier for them to learn. I also learned a lot about their home, their\npolitical beliefs, what holidays they celebrate in Brazil, etc. It was an\neye-opening experience and I am really glad that I was able to experience it\nwith someone who was as eager to learn as I was.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I worked with a non-native English speaker as a \u201ctutor\u201d of sorts. We met through a language learning app and have been in contact since. I help with their English, and they help me with my Portuguese. So, while it is not a traditional tutor role, it is still a role that requires a lot… <\/p>\n