112 Learning Journal Post #7

[Christiana Summers]

I have been working with my language partner more on conversation skills that incorporate what we have learned throughout the semester.  It has been very helpful to practice when we meet as a group with two other students.  My language partner created a scenario of three conversations that would occur on the same night between two friends and the employee of a restaurant and a movie theater.  The first conversation was just between the two friends as they determined where they were going later that evening and when.  It included a portion where one friend expressed why one time wouldn't work and suggested another.  I found this helpful because it is very realistic.  The second conversation was between the two friends and a server at a restaurant which I found more as a review of what I have learned in previous semesters.  Finally, we read the third conversation between the two friends and the employees at the movie theater which included some helpful vocabulary for me that I wasn't familiar with.  I was a bit confused at first because I expected to know more about what was in the dialog than I did when we read it through the first time.  But after we read through a couple of lines, we discussed what each part meant, and I was able to understand the missing links fairly quickly.  It was mostly a couple of vocabulary words and some grammar nuances specific to conversations that I did not recognize.  But the majority of the conversation, especially after going over it a couple of times, I could understand.  I think it is very useful to have the script so we can practice on our own and be able to see and identify all the parts.   I found this an effective strategy in practicing speech.  At this point, I had hoped to be able to have a basic conversation about meeting up at a certain place and time to do ‘x’.  Especially after our last session, I can say that I have accomplished that.  In our next session, I would like to go over the conversation again and test our speed of speaking and our recollection of what we are saying.  I think this would be a good ending point for the semester.