Blog #4

We have talked a lot about cultural differences in both of my groups. In particular, we have talked a lot about different foods. We had a meeting at Sweeting where I tried bubble tea and sweet sticky rice with red beans. Bubble tea is Taiwanese, and my Taiwanese group members decided that Sweeting has good bubble tea, but not as good as what is available in Taiwan. They also said that it is much cheaper there because it is not a specialty, it is just everywhere, from restaurants to street food carts! We have also discussed quite a bit about the differences in education systems between the United States and other countries. It was very interesting to learn, not only what is different compared to here, but also to hear my group members discuss the similarities and differences between their own respective countries. I've also realized that it is quite unique that, in the United States, more than test scores are taken into account when applying to universities, and that we can take our entrance exams more than once. Taiwan, Malaysia, and China all have these all-or-nothing exams at the end of high school. I also know that entrance to university in France is also based on a country-wide one time test. We did come to the general consensus that there are good and bad things about all of the different systems.

We have discussed many other things beside this, and I feel comfortable taking about these differences. I'm extremely interested to learn about the other ways of doing things that take place around the world. I also enjoy sharing US culture ideas (most recently, Halloween!) and discussing them. It's always interesting hear how someone who did not grow up with the same ideas views the way things are here. 

Blog #3

I have noticed throughout the semester that planning a conversation can go significantly different than facilitating a conversation. The biggest issue is that I'll plan something, and then we don't talk about it nearly as long as I expect, which leaves me jumping from Plan A to Plan B pretty quickly. However, I have found that just taking a step back after discussing my question or activity and letting the conversation continue without me guiding it is a good way for the other students to practice their English and ensure that I am not doing too much of the talking. This also spreads out my plan to ensure that I do not run through it before time is up. Then, once the conversation slows, I'll jump back in to ask a new question or move to a new activity. Additionally, I always imagine the conversation going in a certain direction, which does not always happen. This is not a big deal, but it is definitely a huge difference between my panning and my facilitating.

Furthermore, now that I know my participants a little bit better, it has definitely changed how I facilitate. I don't plan the same things for both of my groups all of the time. My Wednesday group is slightly more introverted, and won't always talk as much; therefore, I always have extra stuff to discuss with them. I recently went to Sweeting with them, and planned all the things we could discuss, including the menu, tea, and plans for fall break. I let the conversation flow, and we discussed the menu and what we were going to order for quite awhile, but I made sure to have a new question ready for whenever we had a lull. My Friday group is quite lively (surprising for 7 PM on Friday!) and the conversation flows pretty easily. Because of this, we usually don't get through as much stuff, but we also go off on many interesting tangents. For example, last Friday we discussed what is cheaper or more expensive in the United States vs their home country. This grew out of a conversation about the UM vs MSU game!

Week 3 blog post

It's interesting to consider how different conversations turn out in practice compared to when you're planning them. For instance, I set up a loose agenda for my last chat cafe session: 10min introductions and questions, 3 min to write down questions, 15 min activity, etc.

But in the actual conversation, the times I allotted varied sometimes. We spent less time writing down questions and more time during the introduction. I think a way to combat feeling like you're getting off track is to not be too regimented about your chat cafe session. It helps to keep things flexible, so if you get "off track" you're not really in trouble because you didn't have a strict structure to stick to anyway. It helps take the pressure off I think. You don't feel a need to guide the conversation stiffly or awkwardly - you just sort of let it flow.

Now that I know my participants a little better, I sort of know what topics get the most responses (i.e. what was something you experienced this week that surprised you?).

It's interesting to hear from their POV, and it opens my eyes to all the potentially confusing things around campus. It's so easy to assume that everyone will understand something so you don't have to be too specific, but you have to keep in mind that there's a whole audience that may not see it the same way. I'm glad this class is teaching me to be more cognizant of that.