VIP Class Notes (Consultant)

Vocabulary

Progress (noun) – forward or onward movement toward a destination

ex.   “Has Rico made any progress with his English speaking this year?”
ex.   “There is a tutoring lesson in progress right now.”

Rico didn’t seem to recognize this word, so I made sure to explain some examples of it in a practical sense.

Fast food (noun) – Easy/quick to prepare food, often sold at restaurants. ex. McDonald’s, KFC, Family Mart, instant ramen noodles

ex. “Let’s just get some fast food tonight, I don’t feel like cooking and cleaning.”

Rico understands the concept, just didn’t recall the proper phrase while speaking.

Lotus (noun) – 荷花 Any of the large water lilies. Also the sacred lotus, found throughout Asia and Northern Australia, with pink and white pedals. The root is often eaten in many Chinese dishes.

ex. “Lotus root soup is one of my favorite dishes to eat when I visit Wuhan.
ex. “There is no lotus without mud.”

Student seemed happy to learn this word and we discussed seeing them at East Lake in Hangzhou. I told him the saying of how a lotus needs mud, and how this means that in life there is both good and bad. This metaphor describes that perspective is very important as though mud is gross and dirty, it can make beautiful things.

Portugal (noun) – A country in western Europe.

ex. “Many of the dishes in Macau are from Portugal.”
ex. “I want to fly to Portugal and try some authentic egg tarts.”

I think Rico liked his trips to Macau and Hangzhou. He really seemed to open up when discussing these trips and the food that he tried. I think he was excited to learn/recall the country’s name.

Architecture (noun) – building design; the complex design of building

ex.   “I really liked the architecture in Macau.”
ex.   “One of my favorite parts of traveling is seeing all of the different styles of architecture.”

Grammar

Rico’s grammar seems strong from the samples that I could hear from him. I think he mostly just needs more speaking practice.
He had few mistakes with grammar, none of which struck me as notable enough to interrupt his speaking.

Remind Rico that it’s important to feel comfortable with speaking up when he doesn’t understand the meaning of a word or sentence. I tested him on a few occasions to see if he actually grasped what I was saying and quickly learned that he is willing to nod along. I think this is out of fear/shyness and can only slow his progression.

We discussed that he likes Ted Talks and some other shows. I asked him to try his best in the future to rely less on subtitles to help stimulate his English comprehension.