Advanced 1-1 Conversations with Bio-Chemist: Topic Ideas?

[Clementine]

My days of teaching English to very low level beginners in West Africa are now over (at least for now...). I've moved to Turkey, and things are much, much different!

One of my students is a (I hope I'm getting this right) Bio-Chemist Researcher/Assistant Professor in her late 30's, and her English language skills are quite advanced. Our interaction comprises of a 2 hour private conversation lesson, once a week. She's an incredibly brilliant individual; her depth of knowledge on a multitude of topics far surpasses mine. However, there are still obvious areas for improvement, and she still doesn't feel very comfortable having free flowing conversations in English.

She'll be traveling to the United States - San Fran - later this year, to work at a major research hospital for awhile, which is why she's keen on improving her social conversation; her medical vocabulary is fine.

While I have some ideas in mind for how to (purposefully) occupy the two hours every week, I was wondering if anyone else had any suggestions. We've met once already, and covered all the introductory topics: family, pastimes, our childhoods, etc. We've also talked about why she decided to go into medicine, and I, teaching/media. So all the basics have been covered.

I'm trying to think of conversations she would be having in social situations once she's in the US. Politics? Home decorating? Celebrities? As far as I know, she wants to focus on conversation exclusively. So reading texts, or writing, would be out of the question. Discussing newspaper headlines might be an idea, however.

Any ideas, or links, or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

(btw, our next meeting is in 7 hours... so I'm a bit late posting this, but I have enough to handle tonight's class anyways. Quick responses are still appreciated, though!)

[Sally Olsen]

In Japan, I had an 89 year old women whose English seemed much better than mine and was a bit intimidated. However, i taped the conversations we had and realized that she was using many of the same words for different topics. I typed out the conversations or about 10 minutes of the most interesting parts and we went through the written version to try and find different words in the Thesaurus. There were also some grammar errors that we could then talk about and when they occurred in future conversations as well, we could identify them.

I, too, used the headlines for the day to initiate conversations if things were lagging but they hardly every did. She usually came with many ideas to talk about. Her knowledge of Japanese history was the most fascinating and I encouraged her to write her autobiography for her grandchildren and great granchildren so the translation of that to English was also a major activity in our lessons.

[Heads Up English]

A lot of advanced students are fine with free conversation, or conversation on topics of great familiarity. Weaknesses become apparent when forced outside their comfort zone, so even advanced students have a lot to learn and master... it just takes more effort and work on our part as teachers.

In my experience, work on presentations, cultural aspects, adjusting the language according to formality, negotiating, and such language skills often are in need of improvement. If you look at these topics, a lot of these are actual courses at universities and continuing education centers for native speakers. I would approach your class similarly.

You mention that the student isn't interested in reading, but this may be another area of weakness. Skimming and scanning are important skills, as is reprocessing that information into a cohesive and logical summary or explanation. If you consider that different cultures present or write essays differently, your student may benefit form learning how this is done in the US.

All of this can be applicable to his job in the US. I'm sure he will need to give presentations, stand up and speak at meetings, and logically present information, persuade, etc. Consider these as objectives for your lessons.

Chris Cotter
Free flashcards at www.flashcardhub.com.
Just print and teach materials at www.headsupenglish.com.

[eslweb]

I'd recommend having a good quality daily paper / Weekly news magazine, making clipping and using that as a launch point for the conversation. Don't forget that she wants to know about your culture and how to have a good conversation in English.

Also break it up, include some spoken Grammar if you see mistakes, common phrases and perhaps even get her to do presentations if that's what she is hoping to progress to or even mini-meetings so that she gets the flavour of formal informal speech. One of the things she might appreciate learning is sound scripting.

Sound Scripting: http://www.jamesabela.co.uk/advanced/so ... pting.html

Or she may even appreciate a refresher on IPA
http://www.jamesabela.co.uk/beginner/IPA.htm

I've got some listening materials on my site:
http://www.jamesabela.co.uk/advanced/listening/
Look at the diversity of it, because different students have widely different interests.

Hope this helps.

James