TP11

Today, St. Patrick's Day 2013, I met John and his family at the Public Library. I brought Hayley, as she had never been to the LeRoy Collins Library and is a total bookworm. Unfortunately the library was closed until 1pm, since it is a national holiday, so we just sat outside on the benches at the Parks on Park and read. I saw Jason and Sally, but John asked me to help tutor his niece, Reina(?) with her reading. She had chosen a book called Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentime by Barbara Park.

Her English was quite advanced, though I did notice a few errors she was making that seem to be typical of ESL learners from Asian cultures (such as mixing up the R and L sounds). She had good pronunciation and excellent flow. One thing that bothered me about the book she had chosen was that often the main character, Junie B. Jones, would use incorrect forms (such as throwed instead of threw, holded instead of held, Valentimes instead of Valentines, etc.) but when I asked Reina, she knew the correct forms and seemed to understand that it was the author's way of making the little girl's dialogue sound more authentic. I would occasionally ask her about vocabulary or idea comprehension, and would help explain when she didn't understand what certain phrases meant or when the main idea of a paragraph slipped by her. Overall I was quite impressed by her reading skills, and I am sure she will excel in communicating in English if she sticks with it.