Conversation Partner 3

Conversation Partner 3

Today, October 28, 2013, I met with Kevin for the third time. I haven’t seen him in quite awhile. I have had a busy last two weeks or so with tests and visitors and all sorts of other things. But, I finally found a time that worked for both Kevin and I and we were able to sit down and converse again.

Kevin and I spoke about an upcoming trip to Dallas that he wanted to take last time we spoke. Well, he took his trip over Fall Break. He used the Dallas-Fort Worth train with some friends and decided to go shopping at the North Park Mall. He said he used his trip to buy some clothes, shoes, and other accessories. He said he and his friends also went to lunch in downtown Dallas and took pictures in front of the arena downtown. Kevin thought it was a really cool place and he was happy to have seen another large and iconic American city.

Kevin and I talked about his English classes. He explained to me how they worked, when he went to them, how his teacher was, and what the other students were like. He said English was getting a lot easier for him and that these conversation meetings actually really help him. He said that English is very tough to learn, especially for someone who is Chinese because of how greatly the two languages differ. We talked about the differences among all of the languages of the world and how learning a language can be a pretty tough thing to do.

Kevin and I then spent a lot of time talking about the similarities and differences between the education systems in both China and America. His perspective on the Chinese system was a strong education system for younger students with university education lacking, while my perspective on the American system was quite opposite. It seems to me that American elementary and high schools are lacking a little bit these days when compared with schools around the world but that our reputation for strong universities remains fairly universal. He told me that in China, a college graduate has a hard time finding a job if they graduated from a university in China. But, he said, if you hold a degree from an American university, the job prospects are much brighter. I found that pretty interesting. I think it shows the reputation that American universities have around the world.

Kevin and I finished our days discussion by talking about his future trip to a national park. He couldn’t remember where the trip was going to or how he was getting there, but he knew he was going for only one day and would spend the day hiking. He has started training at the rec doing the rock wall to get in shape, but said it’s tough and tiresome on his body. He was excited about the trip because he wants to see some of the natural beauty that our country has to offer. He really seems to love the outdoors.

We parted ways and decided to meet again at the same time next week.