exploration 1

Due to complications I was unable to attend actual classes for international students. The professors of Engl 121 and 123 refused to respond to my emails. Hence I was forced to do random observations.
What was ironic about my first observation was that I completely spaced in senate that Eliot was an international student. The entire time I was there, and hour, I didn’t take one note on him until the very end. Then I only took notes for 38 minutes. What I discovered of him was that he is very accepting of friendly amendments to bills he proposes. Senator Bingham made multiple grammatical changes and he agreed to change them.
Eliot is also a very kind individual, as according to my notes. When an acquaintance of his entered the room he immediately smiled at her. A little later he exited the senate forum to speak to her, which was against the rules.
A little later he showed extensive curiosity. All of his companions sitting behind me had left because the topic on everyone’s lips at senate was not their own. He motioned at me and another to inform him where everyone had gone.
It is very curious how Eliot acts at the Thursday meeting. He nods his head continuously throughout the meeting, attempting to show interest. Or rather he’s attempting to understand what is going on. It’s difficult for international students to enter this country, learn the language fully, and then resort to senate. Senate itself has its own vocabulary.
It was most rude that Joel Henretty, Pro Tempore, told him, like a child, to put his bookbag under the table. The senators have a habit of treating him as a subordinate or child.
Eliot tries to conform to senate as much as possible. When its his turn in roll call to say “here” he attempts to say “here” in as perfect an accent as possible.
Then he finally speaks after Brett Berning goes up and says that international students have no right to vote. Henretty claims its because they don’t pay student fees. Eliot speaks beside the point and mentions that its “very difficult for us to make friends.”
Later he speaks again during open business. He told them he had an announcement. They told him to wait until announcements to speak. He nods his head like a petulant child. Again they treat him like a child.
Throughout his announcements I have severe difficulty understanding what he is saying. Early this year I was learning Korean from him. He told me not to worry about my accent as Americans didn’t care about his accent. He is wrong. I saw everyone’s looks at him. They were annoyed at his accent.
The next person I observed was Abdus. Unfortunately I forgot to take observation notes during the book club meeting. I was forced to recall what he said and how he said it.
What I noticed was that he answered questions in a perfect English fashion. The words that poured out his mouth were proper and accurate to richer people. Though he speaks he does make many errors in words.
Before the meeting even begins his phone rang. He told us he might have to speak in Arabic. It might be a friend. We said it was all right. I was actually very interested in hearing him speak it. But when he picked up the phone and found out he had to speak Arabic he left the room. He must have thought it impolite to speak a foreign language in front of us.
When asked a question he has a nasty habit of not answering the question. He always answers another question or goes completely off topic. To make matters worse I don’t understand half of what he says.


Following are new questions I got from observations:
Eliot:
1.In the country you’re from, how would people react if you corrected a mistake they made?
2.How kind were people to others in your country?
3.Is it difficult for you to understand your fellow senators in senate? How so?
4.How do you find the other senators are treating you?
5.How difficult was it for you to make friends when you first came to America?
6.Do you find yourself conforming well to American society?How about the senate?
7.How do people react to your accent?

Abdus:
Similar questions+
1.Did you first learn English from Americans or the British? How did you feel their teaching was?
2.How do you feel about speaking Arabic in front of Americans?

It’s very interesting how people react to their accents. In senate eliot was given stares of confusion and frustration. To Abdus some of us were hesitant to respond, for fear we didn’t understand what he said correctly.
I need to learn more about how international students act with each other. I already know how they act with natives. They try to conform and assimilate. Sometimes its very difficult for them, especially when they first come here.
It’s very surprising how some people are rude to international students. The senate treats Eliot likes he’s low grade dog food. One time after a senate meeting he told me he had been ill treated and given glares for disagreeing with them during the senate meeting.