We spent about an hour at the library talking. He was telling me about his TOEFL exam the day before and said he didn't think he did so well on the listening portion of the exam. I asked him why and he said that sometimes he can't understand Americans when they speak so I told him that with more practice, he'll begin to understand things more.
He also said that if he doesn't get over 80 on his TOEFL, Fulbright will reject his scholarship and he will have to go back to Turkey for graduate school.
After I thought about what he had told me, I began to realize how difficult it must be to learn a language at such an age. I consider myself lucky to have achieved complete fluency by the time I was in middle school and not have to deal with the indirect consequences of learning a language, such as self-esteem/confidence issues, being afraid to speak in fear of being judged, and other such little intricacies that can tremendously impede on one's learning abilities.
So hopefully, with more practice, he'll be able to learn the language better in a short period of time.
The stakes are high for these students, which puts pressure on them, and the teachers, to do their best.
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