Speaking protfolio( entry2)

Context of the conversation
On Sunday the 8 May 2011, I went to church. I met a kiwi lady and talked with her. We talked about 10 minutes. Our conversation is about the background of me and the events happened recently.

  Cultural aspects or cultural differences noticed
This lady is about 60-year-old and her name is Jenny. She is a very kind lady, so we had a relaxed and informed conversation. One cultural difference which I noticed during the conversation is that in my country we usually call elderly lady grandma Lee(the surname) for respect reason. In contract, in New Zealand we can use the last name for elderly. In my country, if the younger generation called the last name of the old generation, we consider this person is insulting the elderly.

Beginning and ending of conversation
The conversation began when the church finished the service, the lady came to me and said, “Hello, Emmet. It is lovely to see you here. How is your study going?” I replied back, “It is lovely to meet you too. I am doing alright, and I still work hard on my English. How are you?” To that she replied, “Very well, thank you”.

Our conversation end with hoping to meet again on next Sunday. I said ,” I am very happy to be here.” She said to me,” keep coming to the church, and you are important for us, hope see you next time.”

Vocabulary features noticed
When we were talking, she used a lot question tag sentences. Such as what a beautiful day today, is it?  The weather becomes chilly, does it?  She also used the “um” “well” during the conversation. When I said something, she always nod and said “yes”. She used “fortunately” when we talked about the storm and tornado. She used “could” “could be” a lot when we talked.

 
Strategy used

Sometimes she talked a bit unclear. During our conversation when I found something difficult to follow, I guessed the main idea and repeated again. If I was right, she would say “yes” and then she explained, otherwise she would say “ not really” and then she repeated it. Also, if I did not catch the main idea, I would say” sorry, could you repeat the last sentence, please?”

Conversation Flow
Jenny is very nice lade, and she is very kind. When we are talking, she keep her speed slow and make me understand easily. We had eye contact when we were speaking, and she was smiling. We use some body language and gesture for encourage the conversation. Such as nodding. She used a lot words to encourage the conversation, such as “yes”, “right”.

I used some phrases to flow the conversation well , such as “is it?”. Also, I ask questions after she talked to show I understand what she talked about. She always use “yes” to keep the conversation flow, and also encourage me to talk.

 

Vocabulary used
During the conversation, I used the common words which I used to use. I did not use a lot new vocabulary. I tried to use new words, such as “terrific” which I learnt in English movies.

I used fillers and hesitation devices during the conversation. I used “um” “ah” “ well” to show to others that I was not finish, and also it gave me more time to think about the words that I was going to use. Also, I used the fillers such as “I mean” “you Know” “I guess” to help me to speak my opinion. Sometimes, when I unsure about the word, I used “you know” to make the conversation flow.

Linguistic Features
When I talked, it took me longer time to think about the grammar, so I speak slower. Sometimes, I still have the grammar mistake. For example, I use she work right now instead she works right now. Also, my pronunciation is not good sometimes, and I could not pronounce very clearly. When I was speaking, I searched the right word for the content, and sometimes I could not find the right word, so it might confuse the others.

In the further study, I need to extend my vocabulary and also I need to focus on my grammar and pronunciation.