May 13, 2016
6:00pm
Yogurt Mountain
Topic discussed: We actually got in to this pretty lengthy conversation about music, because Hamad was telling me about how American music was extremely popular in Kuwait. Any traditional Arabic music was growing obsolete. I asked why he thought American music was so popular in the Middle East, and he shrugged but laughed. He began telling me about a brother of his, who sings really well apparently, and he asked me if I thought good singing was genetic. No one else in his family could sing. I replied by saying how I believed that the physical attributes, which allow a person to sing well, are genetic; and that pitch association was genetic. Hamad seemed very interested by this. He loves learning how to expand his vocabulary, and talking about the anatomy of singing enthralled him. I knew a lot about the subject, since I used to be an operatic soprano at FSU, before changing my major to English.
Cultural/linguistic topics learned: Hamad told me that he really wants to expand his vocabulary. We discussed the different ways he could do that. Since he loves writing about social issues, and writes research essays for class sometimes, I encouraged him to research topics he is interested in, and write about them for fun. He likes to write a lot more than he likes to read--and I told him reading is essential to building a high vernacular--but I told him researching things that are interesting can help one associate a pleasurable experience with reading.
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