CE Interview: Farrell Ougheltre and Il-Youp Kwak

This week Farrell Ougheltree and Il Youp Kwak are our featured partners! Farrell, from Rhode Island, is a senior majoring in English and creative writing and Il Youp, from Korea, is a PhD student studying statistics.

Farrell and Il Youp like to keep things interesting- they vary what they do from week to week. They have enjoyed playing games like ping pong and air hockey in Union South and last week they went to Henry Vilas Zoo together (unfortunately a lot of animals were hiding from the cold and rain!).

Besides exploring new places in Madison, Farrell and Il Youp have been learning from each other too. Coming to the U.S. this past August, Il Youp was initially really worried about what to eat! He had no clue what was good since everything was so different compared to Korean food.

“Farrell told me about cheddar cheese and… I tried some steaks, and New York and rib-eye steaks are good; I tried both of them and I think rib-eye is better for me because New York is too chewy.” Il Youp said.

Farrell also learned a lot about Korea. One thing that amazed her was that all men in Korea are required to complete two years of military service. Il Youp completed his in-between his sophomore and junior years of his undergraduate education.

Also, Farrell thinks that being a Conversational English tutor increases your awareness of your own language

“It’s a learning experience for me because your brain has to work in different ways when you explain things- its almost like doing a Sudoku.” Farrell added.

Il Youp thinks that the CE program is a great opportunity for him to practice his English skills. Of the fifteen other people in his department, only two speak English as their native language, leaving a very narrow opportunity to speak with high level English speakers.

“I can talk with international students because our English is limited but when I talk with American guys they are really fast and they use some expressions that I don’t know. This is really nice chance for me to learn how they use some words in some situations.” Il Youp said.

Farrell and Il Youp, are just one of the 210 CE pairs, who continue to develop their friendship and learn from each other during their weekly meetings.