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Becoming Fluent Fast? Via Peace Corps? | ||
Tags: Immersion | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Immersion, Schools & Certificates |  | |
| Cherepaha Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6384 days ago 126 posts - 175 votes  Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: Spanish, Polish, Latin, French | Message 9 of 14 23 June 2010 at 10:26pm | IP Logged | ||
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You could also look into eco volunteering. There are numerous programs that would allow you to work along with the scientists across the globe on
Rainforest wildlife rescue; Sea Turtle conservation; Tiger, wolf, bear, etc. conservation programs. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| clang Groupie United States Joined 5134 days ago 54 posts - 82 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian, Italian | Message 10 of 14 24 June 2010 at 12:21am | IP Logged | ||
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Journeyer, your official goal was intermediate mid by the end of PST in a Spanish speaking country? I was always
under the impression that for French and Spanish speaking countries you had to be much higher than that. That is the same proficiency level for Romanian in Moldova at the end of PST. Russian was intermediate low. If you only had to reach intermediate mid by the beginning of service, what were your entry requirements for Peru? I ask because I have friends here interested in extending to South America but they are worried they don't speak Spanish well enough. I'm also interested in your PST language experience. I've heard that a lot of times people who already know a language get stuck with beginners and the classes are sort of a bust. For me, in Russian, I didn't know a single word on my first day of class and ended up at Advanced Low at my 8 months in country language interview, which to me was amazing. In Romanian and Russian, almost all of trainees start as pure beginners and it is amazing to see the progress after 3 months and 2 years. If you pay attention in class, write down a few words a day that you don't know, and are committed to your work, the language will come. To me, the real benefit of learning a language in the PC is the fact that you are learning the language for an external purpose. I am interested in language and language learning, but nothing can keep you motivated to keep coming back to a language every single day than work you believe in or somebody you love. In Moldova, I have a host family I care about and engaging people I enjoy working with. These things keep my language learning moving forward in a way that I couldn't do on my own. Last but not least is the the community of PCVs in a country are all in the same boat. In Moldova, whenever volunteers get together we talk about Romanian and Russian as if they were people. We tell stories about new nouns we learned and about talk about strange verb usage and encourage each other to improve. It's an extremely positive type of competition and noone is made to feel bad about his or her progress or language ability. For language enthusiasts, I couldn't imagine a better environment. It was interesting to read about your experiences in a Peace Corps country on the other side of the world. I would love to read more, but I fear we are going to hit a simultaneous period with limited internet access. I hope your service is going well. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6663 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 11 of 14 24 June 2010 at 1:25am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi clang,
I'm glad someone out there would understand me if I wrote my post in PC shorthand. ;-) I really can't answer your question about language requirements better. My friend said he got in with his AP Spanish classes. I think you could get in with 4 years of Spanish in high school or maybe 2 years of Spanish in college. It was too long ago. I do remember their being a requirement though. To your friends I would say don't worry if they can't speak it. If they took enough classes but don't remember any of it, well, there were people like that in my group as well. That's where the immersion and classes help. They'll probably be at the beginner level but even people who were in that group are doing fine, 22 months later (of course, they were doing fine long before that, I think!) My official goal wasn't anything by the end of training, language-wise. I already came in knowing enough to pass. However, I was disappointed that I didn't test higher, because I felt like I could have done better. Maybe it was just my pride that was stung. As I said in my other post, my Spanish grammar isn't great, but I can definitely express myself well. That may have been what got me. I do sometimes wonder how they decide their test results. And personally the classes were a bust. I honestly don't feel like I learned anything from then, but I've never really been a fan of language classes, so I'm not surprised. Not to mention our classes weren't very well structured. If I had put the effort into it that I put into studying my French with Anki and things like that, it may have been a different story. I whole-heartedly agree that the external motivation helps. In some cases the language is enough for me, but thinking about speaking with someone you are dating can fire someone up like few things can. For me, I generally need that help with Spanish. I learned it while an exchange student, but had it not been for the need to know it, I doubt I would have learned it because Spanish doesn't wave my flag like other languages (like German). It is a wonderful environment based on language merits alone. If you are willing to do the work, and not just study it but actually focus on using it, you will find yourself becoming competent. It's ironic clang, because when I applied I specifically asked not to go to Eastern Europe, saying it looked too cold and depressing. Now, looking back, I wonder if the region wouldn't have been so bad for me. That's not to say I haven't valued my experience here, though. PM me if you want to stay in touch, PCV to PCV and I'll send you my email. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Akao aka FailArtist Senior Member United States Joined 5131 days ago 315 posts - 347 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Toki Pona | Message 12 of 14 24 June 2010 at 2:19am | IP Logged | ||
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sharedtalk.com - If you have a mic I highly suggest this, it will allow you to become more proficient even if you are at home.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6067 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 13 of 14 28 June 2010 at 2:28pm | IP Logged | ||
In some parts of the world, you use a small hose attached to the toilet. Sometimes, you may just have to dispense with the habits of where you come from, and that might include more than ceasing to speak your native language. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6663 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 14 of 14 01 July 2010 at 5:56pm | IP Logged | ||
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We have toilet paper in Peru. The thing that annoys me about public toilets I've found in Mexico and Peru is that sometimes there is no toilet paper so you are always wise to bring your own. But what really drives me crazy is that most of the toilets don't have seats...so you have to sit on the cold rim or hover if you're scared.
Or if you live where I live, you use a latrine that looks like it's getting read uproot itself and crawl away. But if you are thinking of going into the PC, don't let this scare your. You will be surprised about what you can get used to. It just helps if you are a bit of an adventurous, hardy soul. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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