{"id":2305,"date":"2016-08-22T20:50:38","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T00:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.nd.edu\/sla2016\/?p=2305"},"modified":"2016-08-22T20:51:36","modified_gmt":"2016-08-23T00:51:36","slug":"blog-entry-8-july-15-2016-post-program-reflections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2016\/2016\/08\/22\/blog-entry-8-july-15-2016-post-program-reflections\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog Entry #8 July 15, 2016 Post-Program Reflections"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blog Entry #8<\/strong><\/p>\n

July 15, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

Post-Program Reflections<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I mentioned in one of my earlier blog posts, the Summer Language Award (SLA) Grant Program showed me that language learning must be fun if I am going to excel. For me, fun means applying my learning directly to real-life situations in front of me. Learning Tagalog helped me gain insight into the way Filipinos think and understand themselves, others, and even foreigners like myself. Before I began my language program, I wanted to establish a base in the Tagalog language that I would be able to continue to grow and build upon during my internship. I am happy to say that I have been able to establish this base, and it continues to grow stronger through my interactions with colleagues and affiliated CRS partners.<\/p>\n

Because my time in the Philippines is only just beginning, my insights are continuing to grow and my worldview is constantly evolving in this beautiful country. I think the biggest insights I have had so far are about communication style and culture. Where the United States has a strong verbal communication style, the Philippines has a very strong non-verbal communication style. So much is communicated without talking, so many questions answered without ever actually being discussed. As someone who is a verbal processor, and has been described as \u2018communicative and expressive,\u2019 these cultural adaptations have been difficult for me and I look forward to continuing to try to understand a culture that is so different from mine. I have learned that I need to spend just as much time observing what is happening as I do trying to learn Tagalog. Culture is another foreign language entirely, and one that must be studied and practiced just as the spoken language itself.<\/p>\n

I plan to continue to use my intercultural competency in the work place at my internship, and through my personal relationships with others. I look forward to continuing to study Tagalog throughout the course of my internship. Upon returning from my internship I will have one final semester in my Masters program where I will write a Masters Thesis paper for my Capstone Seminar focused on the role of religious leaders in peacebuilding efforts. Understanding Tagalog will allow me to synthesize the research I have collected within a deeper cultural context and continue to engage with contacts made in the field.<\/p>\n

The Catholic Relief Services Peace Governance for Transformation in Mindanao (CRS-PGTM Philippines) is one of the leading models for grassroots peacebuilding in the world. Numerous Kroc alumni and faculty have worked and conducted research with CRS-PGTM, Philippines. Understanding Tagalog will allow allow me to form relationships with local communities for today and also lay the foundation for future professional peacebuilding experiences. I thank Summer Learning Abroad Grant Program and the Center for Languages & Cultures at the University of Notre Dame for making this opportunity possible for me. As we say in Tagalog- Maraming Salamat! (Thank you very much!)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Blog Entry #8 July 15, 2016 Post-Program Reflections As I mentioned in one of my earlier blog posts, the Summer Language Award (SLA) Grant Program showed me that language learning must be fun if I am going to excel. For … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2164,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[117885],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-do-not-use"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2305"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2308,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2305\/revisions\/2308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}