Name: Jasmine Bouche
E-mail: jbouche@nd.edu
Language: Spanish
Location of Study: Salamanca, Spain
Program of Study: Salamanca University
Sponsors: Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures and Nanovic Institute for European Studies
Blog URL:
A brief personal bio:
My name is Jasmine Bouche and I am a freshman here at Notre Dame from Green Bay, Wisconsin. I am planning to double major in Political Science and Peace Studies, and hope to eventually pursue a degree in international law. In my free time I love to read, bike, and play basketball. I am involved in clubs on campus including Model UN, Human Rights Club, GreeND, and She’s the First.
Why this summer language abroad opportunity is important to me:
Having a mother who is fluent in Spanish and spent significant time studying in Spanish-speaking countries piqued my interest in Spanish at a young age. I have been taking Spanish courses since fourth grade, when they were added to my school’s curriculum. This has included both traditional classroom settings and the Rosetta Stone program. Despite almost ten years of Spanish, I still find speaking the language to be challenging for me. In that area, there is only so much that can be learned in the classroom. I feel immersion will be the final step for me to becoming fluent. This SLA Grant is important because it will allow me to experience total immersion, something I could not achieve otherwise. Without the immersion the Grant affords me, it would be difficult for me to significantly improve my Spanish speaking abilities.
What I hope to achieve as a result of this summer study abroad experience:
While in Spain, I hope to focus mainly on speaking the language. I intend to develop a higher and stronger level of Spanish fluency. I believe I will also be able to obtain more confidence in my speaking abilities, better my pronunciation, help my speech flow more smoothly, and remove some of my English accent. Being constantly surrounded by Spanish will enable me to become faster at understanding what is said when I am spoken to, instead of constantly having to translate the Spanish to English in my head. I also expect to become quicker at reading and comprehending Spanish after the immersion experience.
My specific learning goals for language and intercultural learning this summer:
1. By the end of the summer, I will be comfortably conversational in Spanish with native speakers.
2. At the end of the summer, I will be able to discuss Spanish history and culture both in Spanish and English with others.
3. By the end of the summer, I will be able to speak, read, and write in Spanish without having to translate the Spanish to English in my head.
My plan for maximizing my international language learning experience: