Uncategorized – Page 10 – Summer Language Abroad 2022

Cultural Differences in Siena

I am now two weeks into my study abroad program in Siena and I am truly loving it here. I really enjoy my classes, meeting new people, and exploring this culture. In my first week of class, I met two Swiss people who are my age. I hung out with them outside of class and went to one of their beach houses on the Italian coast over the weekend. This was so fun and one of the best ways to see the Tuscan countryside. We drove through the rolling hills and listened to different Swiss, American, and Italian songs on the way. We went to a public beach and it felt like we were the only tourists there. We were surrounded by Italian families and friend groups as we took naps on the beach and swam in the ocean. I enjoyed observing how relaxed everyone was and how they chose to spend their free time.

Since being here, I have noticed some differences in the cultural behavior of the people I have met. The difference I have most appreciated is that many Italians seem to care less about punctuality. After being a couple minutes late to class a few times, I realized that my teacher never seemed to mind my tardiness. We ended up having a class discussion about punctuality across the world. I learned that in Italian and Spanish cultures, it is less important to always be strictly on time, whereas in the United States and Switzerland, punctuality is very important. I have found that I really enjoy this change in how time is viewed. I have a hard time keeping track of time and I often find myself running late. After having this class discussion, it was refreshing to do the one mile walk to school everyday, knowing that if I were to be a bit late, I would not get in trouble. Because of this, I spend my time on my morning walk to school really appreciating the scenery around me. I have watched the people I walk by and have noticed that they are generally in less of a rush to get to their destination as well. It is a stark contrast from my walk to class at Notre Dame, where I am normally speed walking as fast I can to get to class on time, not really picking up on anything.

Another cultural difference I have noticed is the different slang that is used. One difference between Siena and the rest of Italy is that in Siena, the children say Babbo instead of Papa when they are addressing their fathers. I do not ever see myself using this slang as I will always just call my father Dad.

Week 2 in Gaoth Dobhair

Now in the middle of the second week of instruction in Gaoth Dobhair (Co. Donegal), the other students and I have had numerous learning opportunities in multiple types of classroom settings and outside the classroom. One of my favorite sessions so far has been a presentation overview of the Irish Language Digital Archives. It was created as an online resource to preserve the language in as many ways as possible and contains a huge collection of verbal historical accounts, local folklore in the Gaeltacht areas, historical publications, as well as song performances. I was also impressed to learn that many family members of our instructors, host families, and other community members we have interacted with are featured in the records.

Our presenter was highly involved in the creation of the archive and although it is a tremendous resource, it’s creation was motivated by the estimate of multiple studies that the vast majority of spoken Irish language works in addition to the language itself, would die out in less than a decade. Many of those featured in the archives have passed since they were first asked to contribute, but the presence of the language itself has persisted much longer than the original estimate, according to our presenter. However, he did express great concern about the various threats to the language within the Gaeltacht areas themselves.

In Gaoth Dobhair, specifically, the traditionally Irish-speaking secondary school has moved to instruction through English in more courses to accommodate the increased number of students without Irish who have started to attend the school after it received some of the highest ratings in the region for student performance. Additionally, more than forty percent of the houses in Gaoth Dobhair are vacation homes and are not necessarily owned by families that speak Irish at home or have any Irish at all. In hearing other community members in conversation during my stay here, similar concerns have been raised, especially regarding the number of young children who begin their schooling with a grasp of the language. Our presenter also serves on a surveying board that tracks the numbers of beginning nursery school children that use Irish as their primary language in the Gaeltacht areas throughout Ireland. He said that this age of children (3-4 years) is especially valuable because the children just speak whichever language is most natural and the surveyors can easily track the new growth of the language or lack thereof. He shared that some areas are doing better than others and still much better than what was originally projected, but there is still a need for more protection of the language and increased resources for those interested in carrying it on.

Overall, these presentations and conversations have made me much more aware of the status of Irish according to native speakers and how they perceive the language’s importance in their lives. Throughout the years, it has unfortunately become a seasonal language that is most prevalent in the winter when the tourists are gone, but many would prefer it to be the sole language of business all year long. Nonetheless, every instructor, community member, and presenter that I have encountered has been thrilled to have a relatively large group of international students eager to learn the language and it reassures them that the language is still full of life.

Museum Visits

During my last two weeks in Spain, I visited the museums exhibiting the work of three major Spanish modern painters: Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, and Salvador Dalí. In this post, I will share my brief impression of their museums.

Pablo Picasso’s Museum is in the center of Barcelona, on Carrer Montcada, right by the Gothic Quarter. Picasso’s private secretary, Jaume Sabartes, opened the Museum in 1963 when Picasso was still alive. The Museum occupies five medieval mansions that are restored and turned into a gallery with numerous exhibition halls. The Museum presents the work of Picasso in chronological order. The highlight of the Museum, for me, was the “Las Meninas” collection. Picasso’s analysis and interpretation of Diego Velasquez’s famous painting from 1656.

Few of the pieces from Picasso’s Las Meninas series

Joan Miro’s Museum is also in the city of Barcelona. Miro’s Museum is in Montjuic, on the upper part of the mountain, where the 1992 Olympic Games took place. The Miro Museum is slightly further away from the city’s touristic center. The Miro Museum has a stunning view of the city. The most remarkable feature of the Museum is that Joan Miro himself was the architect of the building. Miro designed large rooms with high ceilings to display his giant paintings and sculptures. The space and artwork interact with each other in a different way than all other museums I have ever visited.

Salvador Dali’s Museum is an hour away from the city of Barcelona. Dali’s Museum is in his hometown, Figueres. The Dali Museum was formerly a theater. Dali himself led the restoration work to turn the public theater into Museum. The Museum’s exterior and interior mirror Dali’s character, humor, and artistic vision. The exterior of the Museum is decorated with egg-shaped sculptures. Each room in the interior offers a different atmosphere for each visitors’ own unique interpretation.

Visiting the Museum of these three major artists was a unique opportunity for me to understand the culture and political history of Spain and Europe. It was fascinating to see how World Wars and dictatorship impacted painters differently.

Classified: Mission Moroccan Summer

AGENT’S CODE NAME: بريجيد (Brigid)

Mission Status: Successfully Complete

Background: Over the span of six weeks beginning on June 2, the agent will travel to Meknes, Morocco, and complete an intensive Arabic language program at the Arab American Language Institute in Morocco.

Objective: It is imperative that the agent seek to possess a greater understanding of the Moroccan language: grammar, vocabulary, (much improved) conversational skills, and syntax. Moreover, the agent must learn to cope with and immerse herself in Morocco through the exploration of family life, religion, gender roles, food, and history.

Post-Mission Agent Log:

After being back in the States for the past week, I have been able to catch up not only on sleep but also on the weight of my time abroad. Over the span of six weeks, I spent a total of 138 hours in a classroom learning Arabic (which equates to roughly an entire year’s worth of time). Beyond that, I spent almost every moment outside of the classroom learning both Arabic and about Moroccan culture.

In this short amount of time, my conversational skills have improved beyond what I had hoped to accomplish. I not only feel comfortable speaking in a classroom setting in Arabic but also in daily conversations, such as with my host family or at the سوق (marketplace). Moreover, I was astounded by my ability to have difficult and abstract conversations and discussions on pertinent issues such as the war in Ukraine and abortion rights. Along with my improvements with speaking, I finally mastered or have begun to master the correct preposition usage within complex sentences. Finally, I learned new vocabulary outside of the classroom in order to navigate daily life. These new words include parts of the body, colors, basic animals, and other important keywords and phrases in order to ride in a taxi, order at a restaurant and communicate with my host family. Being in Morocco made learning these words that much more important and provided me with the initiative to expand my learning beyond that found in a book.

Moreover, I learned so much about the culture, people, and life that is in Morocco, but I never imagined how hard it is to return home and describe my experience. One of the hardest parts to grasp is that no one could ever really understand the true depth that this experience has had upon me, but that’s okay. I just hope that I am able to express even the tiniest bit of the awe and wonder that I witnessed during my short time in Morocco.

I want people to know about the joy felt when my teacher would say براڤو عليك بريجيد (bravo Brigid) or when my host sister made tea which we shared. I want people to feel the excitement of walking through the streets of the مدينة قديمة (Old Medina), knowing that you are surrounded by the oldest architecture in the entire city. I wish people could experience the beauty of seeing the stars in the Sahara, the vastness of the Atlas Mountains, or the beautiful coasts along the Mediterranean and Atlantic. These are only a few experiences that I wish I could communicate in their entirety along with so many more; I only hope my words and pictures can capture a glimpse of that for you.

With that being said, I want to sign off with an enormous thank you. Foremost, I want to thank the Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures for providing me with this opportunity. Thank you to everyone at AALIM who provided constant support and assistance throughout the whole process, my professors both from Notre Dame and AALIM for all of their encouragement and support, my host family who opened their home to me, my classmates and friends who made the six weeks in Morocco unforgettable, and finally everyone who was following along with my mission. I hope my mission reports were enlightening and as much fun to read as they were to write.

This is Agent Brigid Dunn signing off.

!مع السلامة! شكرا

Summer Reflections

There were many insights I gained into Irish culture, and language learning as a whole as a result of my time in Ireland this summer. One thing that struck me about immersive language acquisition specifically is how far a reasonably small amount of vocabulary can get you in a conversation. While it may seem like the best possible route is to try to learn a bunch of very specific words, having a firm grasp on the most common words and expressions proves far more valuable. I believe I did take out of this experience much of what I hoped to learn from it. I learned many expressions relating to everyday life and my surroundings, and started to see my environment through the lens of Irish language structures.

I also gained a more complete perspective of modern Irish culture, separate from the often romanticized vision I think many foreigners have of the country. Particularly in coming to terms with the serious situation of the Irish language, and how the fight to keep it alive is being fought not on a national level, but town by town and family by family. Even in Southwest Donegal, the primary schools some 15 years ago would have been through English, but now Irish is the educational medium in the primary schools and is being phased-in in the nearby secondary school. This sort of grass roots fight to keep the language alive is not something one can really experience from the outside. To a future SLA recipient I would just give the simple advice of go for it. Never again in your life will you have this kind of opportunity, so why not throw yourself all in and come out the other side all the better for it? Slán agus go raibh míle maith agaibh!

Hello, Georgia!

Getting Acquainted with the Colloquial

` Hello, all! I have now been in Batumi, Georgia for two weeks and have been really enjoying learning about Georgian culture so far! I have been living with a Georgian family of six, my host mom, Natia, her husband, her mother and father, and her two sons. They mostly speak Georgian unless they are talking to me, or unless my host mom and grandma are talking around me. As well, they all speak Russian as a second language, except for her two sons who know a little Russian but speak more English, which has been nice for me to hear English and also to be able to communicate a little more clearly every so often. I had done some research before I got here, which explained that most Georgians over the age of forty speak Russian, and that most of the younger people here are learning English in school, so it has been interesting to see that evidenced through my host family and also when talking to older vs. younger people out on the streets.

One important phrase I have learned so far is the verb “кушать,” which means “to eat,” spoken as “кушаешь” or “кушай” to me, from my host mom and grandma. When I first arrived I had never heard this verb before, as in class we learned “to eat” as “есть,” but I quickly figured it out! I eventually looked up “кушай” and saw it translated as “to eat,” and it was cool to learn that this is the more colloquial way of talking about eating, and in fact, I have not heard “есть,” since I’ve been here. I haven’t really noticed any barriers between who uses this verb as it’s been said to me and my host brothers, and to my host mom, from the grandma and vice versa. I asked my Russian teacher (who is from Russia) what the difference is, and she said “кушать” is less formal, and thus, more colloquial. Another difference in daily speech that I’ve learned here vs. what I learned in class at Notre Dame, is that it is much more common to describe liking something, or to be asked if you like something as, “тебе нравится?” instead of “ты любишь?” In class, we used the verb “любить” much more than “нравиться,” and from my experiences here so far, it simply seems that “любить” is a little more intense than “to like,” closer to “to love,” and so “нравиться” is the more common form: just as in America we say we “like” things in conversation more often than “love” unless we do have a more intense feeling for the things we are describing.

Another interesting thing I have learned as someone who is trying to learn Russian through Georgians, is that they do have an accent when they speak Russian, which has made it a little harder for me to understand some of what they say, but I am getting used to it. For example, with “кушай” as it’s written it would be pronounced “koo-shai,” but my hosts pronounce it more like “koo-shee.” Long story short, the wonderful family I’m with now is not the homestay I was originally assigned to, I actually switched from a home with two Belorussian women, and I noticed that I could understand them fairly well vs. the slower progression of understanding I’ve had with my new family.

Of course, this country is different from the United States, and while I have noticed differences in the cultural behaviors of some people, I think what I’ve learned most so far is that people are people wherever you go, and we are not all that different! Like in my own home in America, we usually eat dinner together, but not all of the time as sometimes I go out, etc. And so far, we actually have not all eaten together. I think it has to do with it being summer: the dad still goes to work and gets up early like I do because I have class in the morning, and the rest of the family sleeps in because the kids are not in school. So I usually eat breakfast alone, but sometimes with the dad; I have eaten lunch with the youngest son, my host mom and grandma; and the rest of the food is usually just made as people get hungry because no one is really on a set schedule because it’s summer break. This is similar to how my family is with meals during the summer at home! To summarize… Мне очень нравится грузинская кухня!

Beauty under threat

Peru is an ecologically-fascinating country. Going from west to east, traversing Peru will have you start in the ocean, pass through the desert, scale the Andes mountains, and descend into the Amazon rainforest. Unfortunately, however, much of Peru’s ecological diversity, especially that of the Amazon, finds itself increasingly threatened.

After Brazil, Peru is the country with the most Amazon rainforest coverage, and our understanding of this ecosystem’s importance in mitigating climate change, protecting biodiversity, and providing services to both local and global communities is only increasing as scientists continue to study it. In Peru, however, deforestation of the Amazon has been a worsening issue in the past years, with links to illegal logging groups, land-clearing for agriculture and livestock, illegal mining, and drug trafficking.

I first talked about this issue with my Spanish professor, and we watched together a news clip about a recent attack by a drug trafficking group on a local Amazonian family as well as a movie that partly discusses the theme, “El crimen del Padre Amaro”, in English “The Crime of Father Amaro”). The way she described the situation to me was quite interesting; she said that Peru is an incredibly wealthy country with their food (three Peruvian restaurants were recently ranked among the top 50 restaurants in the world, coming in at #2, #11, and #32), history, culture, people, and natural beauty, but that the current systems in place and the threats mentioned above have prevented the nation from fully taking advantage of its potential. To her, it is devastating what is currently happening (and what has been happening for decades), but she says it is nearly impossible for any real change to happen due to the corruption between all of the interested parties (the government, for example, is known to buy wood from illegal loggers).

I was fortunate enough to take a brief trip down to the Amazon from Cusco, and discussing the issue with some of the tour guides I met left me slightly surprised. The lodge I was at was on the shore of Río Madre de Dios, a tributary of the Amazon, and on the other shoreline were various groups of illegal gold miners. In the distance, you could also see smoke rising from, as the guides explained to me, farmers burning virgin forest for land to cultivate or raise cattle. These tour guides have lived their entire lives in or in close proximity to the jungle, and they know their way around as if it were their home—all the trees and the birds and the reptiles and the insects, their species, their habits, what is and isn’t poisonous, etc. Indeed, they don’t know the jungle as if it were their home, they know it because it is their home. For this reason, it surprised me that for these guides, the presence of illegal miners and of forest-burning farmers has become normalized, as if it were another aspect of the jungle. When I asked them about their presence in the rainforest, they simply explained that, yes, they exist, but no, there is not much to do about it. Of course, they want to see the Amazon protected and conserved, not only for their jobs’ sake, but because this is the place that they call home, but it struck me their lack of intensity regarding the issue. Perhaps they simply didn’t want to dive into the details with me during the tour and instead keep the focus on the jungle itself. Or perhaps it is a difficult topic for them to talk about given that their home is increasingly threatened. Or perhaps what they did share with me is more or less what their true stance is. Whatever the case, what is certain is that the Peruvian Amazon is being destroyed at an alarming rate, and we are all in trouble if such a trend continues.

A stunning sunset over Río Madre de Dios in the Peruvian Amazon. With a closer look, however, we can observe a few concerning signs…

Here, we can see a few of the illegal gold miners’ work stations

And in the distance, we can see smoke coming from what is most likely farmers burning forest to create space to either grow crops or raise livestock, according to my tour guides.

Making the Rounds in France and Switzerland

The past few weeks have been amazing for me being able to experience France as a whole. I have been able to take advantage of the super cheap trains to cities like Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Nîmes, and Lyon having time on the weekends to explore throughout the city. Every city has its own distinct cultural attractions, food, geography, etc., and I have been blessed to experience so much of Francophone society. I am much more confident with speaking French now than before, and I am no longer worried about how I am perceived when I speak French. It is super easy to communicate with people, and I do not have to ask them to repeat themselves so much anymore, and I love using the idiomatic phrases, which make it easier to get my point across.

Geneva on the other hand was so scenic and it being an international city was extremely evident to me with it having the headquarters of the Red Cross, UN, and other international organizations. Really loved how open the city was and how easy it was to get around with the teams that always were on time unlike in France. The air was so fresh and Lake Geneva made the trip all worth it being able to take a boat out on the water for a couple hours experiencing the gorgeous nature that the lake provided. I was glad I was able to also experience the historic parts of Geneva including the monuments and St. Peter’s Cathedral, which are key sites showing the Reformation’s presence in Switzerland. It was amazing that the stuff I read in my AP European History class my junior year in high school came to life in my trip to Geneva. Being able to visit attractions dating back all the way to the 1500s is a memory I will forever cherish. Geneva definitely is one of my favorite cities I visited and I hope to travel there again in the future (whether it be on vacation or actually for work).

Going to Marseille was probably the most unexpected experience I had because of how vast the city’s offerings were while the geography made it so difficult to navigate. There were so many hills in Marseille, and luckily I was able to catch a mass at the very beautiful Basilique Notre-Dame de la Garde; inconveniently, it was also the highest point of the city (it took me half an hour to go up the hill to the Basilica. Everywhere I explored it was like I needed to climb or descend seemingly endless staircases on wobbly paths. I made sure to not miss the biggest part of the food scene in Marseille, which was the seafood, and the restaurant I went to exceeded my expectations. Crabs, shrimp, and oysters are all abundant right by the port in the old town, and the seafood was by far the freshest I had in France. Marseille has its own distinct slang not found anywhere else in France, and I found it fascinating how the young people talked to each other using phrases such as fada (crazy) and minot (child). Marseille definitely has its own ambiance, but the people there were super relaxed and I found my time there to be enjoyable overall.

Broken Chair by the United Nations Headquarters

Seafront in Marseille

Inside of Notre Dame Cathedral

Highest Point of Marseille by Notre Dame

St. Peter’s Cathedral in Geneva

Weekend in Paris

Salut!

I decided to spend my last weekend in France in Paris, as my classes in Tours ended on Friday and my flight was on Sunday. I had a limited time window, but I was unsure when I would be able to return to Paris again. So, I decided to try to go to as many of the major tourist attractions in Paris as I could within two days!

My plan to be speedy ran into a problem almost immediately, when the line to go up the Eiffel Tower was a lot longer than I anticipated. I unfortunately didn’t get to go to the top, but I managed to go to Versailles afterwards. I had about thirty minutes to tour the entire palace, and wow, was it stunning! The gardens were open for longer, and I was glad to have more time to fully enjoy them. I’d highly recommend them to anyone–I was captivated by their size and beauty the entire time I was there.

The next day was museum day, including Musée d’Orsay and the Louvre. Both of them were fantastic, but I was partial to the variety of types of art in the Louvre. I wasn’t expecting to find a Moai statue in France, for example! I walked by the Mona Lisa but wasn’t willing to wait in the massive line to take a picture in front of it (it was still cool to see it, though). After a long morning and afternoon of looking at art, I had a bit of free time, so I decided to go to the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur. I didn’t have any metro tickets to get there, however, and it was quite a distance away. I therefore resorted to a recommendation from a friend: electric scooters.

Riding the electric scooters through the streets of Paris was probably my favorite experience there. Being able to coast through the streets of Paris and see its beautiful architecture everywhere you go was truly a breathtaking experience and one I’d recommend to anyone. There are a large number of electric scooters for rent scattered throughout the city that make them easily accessible. After Sacré-Cœur, I toured the city some more on the scooter just to experience it some more! I then met up with some friends for dinner, who were from the Institut de Touraine and also happened to be in Paris that weekend, and I spent the rest of my last evening in France with them. We went to some stores after dinner and met some kind people who lived in Paris, who gave us some recommendations on places to go the next time we were there.

I had a wonderful time in Paris, and looking back on all of my experiences in France, I’m truly grateful that I had this experience. I really hope I can go back to this amazing country some day! As usual, I’ve attached pictures of the highlights to the bottom of this post.

Thank you for reading!

The view from the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. Pictures really don’t do it justice; I was in awe while I was there!

The Hall of Mirrors in Versailles was stunning, and the amount of people there was stunning too. The display of wealth in the palace was on a scale I’d never seen before.

The garden of Versailles was one of my favorite places that I saw in Paris! The backdrop of this image is just one part of the massive complex of gardens.

Musée d’Orsay had much more intricate sculptures on display, but my personal favorite was the massive polar bear sculpture on the second floor.

The Louvre had an exhibition on display when I visited about the ancient Kingdom of Kush in northeastern Africa. Many of the statues from this region took inspiration from nearby Egypt, which I found fascinating!

Sacré-Cœur was truly a sight to behold–although equally stunning were the view of Paris behind where I took this picture, and the architecture inside!

Post Return: Reflecting on my Unforgettable Time in Germany

I returned back home last Tuesday after just over six weeks in Germany. I learned so much and really enjoyed the experience. After being immersed in German language and culture for an extended period of time, it was interesting to look at my language acquisition as compared to taking my German classes in the United States. One observation is that even while in Germany, my language acquisition was gradual. It still took focused time and a dedicated effort to remember all of the vocabulary I learned in class that day. With such a large amount of input every day, I had to accept that I would not master all of the material after just one class day. Rather, I needed to review verb conjugations, grammar patterns, and vocabulary each night to truly “digest” everything I had learned that day.

This language acquisition was certainly accelerated by my engagement with the community around me. Learning cultural differences came from experiencing cultural differences. For example, German culture takes Sunday as truly a day of rest, where most supermarkets and stores are not open. Although I had heard this from various German professors as well as from my own research, it really took me experiencing this difference to understand how it impacts the society and the people living in it. Everybody seemed to be relaxed and happy on Sunday’s, as this was sort of a guaranteed day of rest. I also found it important to ask questions. When I noticed that I had to bring my own reusable bags at the supermarket, I talked to my host about this cultural difference. She said that the plastic bags that I am familiar with at supermarkets are really not used in Germany and it is expected that shoppers bring their own reusable bags. This was a very interesting insight, and I am very grateful I was able to stay with a host who was very happy to answer my questions about German culture and language. In this, I think the expectations that I wrote about in my pre-departure post were very accurate. I wanted to learn not only about the language, but also about cultural differences.

This experience certainly impacted my world view. It was one of the first times that I was immersed in a culture where English is not the primary language. Other times when I have traveled internationally, I had my family with me and we would speak English together. However, during this program I was challenged to speak German nearly exclusively. I saw that there are so many different cultures and ways to live. Most of all, this experience challenged and inspired me. It was not always easy and I certainly felt homesick and uncomfortable at moments. However, I would do it all again in a heartbeat. As advice to others, I would say that if you want to experience a new culture, language, and part of the world, the SLA grant is a phenomenal way to do so. Even if you feel anxious or nervous to pursue the opportunity, go for it. You never know what you may discover, encounter, and learn. Thank you again for this experience, it is one I will never forget!