The immersive nature of studying abroad in Siena will be vastly different from my experiences so far because it will allow me to truly integrate into Italian culture, not only by speaking solely in Italian but also by participating in cultural events and experiences. I will take advantage of every opportunity to learn about the people and places of Siena to become familiar with their way of life. This is an opportunity unlike any classroom learning because studying abroad is completely interactive, allowing me to practice the language skills I have learned. Living in Siena will also be different from my other experiences traveling to Italy with my family because I will be more independent, better enabling me to take the initiative to meet and get to know people and travel to new places. While abroad, I hope to focus on learning more about grammar and pronunciation to grow immensely in my Italian language skills. I will work to better my speaking abilities in my daily life abroad to become perfectly fluent and completely immersed in the Italian culture and lifestyle. I am so incredibly excited to embark upon this life-changing experience where I will be able to apply my learning from the classroom. I believe that my greatest growth will be in my confidence level in speaking Italian, especially with natives of Italy. I really hope to be able to communicate in such a way that I will seem integrated into society completely. As my future goal is to become a doctor and work in Italy, this calls for my ability to communicate effectively with native speakers to help meet their needs.
Category: Uncategorized
Getting ready!
As has been the case for everyone over the past few years, the pandemic has caused more than a few disruptions in my beautifully laid-out plans. I applied to the SLA program to study Spanish in Cusco, Peru for the summer of 2021, but this program was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. Given that I was going to study abroad in Santiago, Chile in the spring semester of 2022 (where I currently am now!), my hope for participating in the SLA program was to improve my Spanish before arriving in Chile. Obviously, this plan did not work out as intended, and I am now in a unique position where I will be heading to Cusco after spending five months in Chile. Though it isn’t what I had in mind, having been immersed in the Spanish language as well as having experienced adjusting to and living in a new culture for the past four months (it will be five by the time I arrive in Cusco) will allow me to adapt more quickly to the environment in Peru, which will be useful given that I will be there for a shorter period of time. However, this is not to say that my time in Peru will be exactly like my experience in Chile; on the contrary, it will be importantly different.
The largest difference will be that I will be without fellow Notre Dame students while in Cusco. This will be a challenge, but it will force me to live completely in Spanish more so than I am now, which will allow me to really focus on my language skills. Additionally, though they are neighbors and share parts of their cultures, Peruvian culture is certainly different from Chilean culture, and this will provide me with the opportunity to compare the two and deepen my understanding of their intricacies.
I’m expecting to use my Spanish with my host family, with my professors and classmates, and with the locals of Cusco I encounter in restaurants, museums, and any other place I can interact with them. As a environmental science student, I intend to investigate the environmental aspects of Cusco and of Peru in general, identifying the main challenges and current efforts to increase sustainability. As a devout Catholic, I am also excited to attend mass in Cusco and learn about that Catholic culture present in the city.
I think it is impossible to not change or grow while spending any significant time in a country other than your own. I hope to grow as a person by pushing myself out of my comfort zone and independently exploring a new city and a new culture. I hope to continue to become more open to new people, perspectives, practices, and platos (foods!). The past few months in Chile have been among the most formative of my life, and I am incredibly excited for the opportunity to pause in Peru before heading home for the fall.
Reflecting Before Departure
As my study abroad experience is approaching closely, I am looking forward to the opportunities that I will be afforded during my time in Italy. As I have grown in my Italian education over the past years of studying in the classroom, I feel as though being in Italy will provide me with an entirely different academic experience. Through living and using the language every day, I hope that the immersive experience will challenge me to grow my Italian language skills beyond what can be taught in the classroom. I hope to get a better understanding of facial expressions, gestures, and the important common phrases for Italians today.
I also expect that being immersed in the culture will teach me more than the readings I have done about it. The opportunity to talk with Italians about their daily lives, explorations, and what they feel is important within their culture will provide me with the knowledge that I feel can be lost in readings. In addition, seeing art and architecture, tasting food and drink, and hearing how Italians talk with one another will be an experience that you cannot have in a classroom. My goal while abroad is to grow my ability to speak, and my vocabulary, and to actually experience the culture rather than just learning about it. I hope to learn about the way the country functions and specifically find out information about their history or their economy through our culture classes.
During this time abroad, I hope that I will not only grow academically but also individually. This experience will teach me about independence, communication, and to truly take in every experience to the fullest. I have never left the country before and am excited to see what life outside of the United States is like. I am open to learning about the culture of Italy, the culture of other students whom we may encounter, and I look forward to this opportunity for self-growth. My hope is that this experience will not only teach me about the Italian culture but that it will teach me a lot about myself and my ability to interact with differing cultures. I hope I grow academically and become a more well-rounded individual.
Before I go
I lived in Berlin for five and a half years before I was accepted as a candidate for Notre Dame’s MFA in Creative Writing. The city is my home and foundation. It is where I spent the formative years of my adult life. In 2014, I co-founded a small, experimental poetry press, TABLOID Press, with artist and poet Nat Marcus, in Berlin. We have since developed an internationally recognized publishing practice. I’m learning German this summer in steps to begin publishing works in translation and communicating with German-speaking poets and artists. I hope to be of better aid to Berlin’s communities as a bilingual publisher and translator.
In all the time I lived in Berlin, I have been underconfident in German. Demands on my schedule when I was working full time as an ESL teacher didn’t allow for a lot of extracurricular freedom or devotion to the German language. It didn’t always matter although it was often an irritation. Berlin is an accepting place when it comes to English speakers, almost to a fault. But I’ve hit a wall in terms of movement and cultural access. Learning German will change my relationship to the city and let further light in, opportunity, eavesdropping, chatter. After two intensive courses at Goethe Institute this summer, I will become more confident speaking socially, I will have a command of grammar that is grounded in daily usage, practice, casual application. My main goal is to move out of doubt.
One thing I will miss is being anonymous in language. The experience of silence when one doesn’t understand the ambient language of a place stills and distills thought. This silence made me a writer. But with more and more recognition of German I hope to find more material in my mundane environment, to develop a compassionate and curious mode of daily listening that lends to the archival act of gathering material. Learning German will blend into the creation of texts, amplify awareness of language as a structure for understanding self, aid a transcultural sense of being.
Food and touring arrangements
I have already packed my bags, coordinated my arrival to my new home with my Airbnb hostess, and prepared all the paperwork I will need at the airport. Now I can get busy preparing the pleasant things like where I’ll have coffee in the morning, which trattoria I’ll be dining out at for the first time, where to get the best focaccia in town and what Italian tours I’ll be doing the first weekend there.
Of all the countries I have visited, Italy is one of my favorites, and perhaps the most loved. I’ve been there twice before, in the same city in the north of the country, in Piemonte, and both times I’ve made friends and learned a lot about myself. I can also say that I learned some Italian, even though I did not attend any school. The second time I was there, for example, was during part of the pandemic. It was so difficult to deal with the lockdown that I started physical training with a fitness professional, just to be able to be out of the house. Thanks to him, I improved my state of mind and learned all the vocabulary in Italian about the human body.
This time I look forward to meeting wonderful people during the summer and having a total immersion experience. Every day I will walk about half an hour to school, if the heat is not oppressive, and observe the streets and stores along the way. I will greet people and try to begin a conversation with them when possible. While I will avoid English speakers, I will definitely socialize with my fellow students and do activities with them.
I have so much to do there. It is very exciting to be able to learn Italian so I can also use it in my research. The tours I will be going on will be great opportunities to ask questions in Italian and learn more about my topic of study. I can’t think of a better way to advance my work.
I can’t wait to tell stories about my trip. I want to post pictures about the most beautiful places and the most curious things.
Juliana.
Are We There Yet?
Alrighty then, fasten your seatbelts because by the conclusion of these blog postings, we will have flown completely around the world, circumnavigating the entire globe! I think that’s going to be my new fun fact.
Hi, I’m Savanna and I will be studying abroad in Seoul, South Korea this summer. T minus 30 days actually. I’ve never been to Korea before so I’m mixed excited and nervous. I’ve also never flown by myself and I’m kind of scared of flying, so this double header of an 8 and a half hour flight to Germany followed by a 10 and a half hour flight to Seoul is going to be a time and a half. The flight on the way back is a little bit shorter, since I will fly across the Pacific instead of the Atlantic; 10 and a half hours from Seoul to Seattle and then only 4 hours to Chicago. Flying around the whole world. Wild. Or, I could be at the bottom of the Atlantic, the Pacific, or 6 feet under in Russia by the end of this. Not spooky at all.
Once we get past flying, covid regulations, and SIM cards though, I am actually really excited to attend Yonsei University and be in Seoul for the summer. This experience will be so different from my classroom experiences learning Korean at Notre Dame. Things that I’ve only seen or heard about in the classroom will become my reality- food, holidays, traditions, everything. In Seoul, all the street signs, restaurant menus, and classroom instruction will be in Korean. I may have a roommate whose first language isn’t English. Maybe I’ll even start dreaming in Korean, since I will be receiving Korean instruction 24/7.
Although many Korean people start learning English in elementary school, I will be using Korean to conduct most of my interactions. I’m going to have to figure out how to navigate the bus and subway systems, shop at the grocery market, and order food at a restaurant. Korean food is very different from the food I’ve grown up with here in the United States. Koreans eat a lot of seafood (yes, including seaweed) and most everything is spicy. Koreans also have a very strict set of table manners that rely on a hierarchy of the age and gender of everyone present at the meal. It’s considered very disrespectful to go against these traditions, so I guess I must learn quickly. I’ve tried 떡갈비, 김밥, and 송편 before, thanks to Notre Dame’s fantastic Korean Department, and I am open to trying most anything. I am curious about Korean desserts though, because I have a huge sweet tooth. I wonder if I can find ice cream in Korea? I’ve heard that random items, such as deodorant, are almost impossible to come by, so this will all be a part of my cultural adjustment.
K-pop is another aspect of Korean culture that I expect to learn this summer. K-pop has taken the world by storm and has even gained ground in the United States. Bands such as BTS and SF9 are such a huge part of Korea’s global economy that there’s even debate over whether these band members should still fulfill Korea’s military service requirement. Many people, especially students, love K-pop music and watch Korean dramas. I’ve started listening to a little bit of K-pop recently in order to learn some pop culture beforehand, but I am going to learn a lot more once I’m there and I’m sure many of the students I’ll be with will have recommendations, not only for music, but also for dramas. Maybe we will have Korean movie nights? That would be fun!
During my time in Korea this summer, I think that I will change and grow in many ways. For one, I will hopefully become more competent with Korean language. I will also become more engaged with Korean culture and learn its rich traditions so that I can hopefully increase my knowledge of people and become a global citizen who fully embraces cultural differences. I will also become more independent- I’ve never traveled by myself before and my room & board doesn’t come with a meal plan, so I will be cooking everything for myself for the first time. I also applied for my first credit card because it doesn’t have international fees like my debit card does, so I will have to learn how to manage that and make a budget for myself. There are so many other things that I will learn that I don’t even realize yet, and all of these things together will hopefully help me become a better adult who acts as a force for good in the world.
Please pray for me on this flight and wish me luck! I’ll keep you posted:)
Finally!
Awaiting my departure, I find myself both excited and nervous—less than a week away!
I have been gradually learning German for nearly half of my life. When initially starting German, my family and I lived in Stuttgart, Germany as a military family, and I embraced the linguistic and cultural immersion I experienced. Soon I developed the dream of one day mastering German and speaking like a “Muttersprachlerin.” For the next eight or so years, I did not have consistent formal German language training, so I often sought out summer language classes or short exchanges. After high school, I took a gap year to participate in the U.S. Department of State’s Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange; however, the in-person exchange was completely canceled due to COVID-19. I was devastated, but after the initial shock and grief, my resolve to study in Germany only increased. A year and a half after the exchange’s cancellation, I am finally about to study in Germany with this SLA Grant! I am elated.
I anticipate this study abroad to feel both familiar and different—familiar in ways that I have prior experience with German language and culture, but different as I have been away from Germany for nearly 9 years. Within everyday language, I expect some colloquialisms to take me by surprise, and I am eager to learn more of the “Umgangsprache,” or everyday language that is not as common in classroom instruction or classwork. In this regard, my interactions with my host family will greatly help me speak more natively, using common phrases or expressions. I am especially excited by my accommodation with a host family, for it ensures that I will be surrounded by German and be speaking German throughout my entire day, each day.
Although extremely excited about this study abroad, I still anticipate moments in which I might feel fatigued or frustrated by linguistic and cultural barriers. However, I embrace these potential moments as a crucial part of studying abroad, strengthening my resilience and patience, and the commitment of learning a language. I realize that there are “hills” and “valleys” throughout the days of studying abroad when facing and overcoming unfamiliarity or misunderstandings.
Therefore, my excitement about this study abroad applies not only to easy or fun moments, but also the challenging ones, for I am confident in my ability to meet such obstacles and grow as a student, language learner, global citizen, and person.
Here we go!
– Ella Maria
Adventure in Montpellier
For the past five years, I have been taking French classes in high school and my first year at Notre Dame. French is language that I find both a challenge to relish and an opportunity for me to express my creativity. Whether it is all the different conjugations of the passé composé or the many kinds of expressions I can use to express an argument, French has been a great outlet for me to exercise my brain in a different way than other subjects I enjoy such as math and economics. Because of my many positive experiences with learning French, I now am interested in working abroad in another country, especially a Francophone one. However, what I learned in the classroom can only get me so far, especially because I have never been to France. Therefore, traveling to France will get me more accustomed with the language and culture, which is needed if I want to spend longer periods of time over there.
That is why I am super pumped to be able to spend eight weeks in Montpellier this summer. For me, I am looking forward to taking advantage of its location along the Mediterranean with its many beautiful beaches as well as the festivals that will be going on in June plus all the museums and other attractions that the city provides. Most importantly, being able to be in an immersive environment by staying with a French family will dramatically increases my grasp of the language where I won’t just be speaking and studying French 1 hour a day like I do here in the USA. I am animated to meet so many new people and make personal connections in a different country since I was not able to go to France my junior year of high school due to Covid. This summer is going to be a great first step towards one day me being able to work and travel regularly abroad, and I cannot wait!
This is a photo of Montpellier’s “Place de la Comédie.” It is a huge downtown area that I will definitely be walking through many occasions during my time at Montpellier.
Pre-Departure Blog
I predict that this immersive study abroad experience will be much different from classroom learning in America. In Cologne, I will be surrounded by German language and culture both inside and outside of the classroom. I will be challenged to use German in many new settings, such as ordering food, at a grocery store, or at a train station. I hope to improve not only my German grammatical, vocabulary, and pronunciation skills, but also my knowledge of German culture. I want to have a fully immersive experience, including going to museums, trying local food, and learning about the architecture of the historical buildings. The institute that I am going to offers weekly activities outside of the classroom, so I plan to take advantage of these opportunities as well. I expect to use my German language skills as much as possible during my experience. I know that my comfort using the language will grow as I attend my classes and begin to grow more familiar with the new culture. I expect to learn a lot about the German language and hopefully all aspects of German culture, including theater, art, architecture, and food.
I hope to grow in many ways during my summer abroad experience. Firstly, I hope to gain more independence. I have never lived alone in a foreign country before, so I plan to take this opportunity as a chance to gain independence and confidence in a new country. I also hope to grow in my understanding of different cultures. Having lived in the United States for my entire life, I know I will experience culture shock at certain aspects of German culture. However, I plan to use these experiences to learn and grow as a person. Lastly, I hope to grow by meeting lots of new people. I am excited to meet new people with interesting stories to tell and lessons to teach. It will be fascinating to experience diversity of thought and background, which will help me to grow as an individual and gain perspective. Overall, I want to grow not only in my language skills, but also as a person through this summer abroad experience.
In Pursuit of a Dream
“Learn Arabic for it strengthens the mind and enhances chivalry.” – Umar Al-Khattab
For the past fifteen years, I have been making efforts to learn the Arabic language. It started with learning to read the alphabet letters and then learning to read the Qur’an which I successfully completed in 2006. Every time I have tried to continue in my pursuit of the knowledge of the language, I have been met with obstacles that make me let go. Learning Arabic however continues to remain at the top of my bucket list.
When I gained admission to the University of Notre Dame, I had no idea that it would allow me to further this dream of mine. It was during the orientation week last August that I learned about the Center for the Study of Languages and Culture (CSLC) and the numerous opportunities it offers. Realizing that students have the opportunity to take language courses in more than a dozen languages, I did not hesitate to seize the opportunity to further the study of Arabic. Thus, I registered for an Arabic course in addition to my required and elective courses this semester.
This summer, I would be spending two months in an immersive Arabic study at the Qalam wa Lawh Center in Rabat, Morocco, with the support of CSLC’s Summer Language Abroad grant. While I have learnt a lot from my Arabic class this semester, I believe that the study abroad program would afford me even more opportunities for learning due to its immersive nature.
I am excited not only about the opportunity to attain my age-long goal of being a speaker of Arabic, but I am also looking forward to meeting and having a different vision of life thus agreeing with the quote that “a new language is a different way of life”. Throughout this Spring semester, I had 5 hours of Arabic classes per week, but with my immersion program, I shall have 20 hours of Arabic per week. This means that I would be able to cover up to two semesters of learning in two months. Meanwhile, I believe that learning Arabic in a classroom is quite different from an immersive experience. In the classroom, Arabic is just like a slice of the pie, with the single slice being Arabic and the rest of the whole being English, Hence, I take a slice of Arabic each day and then go about the rest of my day in English. But with an immersive experience, Arabic is the whole, and while I would have a slice in the classroom, I would have many more slices of the same whole in the hallway, and the market, and the streets, and at home, and practically everywhere. Thus, staying in a place where Arabic is the dominant language means that I am able to immerse myself in the language and the culture and learn not just from the classroom from also from interaction with Arabic speakers.
I hope that this trip would be an opportunity for me to learn about the Moroccan and Arab culture, their food, clothing, and general way of life. I look forward to interacting with the locals, and not just learning the Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) in class, but also picking some colloquial Darija Arabic from my interactions with the locals. I am also looking forward to visiting different towns in Morocco – Fez, Marakkech, etc, and learning about their rich history and culture. Similarly, I look forward to traversing the Sahara desert as well, and I hope that this trip contributes to my growth as well as personal and professional development.