The Summer of 2013 by Jenny

The Summer of 2013 by Jenny - October 2013 Scholarship Essay

The purpose of study abroad programs are for the students to absorb and learn more in the foreign country than in the classroom experience. This past summer, I flew across the world on a trip to Spain. During this six and a half week trip, I learned more life lessons than I could have in a whole year. I went to Spain with a group of thirty-three other students and four professors under the Indiana University Honors Program of Foreign Languages (IUHPFL). IUHPFL is a program where one is fully-immersed into the culture of a foreign country by living with a host family and experiencing their language through communicating and studying only in the Spanish language.

While there, I learned that culture in general is very different in various places. In Spain, they eat five separate meals; while here, in the United States, we only have three main courses. In addition, the people there are more outgoing, social, and accepting. I find that learning these cultural differences broadened my mind, and it taught me to accept other people for who they are inside and not solely by their appearance. By going to Spain, it really opened my eyes to what it was like to live in a different country.

During the trip, the importance of language and communication skills was also emphasized. I am currently bilingual in English and Mandarin Chinese. I am able to speak, understand, read, and write in both of those languages fluently. It never fully hit me exactly how critical and beneficial knowing a different language could be because English and Chinese were essentially my first languages.

Before my trip to Spain, I had already taken three years of high school Spanish and two years in Middle School; but I still had trouble understanding Spanish, especially the speaking part of it. By being completely immersed in a Spanish-speaking host family and hearing it day in and day out, within two weeks I could tell that I had already improved enormously. After a month, I could hold a conversation without constantly asking them to repeat themselves. Knowing and having the ability to communicate in different languages is becoming increasingly critical in today’s world, not only if one goes abroad, but also in one’s own city or career. Knowing three different languages, especially the three most widely spoken ones, is super beneficial.

The interaction between people is what is crucial in learning a new language. The purpose of learning a different language, is not only to improve on it, but to mess up. The mistakes one makes while learning a new language is part of the process of improving on the language. No one is perfect. In the beginning of the trip, I was afraid to speak. I did not want to sound dumb in front of my host parents by messing up. After the first week, I noticed that everyone messes up, even the Spanish-speaking natives there. You must cross the border between "afraid to speak up." The only way to improve is through the mistakes that you make, not only while speaking but also while writing. This is the only way to learn a new language.

After the trip, although I cannot say I am fluent in Spanish, but I now know enough to be able to communicate efficiently in Spanish. In the short couple weeks after my return to Indiana, I had already used the Spanish I learned. I was able to help multiple visitors at the local hospital that I volunteer at to find the location they were looking for, the patient they were visiting, and to obtain other information for them. Knowing several languages is very valuable to me, and it is very helpful. Now that the trip is over, I can officially say that you do not just know a language, you live the language.