Language Overview

After experiencing the month long language and culture immersion in Rabat, I can say without a doubt that my linguistic skills have improved.  Outside of the language classes, I learned how to communicate without language too.  As a bilingual English and Spanish speaker, Morocco proved to be a challenge.  Coming into this program without any Arabic experience or exposure was difficult, but my general communication skills have improved dramatically.  I could communicate on a basic level with my host family, using Darija greetings, questions and responses.  I think I made the most progress in speaking simply because this was a full immersion program that required communication with people everyday.  Our classes were also centered around listening and speaking, so we learned how to use Arabic in conversation.  Before I did this study abroad, I expected very little from my language learning.  I knew that I wanted to be able to speak Arabic, but it's also a very difficult language to become proficient at because there are many variegated dialects.  After completion, I can say confidently that I met and exceeded my language goals.  Learning a language when you're staying with a host family can be an amusing and rewarding experience.  When I would come home from school and tell my host family the words and phrases I learned, they were very happy that I was finally able to communicate in their native language.  I felt like less of an outsider when I was able to utilize my language skills at home.  Another aspect of our language classes was the daily "into the community" activity.  Every student would practice their language skills on a stranger, using questions and phrases we learned in the previous class to express themselves.  It was nerve-wracking at first, and completely out of my comfort zone.  Eventually, as my language skills grew, I cared less about embarassing myself and more about being able to connect with others through the power of language.  Looking back on these daily activities, they helped me get the full study abroad experience and grow as a person.  Coming back into the U.S, I might be more willing to strike up a conversation with a stranger, which can be a great skill to have when developing one's network.  Besides the into the community activities, our whole class really enjoyed Arabic songs.  We listened to the classic Fairuz, and learned lines to popular Moroccan rap and pop songs from our generation.  Music and language became great conversation points and gateways to true cultural connection.