Precerpt from My 20th Language (Leaver): Study Abroad
 |
Study Abroad
Unlike many—if not most—of my foreign-language-learning peers, I never had the chance to study abroad during my university years. I attended college on a full scholarship, and that scholarship money could not be used for study abroad programs. If I wanted to go abroad, I would have had to pay my own way. As the eldest of eight children of a shoe-cutter and a part-time farmer, that was simply not possible. I was already working nearly half-time just to afford clothing and cover expenses not included in my scholarship.
So, I learned my languages in the classroom. And I held my own—often outperforming those who had studied abroad. By the time I completed graduate studies in comparative literature and later enlisted in the U.S. Army, I had reached Level 4 proficiency in two languages and Level 3 in another two, as measured by the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT). That experience cemented a conviction I carry with me to this day, especially in my role as a language program manager: foreign languages can be taught and learned to very high levels within the four walls of a classroom.
That said, life has a way of opening doors we thought were closed forever. Later, I found myself working on my Ph.D. in Moscow, lecturing in Germany and Austria, training teachers in Spanish and Portuguese across Latin America, and working in various countries in the Middle East. Through these experiences, I came to appreciate that while high-level language learning is possible without immersion, study abroad offers transformative benefits that no classroom can fully replicate.
For me—and for the students I have taught and mentored—study abroad has consistently delivered four powerful outcomes:
-
Fluency and Automaticity of Sociolinguistic Response: Not just the ability to speak the language, but to speak it in a way that feels natural, culturally appropriate, and timely. It is one thing to say the right words; it is another to say them in the right way, at the right moment, with the right gestures, tone, and level of formality.
-
Formation of Culturally Appropriate Behaviors and Habits: Small behaviors—like how close to stand when speaking, when to make eye contact, how to offer thanks or show respect—become second nature. These aren’t things you memorize; they seep into your being through lived experience.
-
Ease in Building and Maintaining Relationships with Native Speakers: Study abroad dissolves the barrier of ‘otherness.’ It allows one to feel comfortable initiating conversations, sustaining friendships, and becoming part of the fabric of daily life, however temporarily.
-
Deep, Intuitive Understanding of Cultural Values and Ethics: Some cultural knowledge cannot be taught—it must be absorbed. Through immersion, I came to understand the subtle, often unspoken ethical frameworks of different societies: what is considered honorable or shameful, what evokes pride or embarrassment. I may not be able to articulate this knowledge fully, but I carry it with me, and it guides my interactions in ways both conscious and unconscious—even down to knowing when to blush.
Years later, as an educator and program director, I have watched hundreds of students undergo transformations abroad. Many arrive with hardened or even negative attitudes toward the target culture—shaped by politics, media, or fear of the unfamiliar. But immersion softens those edges.
To be clear, study abroad does not necessarily make someone “one with” the host culture. It doesn’t require adopting its values or abandoning one's own. But it does foster a profound respect for the people of that culture—recognizing their shared humanity and embracing the possibility of understanding across differences. Even when friendship is not the outcome, empathy often is.
And that, I believe, is one of the most valuable lessons language study can offer.
For more posts about language learning, click HERE.
To purchase copies of any MSI Press book at 25% discount,
use code FF25 at MSI Press webstore.
Want to read an MSI Press book and not have to buy for it?
(1) Ask your local library to purchase and shelve it.
(2) Ask us for a review copy; we love to have our books reviewed.
VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL OUR AUTHORS AND TITLES.
(recent releases, sales/discounts, awards, reviews, Amazon top 100 list, author advice, and more -- stay up to date)Check out recent issues.
Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC?
Turn your manuscript into a book!
Check out information on how to submit a proposal.
We help writers become award-winning published authors. One writer at a time. We are a family, not a factory. Do you have a future with us?
Turned away by other publishers because you are a first-time author and/or do not have a strong platform yet? If you have a strong manuscript, San Juan Books, our hybrid publishing division, may be able to help.
Planning on self-publishing and don't know where to start? Our author au pair services will mentor you through the process.
Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book in exchange for reviewing a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com.
Want an author-signed copy of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.Julia Aziz, signing her book, Lessons of Labor, at an event at Book People in Austin, Texas.
Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their contact information on our Authors' Pages.Steven Greenebaum, author of award-winning books, An Afternoon's Discussion and One Family: Indivisible, talking to a reader at Barnes & Noble in Gilroy, California.MSI Press is ranked among the top publishers in California.
Check out our rankings -- and more -- HERE.
Comments
Post a Comment