'A Month in Tokyo' Exceeds Expectations

Proving once again that study abroad is a must-do for all undergraduate students, PC student Brenda Fabig spent spring block 2013 in Japan under the auspices of a carefully planned Independent Study. Brenda, who hails from Seattle, has had a life-long interest in Japanese language and culture. With just two years left in her Education program, she knew she wanted to do an immersion experience in Japan before she got side-tracked with other goals. In her first semester, fall 2012, she created an IS focused on improving her Japanese reading, writing, and speaking skills. With support from the Learning Commons, Brenda spelled out a rigorous study plan, arranged to meet weekly with a native Japanese speaker in Prescott, and applied for a scholarship to Education First for a one-month stay in Tokyo. 

That first IS served Brenda very well. From concentrated self-study and conversing with her language partner she found herself "capable of producing, in both speech and writing, many kinds of sentences."

"I feel confident in my ability to express myself in Japanese," she wrote by the end of that course.

Then came Tokyo in January this year. On her first day in Japan she wrote,

My host parents are in their late sixties and speak no English. Their house is large and has a beautifully cared for garden, blooming with winter flowers. It’s very traditional, and I mean super traditional. Tatami mats, shoji windows, pagoda roof. My heart almost burst with thankfulness. In coming to Japan, I was hoping I could stay in Kyoto to experience traditional culture. When it became apparent that Tokyo would be the only workable avenue for study, I was disappointed. But with my host parents I have a little slice of traditional Japan. 

For four glorious weeks Brenda attended a Japanese language school, took trips with her host family and friends, and explored the dense riches of Tokyo via its efficient (but expensive) public transit system.

She chronicled her adventures in her blog so those of us left behind could follow her at a distance. Her long fascination with the kimono did not go unsatisfied.

"I have tried on kimono three times in Japan. 日本で、着物を三回着ました

"We found a Kimono shop ($20,000+ a pop!) where I was allowed to try one on for free." 

Brenda earned 4 upper division credits on a PC Independent Study contract for her spring block immersion experience.

"My time in Japan proved to be the greatest educational and cultural experience of my life," Brenda wrote in her self-evaluation.

"I put Japanese into practice because I had to rely on it daily in everything I did....Though I struggled, and there will always be more to learn, I am satisfied with my intermediate language skills."

Brenda hopes to enter the JET program once she completes her double competence in Education and Literature.

Recipe for a New Language: World Languages I

Way down near the end of the On-Campus Course Schedule sits a description of a course that could change your life. Sure, you enrolled at Prescott College expecting epic adventures and fresh perspectives and by those standards a course titled World Languages I seems a bit tame. Until you start thinking about how much impact learning a new language can have on your life during and after college. 

World Languages I is offered every semester so that you can create an Independent Study course in any of the world's 6,000 languages that you deem necessary to your global citizenship. The ingredients for a successful IS that aims at conversational proficiency in a language other than English are these:

§  Your motivation and commitment to learning a new language. We hear all the time "I've always wanted to learn to speak ____," whether it's a matter of family heritage or simply a desire to connect across cultures. Once you have the drive to really communicate with people in a new language, you're a good candidate for World Languages I.

§  A set of multi-media learning materials and a clear study plan.  Because you won't be in a traditional class led by a teacher, your learning resources and objectives will have to be identified in advance of the IS. The Learning Commons Coordinator helps you put together the best available resources and plan. Her role as instructor of World Languages I is to co-create the IS study contract with you.

§  A fluent speaker of the language you want to study (known as the 'target language'). This speaker may or may not act as the mentor for your IS. The important thing is that we identify a speaker who can meet with you in-person or remotely for at least three hours per week during the semester to converse with you in the target language. The Learning Commons can offer a qualified speaker a small stipend (comparable to a mentor's stipend) even if s/he is not the official mentor for the IS. 

To register for World Languages I in any semester requires the signature of the course instructor. That's because typically each student enrolled in World Languages I has a unique goal and study plan. We have to determine in advance if we have the right ingredients for success in each case. When multiple students want to study the same language at the same level, we put together a small group IS, if appropriate.

World Languages I is offered for lower division credit because it focuses on beginning-level language study only. Students who want to study at the intermediate or advanced levels or who want to do intensive language study abroad should also contact the Learning Commons Coordinator for help. To date we have arranged successful IS courses in Spanish, Russian, Japanese, and French. Which language have you always wanted to learn? 

¡Viva México, Distrito Federal!

Many of us spent July and August strapping on a backpack, rafting, or pulling weeds out of our vegetable gardens. But one On-campus student headed for the biggest, highest, and most historic national capital in the Western hemisphere: Mexico City. Désirée Dorsainvil designed an independent study titled “Spanish Language Immersion” for summer block and spent three and a half weeks living with a local family, attending Spanish language classes, and roaming the important cultural sites of the vast city, camera in hand.

Although Désirée reported that her whirlwind visit to México, D.F. was “largely overwhelming”, the blog she kept as a learning journal shows that she made great strides in her beginner’s knowledge of Spanish and more than held her own in an intensely urban setting. 

The IS “was an amazing introduction” to both the Spanish language and Mexican culture, wrote Désirée in her self-evaluation. She added that the experience “will certainly propel my continuation of Spanish language studies beyond this course.” 

True to her word, Désirée is continuing to practice and develop her Spanish speaking skills this fall with a second independent study in Intermediate Spanish with Spanish mentor and graduate teaching assistant Emily Affolter. 

Another On-campus student, Michael Broad, is joining Désirée and Emily as they engage with the local Spanish-speaking population through two community groups, Latino-Anglo Alianza and the Prescott Plaza Comunitaria. The opportunity to speak and interact in Spanish about real world matters is alive and well right here in Prescott, as Désirée and Michael have found out thanks to Emily’s connections to local Latino advocates.

Prescott College will offer an intermediate course in Spanish for Spring 2013 and an immersion block course at the Kino Bay Research Station. If you have questions about how to further your Spanish language skills, contact the Learning Commons World Languages Initiative to learn about your options. 

Using Mango Languages Here and Abroad

Mango Languages is an attractive language learning site available free to all PC students and staff through the Library web page. The site boasts colorful, interactive lessons in 45 languages that can introduce you to a new language or refresh your memory before you travel abroad. The most popular languages have lessons that can take you from basic travel phrases to simple conversation in about 10-40 bite-sized chapters. Here's how to access and use Mango Languages whenever you're ready:

• Click on the Mango Languages link on this blog or log onto the PC website and browse to the main Library page.
• Click on the link for Mango Languages.
• Type in your PC library bar code (14 digits) to log into Mango.
• Type in your PC username and set a password; store this information in your Mango profile for safe-keeping.
• Once you're in, click on the "Courses" tab to see all 45 courses. Click on any one you want just to see what the courses look and feel like. It's free and you can always pick a different language anytime.
• Use stereo headphones with a mic to get the most out of every lesson.

The graphics and audio are easy on the eyes and ears, respectively. You can take lessons in Castilian Spanish or Latin American Spanish. Brazilian Portuguese is also available. Because all languages have multiple dialects, you may not always find the speakers producing the language exactly as you remember it. If you study a language that is entirely new to you, keep in mind that some variation in pronunciation and vocabulary is the norm, especially if the language is spoken in a large or isolated geographical area. 

You can now download the Mango Languages app to iPhones, iPods, and iPads. That means that not only can you access Mango language lessons from anywhere with wi-fi, but you can literally carry them with you in your pocket. 

The courses on Mango also include English courses for speakers of other languages. That means you can use Mango to help you teach someone else how to speak English. 

Using Mango Languages won't make you a fluent speaker, any more than any other virtual program can (and that includes the very expensive Rosetta Stone). But it can get you learning a new language quickly as you plan a course or a trip. We hope you'll take advantage of this PC perk and then contact the PC Learning Commons for more information on building towards fluency in the language of your choice. 

Beginning Russian in Kiev

The strangely leaning St. Sophia Cathedral.

Did you know that Russian is recognized as an official language in both China and Ukraine? This little known fact has had important consequences for Cultural and Regional Studies student Sunshine Davis, whose sights are set on doing her senior project in Mongolia when the time comes. While many Westerners associate Mongolia primarily with China, Sunshine knew that most Mongolians had become comfortable with the Russian language during seven decades of Soviet-backed Communist rule. Thinking that knowing Russian would allow her to communicate throughout the region sandwiched between Russia and China--once known as Outer Mongolia--Sunshine created an independent study course in Beginning Russian Language and Culture with PC instructor Roxane Ronca in spring ’11. With Roxane’s guidance, Sunshine began to read and write Cyrillic script and absorbed the basic grammar of Russian from books, CDs, and simple conversations with her Russian-speaking mentor.

Sunshine on the pedestrian bridge over the Dnieper River. 

Next, Sunshine used the web to find a language school where she could immerse herself in studying Russian and Russophone cultures. Eventually, she found a qualified program that fit into her PC schedule and budget perfectly. But the school wasn’t located in Russia or Mongolia. Instead, the school she chose was located in Kiev, Ukraine, where the inhabitants speak Russian and Ukrainian interchangeably. Using the Independent Study option to earn PC credits, Sunshine spent spring block ’12 attending the Nova Mova Russian Language School in Kiev for 20 hours a week. The school introduced her to her host family so that she had a nurturing home base from which to explore the city on her own or with fellow students. 

The city's ancient Golden Gate at night.

Sunshine reports that the mode of instruction at Nova Mova (http://www.learnrussiankiev.com/) was lively and fun with instructors who were committed to helping students learn to read, write, and converse in Russian as quickly as possible. Although it was somewhat intimidating to get on the plane alone and head off to Kiev with only a little Russian under her belt, Sunshine knew she had made the right decision shortly after she arrived.

“My host family is very nice and very comfortable. This city seems easy to navigate and relatively safe.  I don't stand out as a foreigner, so I feel good about that,” she wrote after her first day at Nova Mova. 

Sunshine and another student at Novamova School show off their certificates of completion of Level A1.

Evaluating her study abroad experience once she returned to Prescott Sunshine wrote, “This [independent] study increased my confidence in my ability to organize international travel and to travel safely and effectively in foreign countries as well as greatly improved my comprehension of the Russian language.”  

Extracurricular opportunities included Language Exchange meetings in local restaurants.

For more information about studying Russian at home or abroad through independent study, contact the Learning Commons Coordinator well ahead of the semester you are planning for.

Learn Spanish Abroad through Independent Study

Many PC students want to learn Spanish both because it’s a local language and because it’s spoken widely in some of the most intriguing and scenic places in the world, from Latin America to Spain to the Philippines. Adventure Ed student Brian Andersen wanted to improve on the informal Spanish he picked up  when he spent time traveling in South America prior to coming to Prescott College.

 “One of my goals of my education is to be able to lead international expeditions, and I feel like Spanish is a incredibly important language if I am going to do that,” Brian noted in his application to pursue an independent study course while in Montañita, Ecuador. He planned his spring ’11 semester carefully so that he could earn a full semester of PC credits while he was abroad.  He began his stay in South America in the International Mountain Expedition block course; enrolled in an intensive Spanish language school for eight weeks in Montañita where he lived with a local family; and ended his semester with a three-week climbing course, in Peru, offered by the School for International Expedition Training. 

The Learning Commons’ World Languages Initiative helped Brian pick a high-quality language school in Ecuador and write the IS learning contract so that he would receive PC credits for the time he spent focusing on learning Spanish. Learning Commons’ Coordinator Nancy Mattina served as Brian’s mentor for the four-credit course. 

Brian found the language school in Montañita through a web search that led him to Lingua Schools at www.linguaschools.com. Once at the school, he studied grammar and conversational skills for five hours a day, five days a week in a small group and often one-on-one with the instructor. He spent downtime learning to surf with the local beach crowd, which gave him ample opportunity to converse in Spanish while having a great outdoor experience. His homestay was arranged by the school and he became quite attached to his host family, especially the family's father (pictured above with Brian).

“Studying Spanish in Montañita was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life,” says Brian. “The day went something like this: wake up, go to school, go surf, go back to school, return to the ocean, eat dinner with my family, go dancing, go to sleep.  Then, wake up and do it all over again.” 

For more information on how to set up your IS in a Spanish-speaking country, email Nancy Mattina to make an appointment at least two months before you plan to travel.