Fluidly switching between languages has always fascinated me. In high school, I was surrounded by bilinguals, people who could communicate with two groups of speakers. They had a skill that would benefit them for the rest of their lives absorbed from being surrounded by more than one culture. My passion for language learning was incited when I fell in love with Spanish. As I set upon my goal of obtaining a degree in linguistics, it was obvious to me that I would continue studying Spanish along the way. It was not until I began taking linguistic classes that focused on Spanish that I realized how amazingly diverse the language is. I would like to improve my perception of these differences by exposing myself firsthand to different dialects and …show more content…
Outside of class, I rarely engage in extended conversations in my target language. Advancing my studies in Spanish conversation and composition will be more effective through immersion. Also, studying abroad will give me the opportunity to speak with native speakers, pushing my level of Spanish from academic to more natural. Being surrounded by native speakers is the kind of experience that would benefit someone aiming for fluency. I chose this program because of its emphasis on Spanish language immersion, and the program takes place in a Spanish speaking country. The courses provided would fulfill requirements for my Spanish minor, and I was interested in taking the course in service-learning which will offer an opportunity to utilize Spanish in a more stimulating way through socializing with native speakers. Moreover, I expect having experience travelling outside of the country will be beneficial in the future. Up until now, most of my language learning has been confined to a small room in a large building. Furthermore, knowing a language goes deeper than just memorizing vocabulary and grammar rules. Witnessing how people speak to each other on a day to day basis in another language will provide me with the depth of understanding necessary to accurately interpret for others in the