Leaving May 2007 Latin/ South America
June 26th, 2006 by jenny.Hi there, My name is Jenny and I just went through the nomination process about a week ago, next step is to go through the medical/dental clearance which I am having done in August. My departure date is not until May 2007, I was wondering if there was anyone out there that has a departure date around that same time, and also if anyone can tell me about how hard the language proficiency is. I haven’t taken spanish since I was inhigh school and i am almost 26 now, so it has been quite some time. I just signed up for a refresher course and I know that I know a lot of the language but I am frightened at the aspect that the placement office is gonna call me for an interview conducted in Spanish and I am gonna freak and do horribly. I really want to go to this region but I am not sure that I will be allowed to.
Anyone have any advice for me?? And is anyone leaving or planning to leave around that same time frame? Thanks
-Jenny
July 7th, 2006 at 12:42 pm
While I’m not leaving the same time as you are, I thought I’d share my experience. I’m an invitee to El Salvador, leaving in September. I am pretty fluent in Spanish, and I never had an interview in Spanish for Peace Corps. From what I understand, they will train you in the language when you get to your country. And once you’ve had the language and been living in the culture, it will come back to you very quickly, so don’t worry! Hope that helps…
July 13th, 2006 at 3:53 pm
Hi Jenny,
My name is Shannon and I just received a nomination to serve in Latin America leaving May 07. My level of Spanish is pretty decent, but I think it would be okay if it weren’t. If you think about all the volunteers going to places where the language is a tribal language or something relatively uncommon, they can’t be expected to be fluent, and it’s possible that they may have never even heard the language spoken prior to training. I think you’ll be okay. Just out of curiosity, what program are you going in? I am going to teach English. I can’t wait to find out which country. Maybe I’ll see you there.
July 15th, 2006 at 10:49 am
Jenny,
Your recruiter would not have nominated you for the program if you didn’t qualify. I’ve also never heard of having an interview conducted in spanish (though that was one of my fears as well!)
Now, I have heard that in Latin America, if you don’t speak sufficient spanish by the end of your training, you wont be able to swear in as a vol, but I’ve never heard of a case where that was enforced. In fact, a girl that I talked to that served in Guatamala a few years ago told me that even though they told her group that all though training, everyone was sworn in, even if their spanish wasn’t great.
PC also offers reimbursment if you want extra tutoring in the language after training and when you’re on site, but if you’re in an area with an indigenous language, it would likely be in that language and not in spanish (think about it- you get to brush up on your spanish, and may get to add a Mayan or other neat language to your skill set).
I also have a nomination for Latin America, leaving by March of next year. I’m getting my medical clearances together now. Just one more appointment left!
Warmest regards,
Christine
Also, for Shannon: Prior to this year, PC didn’t have any TEFL programs in Latin America. They just signed the first deal to start one a few months ago, in Nicaragua. So I bet that’s where you’re going!
October 20th, 2006 at 7:41 pm
Hey guys! My name is Emily, and I just accepted my invitation to serve in El Salvador in February 2007. I am so excited! I am going to be a rural health and sanitation facilitator. I was wondering if anyone was leaving as part of that trip or around the same time. Thanks!
November 21st, 2006 at 1:00 pm
Jenny-
I served as a PC volunteer in El Salvador 98-00. I was in the same boat as you when I joined. I had a couple of years of spanish in hs, but I never really challenged myself in this area, so by the time I did PC, I was pretty weak in my spanish skills. I pretty much had to start all over again with my vocabulary and grammar. During our first week in El Salvador, all of the incoming trainees had to take a placement exam…basically, an informal conversation with a couple of instructors where they assessed our language comprehension. It sounds scarier than it really was…I just laughed at my own inability to answer nearly all of their questions. I was put in one of the lowest spanish groups, which was fine with me…it was what I was most confortable with. During the first month of intensive training, I remember not being very pro-active about speaking spanish around my PC peers, and until a friend said something about it, I didn’t think much of it. But after that conversation with her, I realized that I really needed to be pro-active of my own accord to really get the language down and to practice as much as possible. That included having conversations with my peers in spanish as well as with my training host family in the evenings. My progress after that was truly surprising. Once I went to my community, my spanish continued to improved by leaps and bounds. I have always been thankful of the friend who told me to challenge myself more. Sure, it was challenging, but I was thrilled by the realization that I was communicating in another language and that my community was open to helping me out as long as I was willing to try and learn. There was one individual in my group who did opt to have some additional spanish training at his site and he did quite well in the end. Also, there was additional formal language training provided for us after 3 or 4 months at our site and it helped a lot. Maybe you will have the same option.
My words of advice for you are: be confident in your abilites and always be willing to make mistakes because you can learn from them; challenge yourself to go above and beyond what is “required” (ie. classes) and enjoy yourself.
You’ll do fine. Enjoy latin america, whereever you go. Que te vaya bien! I miss El Salvador everyday!
November 26th, 2006 at 8:28 pm
Hi Emily,
I am also going to El Salvador in Feb 2007. Do you know how many people are in our group?
October 17th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Just curious where the people with May departures ended up going in Latin America? I am suppose to leave in mid-May 2008 and trying to find out through process of elimination what country I may end up in… any insight??