Let’s say you’ve always had an interest in visiting Latin America. You’d like to travel in Ecuador, study in Mexico, work in Brazil, volunteer in Panama. Only one problem seems to stand in your way: you don’t speak Spanish or Portuguese. Or French, Quechua, Aymara, Nahuatl, Creole, Papiamentu, Guaraní…
A common question we get here at Idealist.org, often from people who want to volunteer abroad but also from others who are exploring international careers or travel, is “What if I don’t speak the language?” The quick answer, of course, is to start learning it asap. Consider taking a community college or language school course. Find local speaking groups or expat communities in your area to practice with. Think about joining an immersion program or study the language abroad (preferably in the country you’ve set your sights on).
Predictably enough, language really is that critical a skill to have when living, working, volunteering, or traveling abroad – most especially the first two options where you’ll most likely be spending a fair amount of time in-country and want to integrate into the community as quickly as you can. For volunteering or traveling, especially if you’ll only be in-country for a short period of time, there are some additional options like volunteering with an organization or program that provides language support and/or translators (this is what I did when volunteering for two weeks in Jordan), learning some key phrases and practicing the twin international travel arts of humility and pantomime, or jumpstarting your volunteering or travels by spending a little time first in a language course abroad – or go abroad primarily for the course and volunteer/travel on the side.
The bottom line is, in order to truly experience cross-cultural exchange the likes of which you can only get through personal communications and connection with local citizens, you’re going to need some language skills. So, once you know where you want to go, start checking out your options. ¿Comprende?
Latest posts by erinb
- Make It Happen - October 27th, 2009
If you don’t even know the language, there’s probably a whole lot more that you don’t know about the place. My advice would be to starting learning everything you can, and not just the language. Then maybe you’ll have enough knowledge to even consider whether you’d want to volunteer there.
Language can make your experience better for sure, but I am also surprised how far our volunteers get when they are here and don’t know any Spanish. It is great and also motivating to see how sign language can save you in most situations, especially with kids. Of course, for a deeper relationship this is not enough, but I think you can already experience a fair amount of culture without speaking the language. For the ones that do want to learn, it is quick and very hands on to learn when you’re already in the country. You’ll get the same amount of learning done in weeks, where others will need months.
More thoughts on:
http://www.uvolunteer.org/volunteer-life
The language barrier is a very real one, and can block the road to giving or receiving information.
Idealists (yes, there are a few of us left) should learn and use Esperanto, and promote its wider use.
Take a look at http://www.lernu.net