Mentor Advice
Question
Were you able to learn a new language when you studied abroad and how?
2 Replies from Mentors
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MarieSenior Year StudentLoyola Marymount UniversityYes, I was able to improve my German a little bit by staying with a host family and practicing my German in places like restaurants and shops. I highly recommend staying in a home where the native- language is spoken most of the time with very minimal-to-no English.
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AmeliaSenior Year StudentUniversity of California, Los AngelesWhen I studied abroad in Turkey for four months, I was able to learn manageable Turkish. In other words, I took a class that helped me learn Turkish grammar in writing, but other than that, my best classroom was my travels themselves because I met tons of different people and had tons of conversations with them that forced me to speak Turkish. Since the majority of Turks don't speak English, I carried a small pocket dictionary around with me at all times. It becomes especially useful if you are looking for something specific and you need to learn the word for it; for example, if you are shopping for a belt, you would learn the word for "belt."