Documenting the steps I'm taking in applying for the Peace Corps and hopefully be invited to the Peace Corps! The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Spanish

My nomination is for C/S America. I really want to speak Spanish.  There are all of like 3 countries in Latin America that don't speak Spanish. One of my possible countries is one of those non-Spanish speaking countries.

My recruiter, when nominating me, said "You have had Spanish right? Now is it Spanish 2 that you've taken?" "yes, I finished Spanish 2 in college" "How would you say your Spanish skills actually are" "ummm...I can't lie, I'm not the best, but I can hold my own in a conversation and get around, especially if I reviewed a little bit" "Okay, because I'm going to nominate you for Youth Development in mid-August in Latin America....This position is specifically requesting strong Spanish 2 skills."

Thus, that leads me to believe that even that I will be placed in a Spanish speaking country. Right? Or in a Spanish speaking area. She also explicitly stated that it was C/S America, NOT the Caribbean (canceling out Dominican Republic--if you still want to go by the nomination).  The 3 countries in my region that show invitations already are Belize (English), Guatemala (Spanish), and Panama (Spanish).  Out of these 3, Belize is the only one that has a Youth Development program, the only one that has had a Youth Dev invitee, and, of course, is the only English speaking one in the bunch.  

Now up North in Belize, near the Mexico and some of the Guatemala border, Spanish is spoken...but people still seem to be fluent in English, from what I gather.  If this is the case, that could be why the program specifically requested Spanish 2 for this position.  However, we all know it is MUCH harder to learn a language when you have the option of speaking English all the time--that's what concerns me. There are 2 people who I may e-mail to see if they were given any heads up about the language, both Belize invitees, one for Youth, one for Education.

Belize just looks most likely. Of course it is possible that something like Costa Rica or El Salvador could pop up too! Those both have Youth programs and speak Spanish. Granted, who wouldn't LOVE to live and work in Belize for 2 years? But at the same time, is it wrong of me to be really worried about the desire to learn Spanish and that it might not be possible to do so in Belize?

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