Title VIII Scholarship Recipient Profile: Jennifer Acevedo Castro
Jennifer Acevedo Castro reflects on her semester on the Eurasian Regional Language Program (ERLP) online as a Title VIII scholarship recipient and how she improved her Persian over the course of the semester.
I started learning about Persian culture and language through Iranian friends at my home university. In 2018, shortly after my military service ended, I met a young Iranian Ph.D. student in Tucson, AZ, where I was studying Arabic. Initially, I was interested in my Iranian friend’s opinions about the complex relationship between Iran and the U.S. and what it would take for the two countries to engage in diplomatic dialogue. However, after a few minutes of conversation with him at a local tea house, I learned that he possessed a massive collection of Time magazines, which he had acquired through a popular Tehran-based vendor. In Iran’s capital, my friend explained, the vendor was known for his extensive selection of American movies and Time magazines which he sold to young Iranians like my friend for less than a dollar each. Thus, our conversation quickly switched from Iran’s foreign policy to Iranians’ love for American movies and magazines. This short exchange sparked my interest in Persian culture and language. The following semester, I enrolled in Elementary Farsi at my university and later, continued my Farsi language education with American Council’s Summer and Spring Eurasian Regional and Language Program (ERLP).
Through American Council’s Spring 2021 ERLP, I spent over 112 hours engaging with Persian mass media, conversation, and reading classes. I really enjoyed the small classroom discussions and debates in which my classmate and I discussed foreign policy topics using only Farsi. I participated in small virtual lessons delivered from Dushanbe and prepared oral presentations on complex topics such as China’s intervention in the Middle East, the Iran nuclear deal, US-Iran relations, and the effects of COVID-19 on Central Asian countries. These oral presentations allowed me to learn new Persian vocabulary and understand nuances in regional perspectives on these issues.
In addition to classroom instruction, American Councils’ Persian language program gave me access to one hour of conversation practice with a language partner each week. This was my favorite part of the program. My conversation partner, a Tajiki national, took me on virtual tours of Dushanbe, shared traditional Tajiki recipes and related stories about the years he spent in Iran as a university student studying Engineering. He shared examples of how Tajiki cultural traditions differed from Iran’s, especially in terms of education systems in each country. Moreover, my conversation partner and I spent sessions discussing how Tajiki customs and traditions surrounding marriage differed from American celebrations. I also learned and practiced colloquial Persian expressions used to congratulate people on special occasions.
In addition to ERLP’s part-time curriculum, I enrolled in one Human Rights graduate course and one 3-credit Persian course at my home university. Taking this additional Persian class, I felt like I was part of a whole Persian language immersion experience. In total, I spent over 20 hours per week reading, writing, and speaking Persian. In addition to this, I was able to draw connections between the cultural knowledge I gained through ERLP’s cultural activities and human rights issues discussed in my Human Rights graduate program (i.e., housing rights in Central Asian countries).
Dealing with the 12-hour time difference between Tajikistan and Arizona was perhaps the most challenging part of my participation in the program. My classes would start at 7 am, and I usually got up one hour and a half before that (5:30 am). I would dedicate at least thirty minutes before each class to practicing my oral presentations and re-reading assigned texts. Despite this challenge, I found that the extra time I put in before class made a big difference in my ability to retain vocabulary and my overall confidence level in the classroom.
At the end of the spring program, an Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) revealed my language gains: I advanced two levels, from Advanced Low to Advanced High, within one semester. However, the value of American Council’s ERLP goes beyond language proficiency gains. American Council’s ERLP offered a window into Tajikistan’s culture, music, food, and the Persian language. The program allowed me to dive deeper into Iranian media and regional views on the ‘Iran Nuclear Deal.’
I keep up with my Farsi by speaking to native Persian speakers. I try to attend university-sponsored Iranian film screenings and talks in order to meet and connect with new Persian-speaking students. I have one close friend with whom I usually practice Persian. Also, I try to get my news from the BBC’s Persian channel and listen to Iranian pop music regularly.
I want to combine my passion for the Persian language and culture with my interest in foreign policy and human rights by working as a conflict resolution expert with the International Crisis Group. In the next few months, I would also like to travel to Tajikistan to meet my ERLP teachers in person and conduct research for my MA thesis.
I would encourage future program participants to find ways to connect with native speakers of the target language. I am a learner of English, French, Arabic, and now Persian (and a native speaker of Spanish), and I have found that reaching advanced language proficiency usually requires a deeper connection to the language. In my case, it was through friendships with native Persian speakers that I experienced Iranian cuisine, Persian New Year celebrations (Nowruz), and Iranian pop music and soap operas. During this cultural immersion process, I learned many new words and colloquial expressions while making new friends. Try to make the process of learning a new language fun!
About Title VIII Fellowships for Overseas Language Study:
The U.S. Department of State, Program for Research and Training on Eastern Europe and the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union (Title VIII), provides fellowship support to graduate students in policy-relevant fields who wish to participate in the American Councils Advanced Russian Language and Area Studies Program (RLASP), the Balkan Language Initiative (BLI), or the Eurasian Regional Language Program (ERLP). More information about Title VIII Fellowships for Overseas Language Study can be found here.
By: Jennifer Acevedo Castro
Program: Eurasian Regional Language Program
Term: Spring 2021