Language Lessons

This summer, I studied through NSLI-Y in Morocco for six weeks to study Arabic, so I did the intensive program this summer at intermediate level.

I was in class for five hours a day, Monday through Saturday. Then we would have three to four hours of homework each night.

It was really, really difficult. At the intermediate level, it's kind of - you're not just learning the letters, but you're not at the point where you're easily speaking sentences.

By the end, that's what we were doing. I was asking grammatical questions in Arabic. It was a fantastic feeling.

I can't imagine doing what I did without a host family. We would, of course, have a world of questions every single day, from our day-to-day experiences in the city.

Having them to go to, always, as a reference and a guide and mentors in the whole process was extremely helpful.

By the end of the program, I would have full conversations with taxi drivers. The amount that I learned just in taxi rides, let alone with my host family - it's things that you can't learn from a textbook in America.

We can not only have this experience for ourselves, have a broader understanding of different cultures and appreciation for them, but we can share that with the people around us.

We touch other people with the experience that we've had and I think that is irreplaceable with other programs.