Building a Community for Support

I am lucky to have a great group of fellow students who are also going to Chile for the fall semester. Many of them I know from previous Spanish classes, but some I just met for the first time today at the Pre-Departure Orientation. I am sure I will get to know everyone even better throughout my time abroad. While in Chile, I will work hard to speak in Spanish as much as I can, which also includes my conversations with those who are in my program. I anticipate that this will be one of my biggest challenges because I know it can be easy, and more comfortable, to switch to English. That is why it is crucial that I work to build a supportive and thoughtful community. If those I surround myself with acknowledge and understand how important my goal is to become more conversationally fluent, I will be more likely to successfully achieve it!

#support #community #engage #challenge #language #spanish