The Foreign Service Journal, February 2010

74 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0 A F S A N E W S W hen I learned our first overseas post was going to be Burundi, a Francophone country, I was ex- cited. I’d studied French for several years in high school and college and would fi- nally have a practical use for it. Duringmy school days I’d spent a cou- ple of weekends in Montreal and a week in France. In the 10 years since graduat- ing fromcollege, however,my French had lapsed from lack of use. Still, I was confi- dent that after a few weeks immersed in the language in Bujumbura, it would re- turn. I was so confident that I decided to keep working rather than take language training with my husband at the Foreign Service Institute. I watched a few“French inAction”episodes, but otherwise did not study any French in the months before our departure. Upon arrival in Bujumbura, I gave en- thusiastic “Bonjour!”s and “Ça-va?”s to everyone. Then I was stuck. My French didn’t magically reappear as I thought it would. After years of disuse, I gave it a few weeks, and some vocabulary and grammar rules slowly bubbled to the top of my brain. But I couldn’t domuchmore than ask for a cup of coffee or say “Thank you.” I got a job at the embassy that didn’t technically require French, but knowing the language would have helped enor- mously. I relied heavily on my Foreign ServiceNational colleagues for translation. I felt helpless. As the weeks went on, helplessness turned to frustration. I couldn’t give my housekeeper a simple list of groceries and chores without poring over a dictionary. Right around the time people say the hon- eymoon period ends and culture shock sets in, I started to beat myself up over not taking language training before coming to post. I was in denial about how readily my French should have returned to me; I still believed that living in a French-speak- ing universe should have brought it back. I was handling the malaria pills, the mosquitoes, the power outages, the secu- rity restrictions and the extremely limited grocery selection— all the so-called hard- ships associatedwith this hardship post— with enthusiasm and optimism. But the language barrier dragged me down on a regular basis. I couldn’t communicate. I shut down. French was ruining my life. Luckily for me, our post had just hired a new language instructor. I couldn’t think of a good excuse not to take advan- tage of free French lessons with time off during the workday to take them. It turns out that all I needed was a safe environment to practice my French. At a party or in a restaurant, I’m shy and I freeze before I can figure out how to say what I want to say. But in a private office with a calm, patient listener, I can converse in French. It was as if a light switch had been turned on. Now I can read and listen and under- stand—most of the time. I don’t need to rely on FSNs or my husband to keep me apprised of local news — I read it myself. I’m still shy, so speaking is a problem, but I’m working on it. In my position as community liaison office coordinator, I encourage all spouses coming to Burundi to learn some French. It goes a long way toward not only aiding a job search, but easing some of the frus- trations of everyday life. Even within the embassy, little English is spoken except among the handful of Americans. Eng- lish is a third language for many of the FSNs, so working on a second one while I’m here seems like the least I can do. There are many options for language learning, either through State or privately. Try to join your spouse at language train- ing before leaving for post, or at least bor- row some of the class materials to study on your own. If you are at post and strug- gling, find out if there’s cost-free language instruction available to you. FSI has a va- riety of programs for distance learning, from instructors who converse with you over the phone to independent study with Rosetta Stone software. If you prefer a private route, look into classes at local uni- versities or libraries. If you already have a conversational level and want to improve, set up language exchanges with FSNs or students who are eager to practice English. The opportunities are there for us to take advantage of them. Doing so in- creases our independence and makes life overseas a bit easier. ❏ Stephanie S. Diamond is currently in Bujum- bura, where she writes, studies French and en- joys the weather. Scholarship News In December, Stephen Hubler, an active- duty State Department FSO assigned to St. Petersburg, renewed the scholarship he has funded since 2005, bringing his cumulative donations to a total of $7,000. Mr. Hubler entered the Foreign Service in 1992, serving in Frankfurt, San Jose, Costa Rica, Addis Ababa, Skopje and Washing- ton, D.C. This scholarship, honoring Mr. Hubler’s parents, Alice and John Hubler, will be awarded in the 2010-2011 school year to a Foreign Service undergraduate student under AFSA’s need-based Financial Aid Scholarship Program. The award will be presented to a student pursuing inter- national affairs, political science or foreign policy, ideally focusing on U.S.- Russian affairs. By the end of the current academic year, AFSA will have awarded $156,300 to 74 students under its Financial Aid Scholar- ship Program. The deadline to submit AFSA Financial Aid Scholarship applica- tions for the 2010-2011 school year is Feb. 6. No separate application is needed to apply for this award. Submitting an AFSA Financial Aid Scholarship application is all a student needs to do to be consid- ered for this and other scholarships. Go to www.afsa.org/scholar or contact AFSA Scholarship Director Lori Dec at dec@afsa.org or (202) 944-5504 for more information. ❏ AFSA NEWS BRIEFS FAMILY MEMBER MATTERS Language Lost and Found BY STEPHANIE S. DIAMOND