Hello all! The title says it all. I am applying for a Fulbright to teach English in Russia next year and was hoping for some critical feedback on my statement of purpose. Thank you!
Somewhat ironically, my experience in teaching foreign languages lies not with English, but rather with Spanish and Japanese. My final year was spent studying my respective fourth and fifth years of Spanish and Japanese, but, unfortunately, it also coincided with my Japanese teacher's diagnosis with breast cancer. Unclear of the prognosis or what her treatment options would be, she sought my help in keeping on top of her teaching responsibilities both in and out of the classroom to help maintain some semblance of normalcy between her many doctor visits. Many autumn weekends were spent at my high school grading homework and assessments with her, making games to engage students with the languages, and learning the rudiments of teaching prior to her departure to undergo treatment in the spring semester.
During this time, I was privileged enough to hear stories of her time spent teaching English in Sendai, Japan and the years she spent working as a journalist in Colombia among her other international expeditions. She instilled in me the philosophy that you cannot be fluent in a language unless you understand their culture. This gave rise to a deep appreciation for the interconnectedness of language and culture and allowed for me to see language learning as an immersive experience that extends beyond the pages of a language textbook. My time working with her gave me an unquenchable thirst for language learning and foreign language education. This prompted my heavy involvement with the Conversation Partners Program at Indiana University, which pairs native English speakers with international students for whom English not their native language, my current involvement in the Mentor Collective, which partners upperclassmen with incoming students to the School of Global and International Studies, and, ultimately, the summer that I spent studying in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
In addition to my responsibilities at the university, I plan to host an English conversation club at a local café or restaurant where students will be able to freely practice their English outside of an academic setting. As this will be taking place after school hours, whether in the evenings or on weekends, I hope to eventually open the group up to other members of the community who wish to improve their English. I think that it is important to create an atmosphere where dialogue can grow organically as opposed to the sometimes-forced conversations in a typical language class. In doing so, I hope to dispel the anxieties that often come when speaking a foreign language, to foster a deeper sense of engagement between the university and the community around it, and to get to know the students and other individuals in the community on a more intimate level.
After my yearlong Fulbright experience, I hope to matriculate to graduate school in order to study gay social identity in Post-Soviet Russia. I cannot help but see becoming an ETA far from the cultural epicenter of Russia as the logical next step in improving my Russian language skills and understanding of Russian culture through my future interactions with the students and locals. I think that these interactions will also play an important role in my duties as a representative of the United States; it is important to facilitate civil discourse and to normalize relations between Russia and the United States, if only on a small scale, in order to thaw the increasingly high tensions between the two global superpowers.
yearlong Fulbright experience
Somewhat ironically, my experience in teaching foreign languages lies not with English, but rather with Spanish and Japanese. My final year was spent studying my respective fourth and fifth years of Spanish and Japanese, but, unfortunately, it also coincided with my Japanese teacher's diagnosis with breast cancer. Unclear of the prognosis or what her treatment options would be, she sought my help in keeping on top of her teaching responsibilities both in and out of the classroom to help maintain some semblance of normalcy between her many doctor visits. Many autumn weekends were spent at my high school grading homework and assessments with her, making games to engage students with the languages, and learning the rudiments of teaching prior to her departure to undergo treatment in the spring semester.
During this time, I was privileged enough to hear stories of her time spent teaching English in Sendai, Japan and the years she spent working as a journalist in Colombia among her other international expeditions. She instilled in me the philosophy that you cannot be fluent in a language unless you understand their culture. This gave rise to a deep appreciation for the interconnectedness of language and culture and allowed for me to see language learning as an immersive experience that extends beyond the pages of a language textbook. My time working with her gave me an unquenchable thirst for language learning and foreign language education. This prompted my heavy involvement with the Conversation Partners Program at Indiana University, which pairs native English speakers with international students for whom English not their native language, my current involvement in the Mentor Collective, which partners upperclassmen with incoming students to the School of Global and International Studies, and, ultimately, the summer that I spent studying in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
In addition to my responsibilities at the university, I plan to host an English conversation club at a local café or restaurant where students will be able to freely practice their English outside of an academic setting. As this will be taking place after school hours, whether in the evenings or on weekends, I hope to eventually open the group up to other members of the community who wish to improve their English. I think that it is important to create an atmosphere where dialogue can grow organically as opposed to the sometimes-forced conversations in a typical language class. In doing so, I hope to dispel the anxieties that often come when speaking a foreign language, to foster a deeper sense of engagement between the university and the community around it, and to get to know the students and other individuals in the community on a more intimate level.
After my yearlong Fulbright experience, I hope to matriculate to graduate school in order to study gay social identity in Post-Soviet Russia. I cannot help but see becoming an ETA far from the cultural epicenter of Russia as the logical next step in improving my Russian language skills and understanding of Russian culture through my future interactions with the students and locals. I think that these interactions will also play an important role in my duties as a representative of the United States; it is important to facilitate civil discourse and to normalize relations between Russia and the United States, if only on a small scale, in order to thaw the increasingly high tensions between the two global superpowers.