A small spark can start it all

“Go the extra mile it is never crowded”

                In my class most of the students have been with the program for four years. In other words their English is very good and conversational, yet they keep coming back for more with such a strong desire to learn. In our class we have Miriam as our translator, and her sister Soukaina is one of our students. During our break I was talking with Soukaina and just out of curiosity I asked her how she learned to speak English so well. To my surprise she told me she was mostly self-taught, and that she taught herself through English movies and books, but mostly though English vlogs. She explained that through those vlogs she was able to pick up accents and slang words which I found was a really intuitive way to use pop culture to help one learn. I have heard this before (about using English movies to learn English) and each time I am struck by awe. One can watch anything in another language, but it takes another level of determination to be able to learn and translate from a movie or a show. Especially for being self-taught, I would feel overwhelmed, and would have no idea where to begin, yet with determination and an overarching goal to work towards, Soukaina taught herself from English vlogs. She has such a high level of English that I can have conversations with her during our breaks, and she can translate what I am saying during class if other students are confused. I am inspired by her determination and it inspires me to want to learn more languages so that I can communicate with others. I have always seen language as such an interesting and intricate topic, we speak and understand through our own language yet once the sounds change the words stop making sense and that is all it becomes, sounds. Yet with determination and a little practice these sounds become a language and that language becomes a key for connection, a bridge form one person to another. While I only know English and a little Spanish my experiences with CGA have shown me how languages can bridge cultural divides. On my second CGA trip, while in the market in Cambodia, Gaby and I were walking around when all of a sudden her face lit up upon hearing Spanish and she spun around to ask De Donde Estas (Where are you from)? All it took was for her and the stranger to share the same language and a connection was sparked between them. However in America we are given several opportunities to learn different languages, like Spanish, and yet we whine and complain about having to do it. Yet in other countries others yearn to learn more. For example, here in Morocco they start off learning Darija and French, and as they enter high school they start learning English. On top of all that, they also know some Spanish and can choose to learn German. These kids go the extra mile everyday to work towards a better future.

                This weekend we took a hike in Chefchaouen, The Blue City, while we were walking past the river we crossed paths with people lugging up water jugs, and it got me thinking about how grateful I am. I am grateful for how I have the opportunity to go on a hike with the ease of being able to fill up my water bottle with water from a jug that was given to me. As the hike got hot and treacherous, I kept thinking to myself that I am able to do this for fun to go see a stunning waterfall, but somewhere in the world there is someone making a hot a treacherous hike out of necessity either for water or for supplies. It tugs at my heart to know there are things that can be done to help but instead people choose to turn a blind eye or feel that they are powerless to help, and honestly I feel the same way sometimes. I mentioned this at dinner last night; I said I hope that even though I will not be able to do CGA forever I hope to keep the part of me that wants to do good for others. In response Karlie told me that you do not need to take 2 months off of work or donate millions of dollars in order to help, instead all you need to do is volunteer for a day, or just strive to make those small personal connections that can last for a lifetime. On that note I am also so grateful for the opportunity to be able to come here and teach all of these determined students. Their determination to learn English has filled my heart and will motivate me to help them to go the extra mile, while also inspiring me to go the extra mile in my day-to-day life.