Personal Statement
Hannah Dolbeer, Portugal, English Teaching Assistantship
I am fascinated my language and I am doing everything in my power to learn Portuguese, to study linguistics in any way I can, and to be involved with language exchange. After getting a degree in the arts and cultural studies, I hope to emerge with a broad background in the humanities as well, including history, foreign policy, anthropology, psychology, and language courses. As a student, I have thought hard and struggled throughout my college years about the course of my future, and I am finally ready to start making decisions that set that course into motion. I have come to the conclusion that my life is always going to involve this for certain: the Portuguese language and the culture surrounding it.
My career goals today are to regain a native level fluency in Portuguese, earn a degree at a Portuguese institution or American institution involving the instruction of Portuguese, and one day work for the State Department as a diplomat and possibly, a language instructor. If not the State Department, there are numerous other ways I can be of use to our government in relation to Portuguese language and culture. This Fulbright grant is going to allow me to go to Portugal and really get in revive my latent Portuguese skills, and gain understanding of Portuguese culture in a way that only a small percentage of American nationals will ever understand. I can bring this experience into my work teaching English, Portuguese, and especially serving the United States Government.
I received a TEFL certification in 2010 when I became interested in linguistics and second language acquisition. I have had a summer’s experience tutoring ESL students at three different volunteer-based organizations, and so I firmly feel that one of my strengths lies in teaching other people about language. My TEFL certification will serve me well in an English teaching assistant position. After having so much familial and personal experience with Brazilian travel, I am curious to experience the other side of my mother’s childhood with a fresh slate – Portugal. I am not afraid to learn and practice the language to better my skills, and I will make use of my ability to adapt to new situations with people that may not speak my native English.
Even though English is my mother tongue, my knowledge of Portuguese as a result of growing up speaking it at home has given me the ability to learn and adjust to other romance languages easily, and will continue to do so. Traveling with my mother, watching her employ language skills to connect with people all around the globe – and I mean anyone – has always been a source of awe for me. With both of my parents working for the airline (my father a pilot) it would seem to be an easy enough decision for me to continue my travels by doing the same, but over the years my love for other things like art, film, music, social science, and social change has grown. By the time I was half way through college, I realized I needed to do something that really had a positive effect; more than just making film and entertainment media. I’ve finally turned to the things that have and will always be my greatest source of awe: language and culture. Foreign language learning is not just communicating, it’s learning about an entire way of life and a different way of experiencing the world around us, and that’s what I want to do in Portugal. I am specifically interested in Portugal’s language education climate because my mother spent critical years of schooling in Portugal at a French Lycée that taught in both Portuguese and French, as well as teaching other foreign languages – one example of language education.
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