ABOUT FULBRIGHT

My Fulbright Life

Transcript For: Current Fulbrighter Zachary Bloomfield in Tunisia

Zachary Bloomfield, a Fulbrighter to Tunisia, about his Critical Language Enhancement Award experience.

Zach

Colleen: Hello, my name is Colleen Moffat and I am the Program Manager for the Critical Language Enhancement Award here at IIE. This is a podcast of a recent conversation I had with Zachary Bloomfield on his Critical Language Enhancement Award experience. Zachary is Fulbright grantee and a Critical Language Enhancement Award recipient in Tunisia. He is currently in the third month of his four month language award, after which he will begin a 10 month Fulbright grant. His Fulbright grant project focuses on the unemployed yet educated males of Tunise.

Hi Zach. Thanks for talking with me today.

Zach: Hello.

Colleen: What’s your motivation for studying Arabic?

Zach: Well, part of it is the fact that everyone said I couldn’t do because it’s so challenging. I mean, I’m originally from Idaho, and so there’s not a lot of people in Idaho that speak Arabic or know anything about it, and when I was in high school I started to become interested in Arabic because I knew I was on my way to West Point, and I it was more of, I guess, a tactical curiosity back then, just feeling like it was a good asset to have for my career in the army. Since going to West Point and leaving, it’s developed into more of a cultural curiosity, and the desire to learn and understand things first hand from Arabic speaking people and news and other sources, and be able to enlighten Americans to those things that come out of the Arab world.

Colleen: Zach, given that you have studied Arabic before in the US and Tunis, do you feel that the Critical Language Enhancement Award has been able to fir your personal study needs?

Zach: I’ve actually been very impressed with the flexibility of the Critical language Enhancement award because I originally returned to Tunis under the impression that I was going to be attending the Bourguiba School because I had heard that their summer intensive classes were very good and so I was going to enroll in a semester long intensive course. The problem was that they only had three levels; they had beginning, intermediate and advanced. I started in the intermediate class, but found it to be a little bit beyond my capabilities particularly because they used a different book, so the vocabulary was all different. And so, after contacting you guys [IIE], I came back with the opportunity to have private tutoring which has actually proved to be very, very profitable for my Arabic studying and I’ve already gone through eight chapters in Al Kitaab the standard Arabic textbook in the states. So the flexibility, and the ability to change course a little bit, while still staying on track, has really been impressive to me.

Colleen: That’s good. And do you feel that your language study is preparing you better for your Fulbright grant?

Zach: Yes, actually I do, because I’m not only studying classic Arabic I’m also studying a little bit of Tunisian Arabic with another tutor. And that is ideal for the sort of survey type research that I am going to be doing in cafes with young men.

Colleen: And, after you finish your Fulbright award, do you expect that you are going to be using Arabic in your future career plans?

Zach: I certainly hope so, but right now I am not sure that my Arabic, even after living in an Arabic speaking country for a year, will be good enough to be considered fluent for future jobs and such. So I may end up trying to enter into another NSLI (National Security Language Initiative) program or going to graduate school and enrolling in an Arabic program there.

Colleen: What kind of advice would you have for anyone applying for the Fulbright grant and for the Critical Language Enhancement Award.

Zach: Initially when I started applying I was very confused as to how I was supposed to apply for the Critical Language Enhancement Award, and if I was supposed to find a program or if a program would be found for me. So I would recommend that they ask questions, and keep asking until they get answers because I found that with a little bit of perseverance, the people at IIE are very, very, helpful. You just probably get swamped and you can only answer people who persevere in their questions! And I would also recommend that people not doubt their abilities to survive in another country. I had wondered that a little bit, being from Idaho, and not really spending a lot of time… I mean I traveled around the states a little bit, but I hadn’t traveled a whole lot… So this has been a really good opportunity for me to see what it’s like to actually live in another country, instead of just to travel and be a tourist. And I guess, also, to keep a journal of what they do if they get a Fulbright, and keep track of their thoughts, and how their thoughts develop and change as they’re abroad.

Colleen: Great, thank you Zach.