Reflective Report for Community Service
[Institutional Affiliations]
Reflective Report for Community Service
My community service pertained helping two foreign language students (Ericka and Dylan) studying Arabic Language to understand the dialects of the Arabic language. Ericka, a student of American descent, studies Foreign Languages, specifically the Arabic Language, at the Ohio State University. Before her graduation, which will come in 2014, the Springfield-born student incessantly talks about her desire to visit several Arabic countries, inclusive of Egypt, with in mind that this will make her understand the language proficiently; something that she insists is not attainable if she takes her Arabic lesson entirely in the United States. Similarly, Dylan is a student of American descent hailing from Dublin, Ohio and studying the Arabic Language at the same institution as Ericka with a deathless passion of knowing the Arabic language.
My meeting with Erick and Dylan was never pre-planned. It came at a time when I was seriously considering community service. I had never imagined instructing a student trying to master the Arabic language. To Ericka and Dylan, my role was overly pivotal to their success in the course- my role encompassed helping them with Arabic grammar, pronunciation, idioms and accompanying them to places we believed could give them an exceptional “Arabic experience” besides helping them with their assignments. The task was not challenging at all since Arabic is my first language. I met the two from Monday to Friday (9 PM to 11 PM) for two weeks. On two occasions, we took a trip to Dearborn, Michigan- we chose Dearborn because of its rich population of people of Arabic cultural and linguistic heritage.
I must admit that I had never taken community service before. However, after this first one I am overly waiting for another opportunity for me to take community service again. The experience I garnered outstandingly exceeded my expectation. Though I am of Arabic descent, it dawned on me that there were a plethora of facts that I still do not know about the Arabic language. Firstly, I learnt that most Arabic idioms are only utile in speaking rather than writing with several words having variant meaning as a result of variances in ethnicities and dialectical difficulties; we noticed this during one of our visits to Dearborn. Luckily, I could easily cope with such variances, thanks to my Arabic descent.
Additionally, my interaction with Ericka and Dylan helped me understand some of the very basic components of the English language. The duo taught some numerous English idioms. Astonishingly, I came to the realization that there was an overarching relationship between several Arabic and English idioms. Additionally, the two helped me improve my English vocabulary greatly. Most importantly, I met Ericka and Dylan at the same time daily, they learnt to help each other understand the language. By the end of the two weeks, Ericka and Dylan and vowed to continue studying together; the two had learnt the essence of team work. I also now underscore the essence of team work considering that I noticed how learning got easier for them as a result of studying together. Indubitably, the community service was worthwhile with regards to knowledge I gained from it.
