So you want to be a foreign correspondent?

This session started slow but ended being interesting for me. We watched a slide show about IES, which is a program that places students in internships in Europe, primarily Italy and Spain. This organization claims to help students on their way to becoming correspondents, with permanent work opportunities abroad. But only 7 percent of the students that receive positions are in any way shape or form affiliated with journalism. Their very best one is a girl they selected to come and give a brief testimony of her experiences.

The speakers told students in attendence how important it is to broaden horizons and acquire second language skills. The young lady who spoke had been placed in Italy and claimed to speak Italian. She did not, however, indicated whether she had learned the langauge within the four weeks she was there, or if she was born with it, etc. While they were right with their observations as to what students should shoot for when studying abroad, the following quote left me unimpressed with what they had to offer. "Someone will speak English, don't worry. And you'll be able to find a place to find a hamburger."

Part of the experience is not just learning Italian (or other foreign language) or broadcast journalism skills (they also kept a Webzine and posted video and news reports of a small town they covered) but also adopting a new culture. Going over in goups of 25, as they did, creates what linguists refer to as the ghetto effect, a phenomenon that precludes second language acquisition.

A gentleman seated to my right interjected at the end that he was from a university in St. Paul that offered a similar program in the German city of Trier, as well as an internship in the Twin Cities. I approached him and found it interesting that he was stationed at the same university I was at last year in Dortmund.

Jim Mustian