Probably the most important aspect of life in the Peace Corps is language, especially in Morocco. Anyone you meet will gladly tell you that Morocco is a country full of languages. There’s Arabic, Moroccan Arabic (Darija), French, Spanish, English, and five major indigenous language families (Berber). Not to mention the thousands of local dialects. Morocco is home to three distinct alphabets, and even among those there are variations. Volunteers study at least one of these – often two or three – and will encounter all of them whether they want to or not.
This is something I’ve been meaning to do for a while now – to try and make some sense for both you and me of all this. Dealing with language is a daily struggle, in so many more ways than simply not knowing the word you’re trying to think of or someone is yelling at you. It’s not just forgetting everything you’ve learned when it starts to get around 11 o’clock at night or after you’ve been spending a little more time than usual with other volunteers and English speakers. It’s also just the shock of being in a place where people get around not all knowing the same language. It’s trying to understand the frame of mind that grows from being surrounded by so many different ways of speaking. It’s an incredible sight, and one that seems more and more foreign the more you think about it.
And now, please indulge me as I take you through a brief tour of your PCV and language.
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