Although I have become accustomed to the lifestyle of a college student, there are certainly some drawbacks to living in a tiny apartment with 3 young adults who would rather save money than buy cleaning supplies. During my semester abroad in Baku, however, I am living with a family. Instead of roommates, I have two young host brothers, a host mother, and host father. Instead of a dorm, I live in a modern apartment building overlooking a race track where instructors get up early in the morning to train the new horses. When I’m several hours into my Turkish writing homework for the night and I’m just about to lose motivation, my host mother unprompted brings tea and small candies, which usually cheers me up enough to write one more paragraph before going to sleep. When I don’t know what a word means, I can count on my 10-year-old host brother, who is often looking over my shoulder, ready to explain, give examples, or mime the meaning of whatever word I throw at him.
Living with a host family has made me more conscious of my behavior. When I try to leave the house with wet hair, or only drink one cup of tea instead of three, or wear shoes without socks, there is always someone around to take note. There is always someone around to put more food on my plate and to ask me how my classes went. There is always someone who will observe my difficulties speaking Turkish, who will offer a few suggestions to help me with the sentence I started but couldn’t finish.
Help from the host family has been crucial to developing my language skills. Despite studying Turkish for several years in a classroom in the United States, some important vocabulary words fell by the wayside. Living with a host family, however, helps engrain vocabulary words critical to everyday life. When my host mom asked me to grab a fork from the silverware drawer, I stared hopelessly at the forks, spoons, and knives; I soon learned the difference. One, when asked to open the front door for my host father, I politely closed two different doors before realizing I had confused the word for open and close. Through a combination of repetition and embarrassment, these words no longer escape me. For this and a thousand other reasons, I owe my host family a huge thank you.
By: Sophie Jacobson
Program: Eurasian Regional Language Program, Baku, Azerbaijan
Term: Spring 2019