During weeks seven and eight in Burmese language class, we continued stringing sets of smaller ideas together to form larger ideas. Connecting these dots eventually got us from “I want to go to Burma and I like Burmese food,” to being able to express “I want to study Burmese language because I like Burmese food and in the future I’m going to work as a diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Burma.”
Month: October 2024
Trail Quest, Part I: Get Outside
One of the best things about serving a domestic Foreign Service tour is proximity and access to all the wonderful aspects of life in the United States. In contrast to many overseas assignments challenged by air pollution, security restrictions, or lack of infrastructure, northern Virginia boasts a nearly endless array of activities with no such hindrances.
One of my favorite things lately about living in Virginia has been enjoying its beautiful nature.
Distance Vision, Part III
In early January, I had eye surgery to free myself from glasses and contact lenses. The procedure was called refractive lens exchange, or custom lens replacement (CLR, pronounced like the word “clear”). During CLR, an ophthalmologist removes the natural lens from behind each eye and replaces them with synthetic interocular lenses (IOLs). In my case, like cataract surgery without the cataracts.
IOLs can never develop cataracts and are free of the age-related hardening and clouding that begins in your 40s. This lens hardening causes presbyopia, which means you may need reading glasses, even if you’ve had LASIK in the past to correct astigmatism. CLR restores the eye’s original refractive ability by dealing with all of your vision problems on the back end. Usually, CLR patients no longer need any vision correction.
Although my first CLR corrected most of my astigmatism, it took three further surgeries to bring my vision up to its present point: clear at all distances. I would have been dumbfounded to know back at the beginning that it would ultimately take four procedures to permanently correct my vision. But fortunately it was all covered by the initial price I’d paid and today I have no regrets.
Pivoting As Needed: Learning Burmese, Weeks 5-6
Over the past two weeks of studying Burmese, I’ve made a deliberate effort to increase my study time. A slump in week five made me realize the importance of establishing a more consistent and intentional study routine.
Suggested Tips for Language Study at FSI
Last month, I attended a seminar on study tips offered to current language students by the Foreign Service Institute’s (FSI) School of Language Studies (SLS). At any given point, hundreds of Foreign Service Officers are engaged in long-term language training at FSI. Successfully reaching the required scores for our overseas language-designated onward assignments is “the why.”
I’ve aggregated here some of my favorite language study tips from SLS consultants, fellow students, and my own experience. I’ve categorized them into two groups: strategy (what you do) and mindset (how you approach what you do), though the division is probably subjective. If you have a favorite tip for succeeding in FSI language study, feel free to add it in the comments!
Collecting Postcards 