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Nadia Söderman

M.A in German, French and Marketing, Åbo Akademi University, Finland Currently PhD student of Tourism at the Centre for Tourism Policy Research (CENTOPS), University of Brighton in England (www.centops.org) N.Soderman@bton.ac.uk (or home e-mail NadiaPhD2005@yahoo.co.uk).

I am currently carrying out research towards a PhD at the University of Brighton in England on the issue of whether skills in the local language are important for enjoying (or enhancing?) overseas volunteer work, I am looking into organisations that target young travellers (gap year students, career gappers aged 18-30ish, and any other young travellers) and that offer language tuition as part of the experience.

A review of publications listing opportunities to work as a volunteer overseas suggests that the main language required by organisations that require any language skill at all apart from English is Spanish. This is not surprising, as there are abundant opportunities to volunteer in Spanish speaking countries, for instance in South America. To date, the focus of research has taken place in Ecuador and Peru.

In the case of some organisations, the language tuition lasts for a few weeks before the volunteer work begins. The core question is, is it necessary to know the language in order to enjoy and to get something out of the experience? If so, do most volunteers learn enough in a few weeks to prepare themselves linguistically for the volunteering? Or do they find themselves struggling- and would it make a big difference if they prevented this by making an effort before departure to at least learn some essential phrases in the language before they leave home? Do they even get the opportunity to communicate enough with locals in the local language or do they find themselves communicating mainly with other foreigners, thereby usually not increasing their chances of practising the local language. Finally, do the volunteers find themselves keeping up the improved language skills when they return to Europe and does this even influence their choice of career or area of study?

For more information or just to discuss any aspect of my PhD or your experience of any of the above, please e-mail me at N.Soderman@bton.ac.uk (or home e-mail NadiaPhD2005@yahoo.co.uk). More information will be added in due course.