Wewe Unasema Kiswahili? Do You Speak Swahili?

Mimi ninasema Kiswahili... sort of

About a week ago, I received in the mail the book and CD's which are to help me learn Swahili (a major language in East Africa. As a part of my preparations, I will be learning as much Swahili as I can so that I can communicate easier with the Tanzanians I will be working with and for.

Learning a new language is never easy. My experiences with French in middle and high school have given me enough proof of that. Lately, however, I have been trying to not only improve my French, but I have also been trying to learn Korean - a language made more difficult due to a different alphabet.

For the most part, I have had had to rely on books and CD's for my language learning because pretty much everyone at my school here in Seoul speaks English and if they don't a translator is always nearby. Despite this, I have become able to read and write some Korean, as well as speak in small, broken sentences. I can also understand a word every now and then when the other teachers are talking to the students in Korean.

So far - in my one week of concentrated efforts - I have managed to learn a few greetings and I feel c0nfident that I can get to at least a semi-useful level of Swahili by the time September rolls around and I'm off to Tanzania.

So for the above reasons you have read, I will likely be using more than one language in my posts. I'll try to oost in English if I do write in one of the other three languages. It's all part of my efforts to be able to work in different areas of the world.

Mchana mwema! Have a good evening!

Merci Beacoup. Thank You Very Much. 고맙습니다. Asante Sana.

I would like to take the time to say a very big thanks to four people. The first two, decided to donate online to Youth Challenge International to help pay for my project. So my very first thank-yous go out to Houston Gonsalves and Em Davidson for their donations to my cause.

The second two people have not donated any money, but have instead donated a good deal of time and effort (so much that if I tried to quantify it I couldn't) to help me plan future events (stay tuned for more information about those). They have also helped me set up my website (also soon to be launched) and get in contact with other people. Those two people are Heather and Sharon Davidson, my sister and mother respectively. Without them much of what I have accomplished and what I am planning would be impossible.

So thank you all!

Welcome! 안녕하세요! Bonjour! Jambo!

Hello and welcome to Michael Without Borders. I have started this blog to keep a record of my travels and efforts to teach and help those in need, and also to let those who wish to help me know what is going on with me and my efforts.

Though I have tried blogging before, the scope of this blog is a lot larger, but the relationship to my daily life will be much stronger, so hopefully it will be something that does not eventually die out (knock on wood).

The event which sparked this recent foray into blogging is my acceptance as a volunteer with Youth Challenge International (YCI). I will be travelling with YCI to Tanzania in September of 2009. Through various discussions, it was decided that this blog would help with my fund raising efforts as well as keep those who wish to donate to me in the loop.

Part of my efforts include learning new languages and improving upon the ones that I already know. So perhaps there may be some bilingual or trilingual posts in the future as a way for me to practice my new languages.

Currently I am teaching English in Seoul, Korea and at the same time preparing for my volunteering in Africa.

Look for the unveiling of a website to go along with this blog which will also give more information about me as well as my actions. As the fundraising ideas are developed and released, look for more information here as well.

Good bye! 안녕히계세요! Au revoir! Kwaheri!