I’m about to finish my service. Next week, I’ll be at the Peace Corps office in Skopje to get a final medical checkup, deal with a bunch of paperwork, then ring a ceremonial bell to mark the end of two years of service in North Macedonia. One of the last things I did was attend… Read More »
OK, folks. I’ve had a lot of confusion come up about the “Benjamin Franklin” post. Here’s what it’s all about. I’ve already explained that it was an assignment for an Albanian class, which is why it was written in Albanian. I live and work in an Albanian-speaking part of the country, which is why I’m… Read More »
(Following is a homework assignment for studying Albanian.) Të martën shkova në një konferencë gazetarie për të rinjtë. Isha i lumtur të flisja për lajme të rreme. Një vajzë në konferencë ishte dikush që e kisha takuar muaj më parë. Ajo po aplikonte për një mundësi për të studiuar në Shtetet e Bashkuara. Programi për… Read More »
An interesting thing about Albanian is that the names of occupations all seem to be gendered. (At least I haven’t yet learned of any exceptions.) A teacher or professor is “profesor” if male and “profesoreshë” if female. An accountant is “kontabilist” if male and “kontabiliste” if female. It got me thinking a bit about how… Read More »
Until my swearing-in on Dec. 7, I’d been studying Macedonian exclusively. Now I’m studying Albanian, which is the main language of the area where I live and work. It’s a challenge. There are a number of issues that create challenges. For one thing, I was getting about 16 hours of instruction in Macedonian each week… Read More »
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m in an Albanian-speaking area of the country. So far, all my language classes have been in Macedonian, which presents some challenges. For one thing, I don’t get practice in the language I’m studying; for another thing, I have trouble understanding the words spoken around me when I go out. I… Read More »