Peace Corps Armenia - A Long-Term Partner with AVC
12/01/2014
Since 2010 volunteers from the Peace Corps have been enrolling in AVC Armenian language courses individually. Through a formal partnership between AVC and Peace Corps, groups of volunteers from Peace Corps Armenia have joined AVC since Spring Term 2013. The language learning experience with AVC has been very exciting and effective for Peace Corps volunteers and evolved into a continuous partnership between the two organizations. New groups of Peace Corps Armenia volunteers have participated in AVC in subsequent terms in both 2013 and 2014.
Volunteers with a broad range of prior experience with the Armenian language find the right learning atmosphere through AVC. New volunteers’ knowledge is initially evaluated and the proper course level is offered in order to enhance their speaking, reading, and writing skills. Over the course of three terms, 72 students benefited from this program. The Peace Corps volunteers greatly benefit from the chance to virtually study the language while serving in remote Armenian villages
According to Peace Corps volunteer and AVC student Mary Ann Harty, AVC provided her with something that no one else could, “AVC allowed me to expand well beyond what is available to me in a local sight. I am a virtual learner, and if I don’t see and don’t hear it, I can’t remember it; so AVC provided me not only with reading and listening in Armenian but also with immediate feedback on English translations which no one in my village could provide”.