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Thanks to Glastonbury 's strong language program I was able to enter the international development field after college with 13 years of French and 10 years of Russian. Even more important has been the ability to learn a language through an oral approach. Over the years I have picked up German, Spanish, Mandinka, Wolof, Haitian Creole and Bambara (to varying degrees) while working in or having to be functional in countries that speak these languages. We were truly given a gift when we started languages in 3rd grade. Just today I was talking with a man from Russia who I was meeting for the first time. I tried out some of the few phrases that have come back to me. He asked me where I learned Russian, because I had almost no accent! This is the product of early language study. I also greatly appreciated the cultural side to learning the language. In my freshman year of college French the professor asked questions about where you bought bread, meat, etc. I knew them all and he assumed that I must have lived in France . Also, from my freshman year I was taking Russian with seniors, and by my senior year I was in individual study because there was no one else at my level.

I am currently the Executive Director of The Altai Conservancy, a non-profit organization that raises funds for biodiversity and conservation issues in Russia. I have worked in the field of international development since 1980. In college, during my junior year abroad in Vienna and Geneva, we lived in apartments and had to use our languages for shopping, public transport, and multiple other daily uses. When our group was lost in Leningrad (as it was known then) one evening in a snow storm I was able to ask directions and get us back to the hotel. When I was left behind by the Intourist bus in Yerevan Armenia I was able to explain my situation and chat with the caretaker until transportation was arranged. Throughout my career in international development, including a stint in the Peace Corps, I have lived and worked in Senegal, Haiti, Kenya, Mali. Also have traveled to and worked with people in Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Botswana, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Romania, Ecuador, Peru, Russia, Singapore. I used my French and Russian, learned several more languages, and learned enough in others to at least be polite. Language proficiency is a highly desirable skill. My foreign languages have been critical for me to be able to do my job well. The ability to learn a foreign language has been as important, if not more important, than the languages themselves.

Karen Keithline Diop, Class of 1978
French, Russian
Colby College - BA, Government; School for International Training - MA, International Administration