Tim Lomeli received the FLAS Fellowship award in the summer of 2016 to study Haitian Creole at the University of Chicago. Read about his experience below.

Why did you apply for the FLAS Fellowship? 

At UWM, I was in the Master of Arts in Language, Literature, and Translation (MALLT) program, studying, more specifically, French and Francophone literature, language, and culture. I applied to the FLAS fellowship on the recommendation of my professor, Dr. Sarah Davies Cordova, because I was interested in, more specifically, Haitian Literature. Haiti is a country that has two official languages, French and Creole. French is a language that statistically only about 10% of the population knows, whereas 100% of the population is fluent in Creole. So, for me to study Haiti and not know Creole would be a mistake. So, I took the opportunity that this fellowship offered to learn Creole. 

What are you doing now? 

I am doing a Ph.D. in French and Francophone Studies at Florida State University. I have just finished my third year and writing my dissertation on the novels of the author Kettly Mars. I plan to complete my dissertation by Spring 2025. 

What have you learned from the experience? How have your language skills and FLAS helped or prepared you? 

In Creole, there’s a proverb that says « bonjou se paspò ou » meaning “Hello is your passport.” While the proverb serves as a reminder to be polite, it also is exemplary of the world. If « bonjou » is your passport, what happens if you cannot even say hello? It is a reminder that new horizons open up when you learn a new language. Learning a new language opens up more places and opportunities to connect with others. 

I work in Haitian studies, so it is also essential to be able to read and to be able to understand spoken Creole. The majority of information in Haiti is shared aloud and spoken to one another, whether by literal word of mouth or via radio or television. Furthermore, Creole continues to grow and be the language used for official government communications and news outlets. 

However, as someone who has spent a long time learning and teaching French, my experience with FLAS has also helped me in other ways. It was a humbling experience to become a beginner in a new language. It gave me a new perspective, or it renewed my perspective. I gained a new understanding of my students that I had lost after having spent more than a decade learning French. It made me a better teacher to learn a new language because I once again understood how it felt to be wholly lost in a new language. 

Any other relevant details you’d like to share? 

You should apply again! There is no limit to how many times you can receive a FLAS fellowship; the only requirement is that your home institution receives the national grant. So do it again! 

When I was doing a graduate program at Indiana University, I was able to receive a second grant fellowship and continue my studies in Creole—this time at Indiana University’s summer language institute. After which, I took an ACTFL proficiency test and was certified as a C1 speaker!