Interview with Robert Shepherd, July 8, 2021

Interview Summary

Robert Shepherd served as a Peace Corps Volunteer teaching English as a Second Language in Nepal from 1985-87 and as a United Nations Volunteer seconded by the Peace Corps in China from 1989-92 and Indonesia from 1994-1996. He praises Peace Corps language and other training in the US and Nepal. He discusses his life and work teaching English in a small river town, including what he did to fit in. He also talks about the UN program and his experiences teaching English at a language institute Beijing and an Indonesian government training program for volunteers from developing countries. He says that Peace Corps’ most important impacts are creating a cadre of Americans with on-the-ground international and giving people around the world a more complicated view of Americans. He concludes with thoughts about redeployment of volunteers in a post-Covid world.

Interview Keyword

Key Words Peace Corps (U.S.) Nepal (Country of Service) English as a Second Language 1985-87 (Years of service) China (Country of Service as UN Volunteer) 1989-92 (ayears of service) Indonesia (Country of Service as UN Volunteer) 1994-96 (years of service) CAST (3-day pre-training in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia) Katmandu, Nepal Nagarkot (training site) Dipayal Sri Dilpeshwar Doteli dialect Phor Durbar United Nations Volunteer Program Beijing Second Foreign Language Institute Taiwan South South Training Institute Beijing Foreign Studies University

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Interview Usage

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