Learning Albanian

Well folks, I've decided to learn some Albanian before my departure. I mean, attempt to learn.

I shopped around on Amazon and settled on these:

1. Pimsleur 
          This software has been recommended to me before, so I decided to give it a try. Its focus is learning to speak through listening and repeating. It comes with five CDs, each with two 30-minute lessons. (10 lessons total.)
           I listened to Lesson One about a week ago, and all I can remember how to say is, "Are you Sonya Luarazi?" 
   
   PROS    
            The lessons are short and I can listen to them while cleaning my apartment. I also enjoy the listen-and-repeat method. 
   CONS
             I wish that the lessons would focus less on pronouncing random names. The first lesson alone had four made up names that they ask you to repeat, syllable-by-syllable. I would much rather learn common phrases in Lesson One, such as 'hello,' 'goodbye,' 'how are you,' etc.
2. Discovering Albanian Textbook
           I decided to try a more academic approach in addition to the simple Pimsleur method. This textbook was highly rated on Amazon and had the option of purchasing a workbook and audio supplements. It is made up of 18 lessons.
   PROS    
            It is very thorough. It gives me a lot to work with. 
   CONS
             Maybe I have just gotten lazy since graduating college, but it is difficult to pick up a dense Albanian textbook in my free time. I just need to buckle down and start studying.
3. Discovering Albanian Audio Supplement        After opening up the Discovering Albanian textbook when it arrived in the mail, I was intimidated. Each lesson contains at least one dialogue. As someone who knows ZERO Albanian, it was difficult to piece together the pronunciation of 20+ lines of dialogue. I immediately hopped on Amazon.com and purchased the Audio Supplement. This comes with two CDs with recordings of each dialogue in the textbook.

I will write an update on my progress in Albanian after I complete a few lessons. Mirupafshim! (That means goodbye!)

Where do PCVs serve?

Below is a map of where the Peace Corps sends volunteers. Yellow indicates countries where the Peace Corps currently operates and blue indicates former operation. 

As part of the updated application process, applicants have the freedom to select their country or region of service. In the past applicants had little to no say over where they were placed. To the right you can see the percentage of volunteers in each region.
       
The majority of assignments in Latin America require basic to intermediate Spanish language skills. Certain assignments in Africa require French skills.