Is This the World's Best Language Immersion School?

[@storylearning]

Check out this immersion experience 👉🏼 kzbin.info/www/bejne/hamZfpeIichjr6c

[@fleurheijltjes4980]

Especially loved this one, Olly! I am thinking about going if possible.

[@lucie442]

How does your method differ from LingQ?

[@fashehc]

Hmmm. No Arabic.

[@dancinggiraffe6058]

A friend of mine did a course like this in Russian many years ago. Although all the students had agreed not to speak anything but Russian for the summer, he said that at some point the need to communicate through normal conversation was too strong, and people would sneak off to secluded spots to have occasional illicit conversations in English!

[@maureenmiaullis6427]

I can believe that.

[@jiligardens7193]

I hope they were expelled! Hooligans

[@stevekaczynski3793]

It sounds a little bit like school pupils illicitly smoking cigarettes behind one of the school huts, as I remember from my youth...

[@bsgrizzzly1684]

Yup, that’s what happened to my school in Spanish

[@Komatik_]

Literal speakeasy

[@pfh777]

I attended three summers in Middlebury for Spanish and German, and one summer in Monterey for Japanese. Best experience of my life - I met lifelong friends (truly), share memories, and the language skills have been helpful in my work and life in general. I’ve worked in Tokyo, Frankfurt, and throughout Latin America. We live in Miami now and my kids speak English and Spanish. I can’t express the full impact of my time at Middlebury on my life.

[@gabemt30]

How much did it cost, approximately? Hope you don’t mind the question

[@Susu37053]

@@gabemt30 on the website it said $14,000+

[@avacairns6890]

love this

[@Gg2294.-.]

Are these classes available alone, or must you attend the college?

[@DomDollx]

Peter, I'm curious what is your line of work? Middlebury is prestigious and is also expensive. But I think it's great. Would love to learn Chinese, Arabic, and Spanish. How many languages did you master? And do u still retain it fully?

[@chnsnchoc5520]

tldr; the Midd LS experience is extremely different depending on which language you choose. It's an incredible program, but if you're interested, look for experiences about your specific language. Background: I've taken the two highest levels of the Chinese school, and I've worked for the Chinese school. I have close friends and colleagues who've studied at the Spanish, German, Russian, Korean, Japanese, French, Hebrew, and Arabic schools. I'm also a Middlebury College graduate. First, some of the information on housing is slightly off. The video about "language houses" actually describes on-campus houses for Middlebury undergraduate students to live in during the academic year, in which they abide by an in-house language pledge-esque rule. During the summer, students are housed in normal Middlebury dorms, which are divided across campus by language. Students' access cards only permit them to enter the dorms of their language. Second, people *rarely* get kicked out due to language pledge violations. The last line in the pledge is used as a scare tactic; it's an administrative and financial hassle to expel students who are part-way through their semester. Each Midd LS is like an ecosystem; the pledge is used to maintain its health. I personally believe in the slogan "your ($10k+) tuition, your pledge." If people want to break it off campus, away from other students/classmates, that's their prerogative, but once someone harms another person's language environment, it becomes an issue. Third: the course structure is different for each school. I can only speak in depth about the Chinese school (non-MA program), which unlike the Spanish school (which this video is mostly based on), does not have students enroll in different courses. Instead, Chinese students are placed in a level (either 1, 2, 2.5, 3, or 4) based on reading, writing, and speaking entrance exams, and they take four periods per day of that level's course. I won't get into too much detail here, but the Chinese School basics are that for each level, the morning consists of two lecture 大班課 classes and two drill 小班課 classes. After lunch, each student has a 30-min 1-on-1 class. Re: no translations, that certainly doesn't apply to the Chinese school. Obviously, no English is spoken in class (or outside of class), but both English-to-Chinese and Chinese-to-English written translations are a crucial part of the curriculum. After all, the Chinese School is known for creating Chinese translators. Another note about testing, the modalities and timing of, as well as emphasis on, testing vary between schools. For example, the Chinese school tests every Monday (written, oral, and essay), which gives students time to prepare over weekends, but also means that Chinese school students never have free weekends. Some other schools test on Fridays, which has the opposite effect. Fourth (and probably most important): culture. Each LS has a unique culture, which although varies from year to year, there are general points that hold true. Chinese, Russian, Arabic, and Japanese students grind and cry. They're likely vitamin D deficient by August. When I did level three for Chinese, I was spending 5-7 hours a day doing homework and previewing. On the other hand, the majority of my friends who have done the Spanish and French schools claim they rarely have over two hours of work outside class a night. Obviously, this varies on an individual level depending on how you learn...but you get the idea. The romance language schools are known to have more of a party scene (especially Spanish and French), and their school-hosted parties often become hot spots for students of all languages (and pledge violations). Interestingly, these schools are known to be more lax about language pledge (from a community surveillance perspective...not an admin one). In my own experience, its almost always the students of easier languages (I hate the term "easier," but it helps for the general purpose of this explanation) that can be heard speaking English at the bars Thursday-Saturday nights...even if some Spanish professors swear that the weekly Salsa night (hosted by a local bar, for students *and* for Middlebury locals; happens year-round) is catered for the Spanish school and constitutes a Spanish-speaking environment. BUT, I'm obviously biased, and this isn't to say that certain school cultures are better than others. Frankly, depressed students don't learn much, so if you're someone who needs more free time, the Chinese School may not be for you (but if you like to work hard/play hard...see you next year ;)). The main takeaway you should get from this is that if you want to study a certain language at a Midd LS, *do more detailed research!* This video is an ok overview, but will by no means inform or prepare you for the educational, psychological, and cultural onslaught that is one of my favorite communities in the world. Feel free to reach out if you have more questions :) Oh, and yes, it works. In my first summer there, my spoken Mandarin went from intermediate-mid to advanced high (~A2/B1 to ~C1).

[@iVasco]

hellloooo korean ls student, and i have to say the structure is pretty similar as the chinese >> wanna emphasize the part on the partying, we had some issues too this summer with our students (the ones fresh out of highschool) attending that stuff and i think because the kr school was so small, it was easy to feel the frustration from the administration, and the tension felt by everyone... but i agree 1000% w ur last comment, the video is an okay review but it isnt entirely honest as far as like you said, the psychological stress and culturally shock that can be felt in all those attending their respective language schools

[@iamwoman.hearmeroar.6146]

Finished Spanish level 2 there this summer and I took Japanese level 1 a few years ago and I can confirm the experiences between the programs were so different. COVID was a nightmare this summer and so many people got sick (including myself) that it was a challenge for everyone to adjust (slapdash Zoom sessions for the sick) but they did their best. I really want to experience a study abroad program next but we’ll see what happens with that.

[@MarinaFrancesca]

I have a question regarding housing options, I can not leave my dog for an entire season, presuming I can't have my dog in a campus dorm, do you know If I can get an off-campus apartment?

[@acasualviewer5861]

One huge difference (I would guess) is that Spanish, French and German students don't start off illiterate. Whereas Chinese, Arabic and Russian students have a large mountain to climb. (I'd guess Chinese would be the toughest because you're also tonally non-functional) The European languages are also much closer to English in all ways. I'd assume they can make more progress faster. (Note: I'm assuming the audience is people who mostly just speak and had their schooling in English, which is probably not entirely the case)

[@acasualviewer5861]

@@MarinaFrancesca does your dog speak your target language?

[@WorldxTracer]

Literally just got done with this program a week ago for the French school and couldn’t recommend it enough! The teachers were amazing and the constant immersion really helps develop listening and speaking!

[@slicksalmon6948]

What level were you at when you started?

[@WorldxTracer]

@@slicksalmon6948 I was level A2 going in. With the constant immersion, my speaking, reading, and writing proficiency has gone up significantly. I can slip in and out of conversations in French more fluidly and engage with native speakers without being nervous of my skills.

[@d.lawrence5670]

@@WorldxTracer , so what level are you at now?

[@murdoch1717]

Did you get financial aid? Is it readily available?

[@adamszanyi2242]

Toutes mes félications! Et quels sont les coûts d'admission pour un programme de 7-8 semaines ? (l'espagnol m'intéresse)

[@nendoakuma7451]

I did an intensive program in China 20 years ago for six weeks during the summer learning Mandarin. We had a no English pledge. I loved it. Prior to that my speaking and listening abilities were terrible. I improved a lot, and I lost a lot of weight. I looked better than I had in in years.

[@Tiqerboy]

You don't need the English pledge because you found out real quick that English wasn't doing you much good the moment you left the classroom.

[@ricardor7578]

🤣 20 years ago, hardly anyone outside of a classroom spoke English. I was in China around that time. I had a tutor that could hardly speak any English. I learned a lot in a month. 👍

[@OneAdam12Adam]

I'm sure in typical Chinese fashion, that school violated copyright law and stole The Language Pledge© concept. God forbid the Chinese respect any quality controls, right? Why not just dilute the brand of yet another organization.

[@emmaharris4028]

I attended the Level 1 eight week program at the Chinese Language School this summer, and it was the hardest yet most rewarding program I've ever done. I went from a first year Chinese student to attending the Advanced Chinese Writing and Composition, 300-level course at my own university. It was honestly incredible. Everyone around you is all-in, pedal to the medal, super engaged, deeply impassioned about your respective language, and I no longer felt like a weirdo for being a lover of languages. There is a need-based grant for students who might not be able to afford it. because a downside is that it IS rather expensive. When I first got there, I was surprised by how many different people from different backrounds attended--there was a specialist in Chinese medicine, a chef, a tech worker, a member of the Italian military, a full-time mom. Trust me, you won't regret attending Middlebury!

[@yankeesamurai]

Thank you for sharing your experience, Emma! I am considering applying to the Level 1 course for Chinese at Middlebury College. For someone starting at ground zero (I am a Japanese linguist.), would you recommend the program, or would you advise studying Chinese sufficient to entering into the Level II program of study first? Thank you kindly!

[@emmaharris4028]

@@yankeesamurai I would first recommend learning the base phrases (Hello, Good-bye, How are you?) as well as some of the main interrogative pronouns (What, How, When, Where, Why). In the beginning, you can actually get around quite a bit with just those few things. I had the advantage of a full year of college-level Chinese before attending the program, so that certainly helped quite a bit in becoming accustomed to the pace of learning. It felt like I had a buffer, a good foundation for what was to come. But regardless--entering the program with no background in Chinese is also good. It might feel really hard at first, but you can measure the progress you've made within the first few weeks. My one year of college study was insufficient in entering the Level II program, but I didn't feel bad about entering Level I. I still learned a lot in a single summer, even if I was relearning and solidifying what I'd already learned last year for the first two or three weeks.

[@sniperj9]

你好同学，是我爱德😂

[@milesian1]

@@skyesky No, just Mandarin.

[@emmaharris4028]

@@sniperj9 ED! 你怎么样？

[@dm48344]

I attended the summer Russian School at Middlebury a while back and I made more progress in my Russian skills in 9 weeks at Middlebury than I did in 3 years of living in Russia. It’s that good! It also goes a looong way in terms of networking and impressing academics and potential employers for the rest of your career.

[@wyattdenious3627]

I study Abenaki!! I was lucky enough to attend the pilot program of the Abenaki summer language school at Middlebury in 2020. I’d already been learning for some years prior, but the program changed my life. I’m now in college, pursuing a Linguistics degree to help revitalize indigenous languages including Abenaki. For many languages like Western Abenaki, there is no option to “study abroad.” We do not have that privilege. This was the closest I could’ve gotten, and I am forever grateful. Kchi wliwni nidôba wji io. N’wigiba agakimzia mina tali Middlebury-k nabiwi. Liwlaldamana pahami sôwaiwi telbodamen Alnôbaôdwawôgan! Wlinanawalmezi.

[@ejsshrink]

I was a Middlebury College graduate, graduating with a degree in French and minor in German. I attended Middlebury summer inaugural Arabic school their first three years. It was all modern standard Arabic at that time, in 1982 to 1984. I believe they have added dialects. All these years later, having just retired, I would dearly love to go back and update my German as well as consolidate the Russian I have been learning on my own since the pandemic hit. Vermont is heaven on earth in the summer, FWIW😊

[@PolynicesEteocles]

I grew up in Middlebury, right on the edge of campus. I remember learning at a very young age about the language school and how during the summer I shouldn't try to speak to any of the groups of students I saw on campus. It was odd to hear different foreign languages when I was a kid roaming around.

[@nath.an.b]

currently a first year undergrad at middlebury and clicked instantly when i recognized the campus in the thumbnail LOL. i just started but i intend on majoring in french here and doing the french summer language school at some point in my 4 years 💙 their approach and success with languages is a huge reason why i chose to apply to and attend Middlebury & i couldn't be happier with my school :) awesome video!!

[@barbarae-b507]

I did this type of immersion for ASL. I learned a lot of it very quickly. When I got home I was so used to not using my voice, that it took a while for me to get back to speaking. We even had to go to a restaurant every night and use ASL there. Some of the waiters were very upset when they discovered that we could hear. I never told them, since I didn’t want them to feel this way. I even had a doctor appointment for which I had to use ASL. Also had to use TTY and Bell relay service to make any phone calls. I already knew how, since I have cousins who are deaf and regularly meet with them.

[@blahboy2600]

what school was this?

[@barbarae-b507]

@@blahboy2600 Sheridan College i Brampton Ontario Campus. It was years ago. I think that they have an ASL interpreter course now. 2 or 3 years. This was done before the first interpretation course was available.

[@qwertyTRiG]

Going around a shopping centre in Dublin with the Deaf Studies class (including the lecturer) was fascinating (and difficult).

[@barbarae-b507]

@@qwertyTRiG Are you doing a class or immersion? My immersion class lasted for a week and we lived on campus and no voices were allowed at any time. Even had a doctors appointment as if I was deaf.

[@qwertyTRiG]

@@barbarae-b507 I did two years of a four-year course. ISL with Deaf lecturers, Translating & Interpreting with a hearing lecturer, Perspectives on Deafness and Working with the Deaf Community with a Deaf lecturer with an interpreter (no interpreter in third & fourth year, though). Also some linguistics classes. A good course, but I was stressed and struggling. Not immersion, except for the ISL classes themselves.

[@bethanybrooks158]

I spent the first 9 years of my academic life in a mandarin immersion school, and after that experience, I couldn’t imagine any other way of learning a language besides total immersion.

[@shosetsuninja3112]

I did the Japanese program 20 years ago. At the time I wanted to study the language 24/7, so it was a nice chance to drop everything else and go for it. The best part is that you are surrounded by people just as crazy as yourself! I would love to go back for Chinese if I were in a different stage of life.

[@cadalman]

I took the Japanese Level 1 program at Middlebury in 2015. It was 5 days a week of 4 hours daily instruction with 3-5 hours of homework every night for 8 weeks (one of the longer language programs). And LOTS of catching up over the weekend--little else to do. Originally I tried to get into Level 2, as I had studied Japanese in undergrad for a semester (years before), but after an initial interview by the instructors, I was strongly encouraged to go back to Level 1 (denied!). I felt that I was ahead in the beginning of Level 1, as I had come into the program already knowing hiragana, katakana, and about 25 kanji characters, and it was hard to keep up. After 2 weeks my edge was gone. I can't imagine someone not knowing a lick of Japanese and trying to keep up at the pace this program was conducted. The program was not only Japanese language instruction, but also learning the Japanese 'way' of doing things, which might have a bit too inflexible for some of my Western peers. There were many cultural extracurricular activities to accompany the learning--we had an in-house poet that year--and there was a student showcase at the end of the course, as well as a special 100 years commemorative program. The video talked about the Language pledge -- not speaking English; the only way for me to keep the pledge was to keep to myself outside of class and lunch time ("If there's no one to talk to..") Although there are other language programs going on at campus at the same time, you will have almost no contact with them. They even schedule your lunch time in the cafeteria so that you don't overlap with another language school. (Oh yeah, the food was really good!). There was a sense of isolation in the School. That, plus the discipline needed to keep up the study, the cultural difference, and the strict language pledge led to people having breakdowns during the program. Middlebury was an interesting personal experience for me as I was a mid-career professional who took a sabbatical to do this, while most everyone else was college age and actively studying Japanese. I was surprised to find so many "repeaters" who had either taken Japanese or who had taken another language at Middlebury in a previous year. After the 8 weeks I was able to understand basic conversation and communicate and I easily passed the JLPT Level 5 (lowest level) test. Actually the final exam at Middlebury was much harder, and more stressful, than the JLPT Level 5. I went to Japan a few days after the end of the program and felt a lot more at ease than in my previous visits to Japan. And I went back to Japan a few months later and was able to lead my friends around Kyoto and Osaka, and do the "translating" for them (though still at a basic level). Taking the Middlebury Japanese program after a long period of dormancy with my Japanese language ability helped me retain the Japanese language knowledge I had learned there. If I had the time, the money (it's pricey!), and ready to handle another intense 8 weeks, I would do it again.

[@CptDangernoodle]

Thanks for sharing your experience. You say it's pricey, but how pricey? I'm also interested in the Japanese program

[@cadalman]

@@CptDangernoodle Back in 2015 it was USD $10K for the 8-week Japanese program for tuition / room / board. Now it's around $14K.

[@CptDangernoodle]

@@cadalman Wow, $14k is insane. Thanks for the quick response

[@rafaeldias9097]

I taught Portuguese there in the Summer of 2018. It was a quite interesting experience. Even me as a teacher, I never broke the language pledge, I loved talking to the students 24/7. We would share the dorms so that the students would have easy access to their teachers. I really recommend Middlebury!

[@LOKI77able]

Are you from Brazilian or Portugal? Where do the Portuguese teachers at Middlebury usually come from?

[@rafaeldias9097]

@@LOKI77able There are teachers from Brazil, Portugal and Angola, but the vast majority is Brazilian and we focus on Brazilian Portuguese with some contact with other Portuguese varieties. I'm Brazilian, from São Paulo.

[@murdoch1717]

How does the Portuguese for Spanish speakers program work? Can you elaborate on that? Do you have to be a certain level of Spanish to take that course?

[@hurricanechelsea]

@@LOKI77able As Rafael said, most teachers are from Brazil, but as a European Portuguese speaker who participated in the program, I was also well supported. My grammar instructor even made separate tests for those of us who spoke PT-PT on topics where there were notable differences between the two 🥺

[@rafaeldias9097]

@@murdoch1717 You don't need to be a native speaker of Spanish to take the Portuguese for Spanish speakers, but you need to have a high level of Spanish. This course is more accelerated with a focus on the differences between Spanish and Portuguese.

[@rjones9472]

I will be going to Middlebury this summer for Spanish 1.5. I'm a military vet so it's not as expensive. I'm so excited for my first of many times I'll be going there. I will find this comment and make an update with my experience after the program is over!

[@auctionguy5]

Congratulations and thanks! I will be on the lookout for your update.

[@rjones9472]

@@auctionguy5 ok bet

[@rjones9472]

@@auctionguy5and thank you!

[@bethb5915]

​@@rjones9472- Congrats! How was Middlebury?

[@auctionguy5]

@@bethb5915 I was wondering about that too.

[@gametidbits6400]

I completed the middlebury Russian program about a month ago before going to Kyrgyzstan for a research project. Middlebury was by far the hardest thing I have ever done, but the people I met there will likely be friends for life. I learned so much after only 2 months of Russian, I was tested at 3 years worth of russian. If you can get into this program, definitely accept it!!!

[@rlopez8630]

Мы знакомы??

[@ethanwalsh9172]

Just 2 weeks ago I finished my first summer at the LS at middlebury in German and it completely changed my future career path. The language pledge really does work. I can now have fluid conversation with nearly all levels and feel comfortable doing so. I noticed the biggest change in my spoken language as it was more of an everyday speaking setting in contrast to just in class speaking. Couldn’t recommend it more!

[@tacomajoe7676]

I go through this town every week I had no idea thier was a language school thier let alone an immersion program in the summer I would love to do something like this for Russian

[@lune587]

I got back from the Japanese immersion program about a week ago. One thing I’ll say about this video is that the absolute minimum age you can be is 16, not 18. I’m currently 17 years old and so were 3 others in Japanese, one was even 16. And that 16 year old applied at 15, but Middlebury allowed it because he’d be 16 when he arrived. Though if you’re under 18, your parents/guardians do have to help you with the application.

[@naria2224]

How was your experience ?

[@tsutsujiii]

that's really cool, did you have to have been in AP Japanese prior? or were you able to enter the program self taught?

[@lunalee5843]

Were you able to contact home during your time away? Did you have to use your language?

[@lune587]

It was great! Sorry this is a whole year later. It's incredibly difficult, so if you don't take it seriously, you will fail. I was only able to do it because it was something I WANTED to do. One question we got asked during practice a few times was "why did you choose to come despite the language pledge?" My response was always "I came BECAUSE of the language pledge." That kind of dedication along with the amazing community of people juat as driven as me was what let me thrive there.@@naria2224

[@lune587]

I had done Japanese in high school for a few years prior. You don't need to have done AP or anything. The 16 year old I mentioned was self taught and he was higher level than me. Sorry for taking a year to respond.@@tsutsujiii

[@jmatt56]

Hi guys! I did immersion in Poland about 40 years ago. It was frustrating as hell. Cried, got depressed, the whole deal. But, I learnt Polish, still speaking ( okay still have American accent), but it helped me get back into German and ( really?) Latin.

[@lukas0494]

@jamesmataczynski4243 Napisz coś po polsku albo Ci nie uwierzymy😁

[@jmatt56]

@@lukas0494 cześć Łukasz. Po co pytasz że muszę pisać coś po polsku. Abo mogom po slonsko, jok chcesz.

[@jmatt56]

@@lukas0494 co ti? Ślōnzok ći goral?

[@nanicruz2656]

Great to see you covering Middlebury! I've been three times once for Chinese and twice for Korean. All three times financial aid covered more than half the cost, so while expensive it was a little more doable. I would say these programs are a wonderful experience, but they are not some magical get fluent fast short cut. You get out of it what you put into it. The students who took advantage of all the opportunities Middlebury offers (easy access to teachers outside of class, extracurriculars etc) and really stuck to the language pledge improved noticeably more by the end of the summer than those who just went to class and did their homework.

[@solarmoth4628]

How do you get financial aid for these programs?

[@storylearning]

www.middlebury.edu/language-schools/funding

[@stevenponte6655]

out of curiousity are the majority of the school college age, or did you see many older students?

[@PamelaVasquez64]

@@stevenponte6655 huge range of ages. I would say most are in their late 20s-30s but many older students and they try to house older students together.

[@lohphat]

I think the detractor hit the nail on the head -- when forced to communicate without constant guidance, pidgins and creoles develop to then instill incorrect patterns of speech. Immersion only works when you're immersed in social groups speaking correctly in the first place.

[@sarabroussard7603]

I went to the Middlebury Spanish grad school and it was awesome! I'm a Spanish teacher and so are about 70% of the Spanish grad school students I would say (teachers of some sort, including English teachers in Spain, etc.) Director Jacobo Sefamí is a truly wonderful person and leads a great program. I studied during the summers at their campus in VT in 2017, 2018, and 2021 and at their Buenos Aires campus in 2019. They have scholarships available. This video is pretty good for an overview considering that its creator had not attended. But it can't capture all of the amazing aspects that each individual language school has to offer, so look at their websites for more details. Apply!

[@run2fire]

The University of Pittsburgh offers a Summer immersion program in languages not offered at Middlebury such as many of the Slavic languages. It promises 1 year of university courses in a summer.

[@nicoleraheem1195]

coooool

[@kevinmiller1356]

Indiana as well, they do lots of central Asian languages like Uyghur and Pashto.

[@murdoch1717]

Is it taught at the Univ of Pitt or abroad? How much is it and how long is it, how many weeks?

[@choreomaniac]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@murdoch1717Pitt. Arabic, Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian, Bulgarian, Czech, Hebrew, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Slovak, Turkish, or Ukrainian. Also abroad in Poland, Slovakia, Czechia and Montenegro. Russian, Arabic is 8 weeks and $7k. Polish is 6 weeks and $5k. Basically, you get university credit and you pay for the credits.

[@addaxi]

This past summer I actually did a program similar to this, I learned 2 semesters of College Russian in 6 weeks, with almost 16 hours a day of work (excluding Sundays). Its extremely intense, but very rewarding. As always, love the videos! Keep up the great work.

[@samaraisnt]

woww where was that?

[@madeleinereads]

I've done Middlebury Language Schools twice. I attended the Spanish school in 2014 (Level 3) and the French school (Level 4) this summer. Both summers were different, but they were good experiences! It's exciting that Middlebury Language Schools started a school of English in California this year. I have friends who live in other countries who want to learn English, and they always asked me if Middlebury had an English school, and I said no. Now, they can have the chance to apply and spend a summer learning English. :)

[@jacksontran2119]

I'm interested in the French program. Could you elaborate more on the coursework and homework load for the Level 4 program? Also what sort of cultural/club activities did the French program offer and what were the outside the classroom social activities for French studients? I'd likely get placed in high internediate level. Merci!

[@madeleinereads]

@@jacksontran2119 Bonjour! I'm glad that you are interested in the French program. In Level 4, everyone takes 4 courses, whereas students in other levels take three courses. Two required courses: Grammar and Pronunciation. The grammar course was also excellent. We learned grammar through three texts: analytical, expressive, and descriptive. The pronunciation course is also about phonetics. We focused on vowels, consonants, intonation, nasalization, etc. We also transcribed sentences in French to the International Phonetic Alphabet and vice versa. We also did a lot of recording entries. We did two presentations. Everything was planned for us to pay special attention to our pronunciation. Level 4 students also chose two electives. My electives were The Great Speeches of French Political Rhetoric and Regions of France. They also offered Health and Societies in Africa, Autobiographical Writing, and Young People & Politics. Some of the electives change every summer. So you might not see the ones I had next summer. It is a lot of work, about 3 to 5 hours of homework outside class, but the hard work was worth it! Plus, the faculty is very supportive. There are also tutors in the French school who can help you with speaking, vocabulary, writing, etc. Here's a link to Middlebury's description of class levels: www.middlebury.edu/language-schools/languages/french/immersion/curriculum/levels For Great Speeches of French Political Rhetoric, we studied and discussed different speeches throughout French history and even wrote and performed our own speeches at the end of the course. For Regions of France, we started talking about France overall, then we explored other regions each week: Bretagne, La Loire, Les Hauts de France, a couple of areas in the Southwest, and Provence. We watched a movie every Thursday evening, except during the week we studied the Loire. That week, we focused on poets of the Renaissance and authors like George Sand. We read excerpts of Jean de Florette every week before exploring Provence and watching the film at the end of the 6th week. We looked at the various regions' history, languages, stories and legends, famous works, people, wine, and cuisine. At the end of the course, we gave presentations on a French region not mentioned in the class or another part of the world we were interested in. For instance, one of my classmates talked about Napa Valley, CA. My presentation was on specific cities in Normandie and the D-Day beaches. When you apply, you'll take a placement test before the program, around March or April, and you'll have an interview with a faculty member to determine your level. When you get to the campus, there's also an add/drop period. So, when you get to Middlebury and feel like you're not placed at the right level, you can talk to the directors about it and see if you can go up or down a level. And, of course, you learn even more of the language when sitting with other faculty and students in the cafeteria and in extracurricular activities. I did Astronomy, Ciné Club, and Analyse des chansons, where we listened to and discussed a different song weekly. There's also basketball, soccer, pétanque (the game from Provence), reading club, choir, theater, Africanist club, Scrabble, yoga, volleyball, hiking, radio, and cooking club, although the cooking club did not meet this summer. That was a bummer. There were also lectures, events, and parties to attend as well. We even took a trip to a local vineyard! Some of my classmates could even go to Montréal during the weekend. There's also Francofolies, the French school's talent show. When you get to the program, they'll give you an information packet with everything you need to know. Good luck with your application, and I hope you're able to attend Middlebury this summer!

[@jacksontran2119]

@@madeleinereads wow this sounds really amazing. Thank you so much for the detailed descriptions, they are super informative! The pronunciation course will greatly benefit me. I feel like no matter how hard I try, I keep sounding like an American saying French words 😃. Right now, I'm deliberating between the Middlebury program and similar ones in Canada where I presently live. The Midd applications open on November 1st and we'll if they can offer any financial assistance my way.

[@madeleinereads]

@@jacksontran2119, You're welcome! Happy to answer any more questions you may have! :) I highly recommend Middlebury to anyone who wants to learn a new language or improve their language skills. It really is a great program. Also, I agree with you on the pronunciation course. I've been studying French for many years, but I greatly benefited from this course for sure.

[@madeleinereads]

@@jacksontran2119 Video of French School Summer 2022. The guy who makes the video is so good at what he does. At Middlebury, we attended an exhibit of his and another staff member's photos. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jp7OqZuLp717ra8

[@jenniferquigley-jones6734]

I did the Arabic summer course and had arranged to get married two days after the course ended. I had to call my fiancé at the beginning of the course to warn him that he’d be planning the rest of the wedding alone, because of the language pledge! It sounds strict, but it was an incredible and transformative experience. It massively improved my Arabic, but the most fundamental aspect was that I was motivated and excited to pick it up. It was the first ever time a language switch flicked in my head. I came away from the summer loving the language.

[@pagenpwoblem]

Did they teach MSA? I'm learning Levantine Arabic now and was curious about this

[@YourRichLifeMedia]

I did this, this summer at l'institut de francais this summer. I definitely cried the thursday of the first week. Like a baby. I skipped school that Friday and took the train to Italy. THat monday I'd pulled it together. My the 3rd week I loved it and by the end id gone from A1 to B1 and though its the most challenging thing EVER, I am doing it again next summer to get to C1. Am I crazy? Maybe. But it is effective. I didnt know that we had this in the US though

[@Tehui1974]

Good on the school for valuing an indigenous language! Pai rawa atu!

[@carolinebridges3236]

I attended Middlebury for the 8-week Chinese program in 2016. It was one of the hardest (I definitely cried my first week! First day maybe?) and most rewarding experiences in my life. My dorm room was next to one of our teachers - meaning that to call my parents I had to drive off campus because I was too scared of breaking the pledge!

[@OneAdam12Adam]

I've done this program. It's a lot of fun and well worth the effort. You eat, sleep, drink, dream, study, play, watch films, read, listen, speak, write, think in the target language the whole entire time. Even when you meet up with folks from other languages you honor The Language Pledge© and stay in the target language. Middlebury is so serious about their programs and protecting the quality of the experience that you will notice that the promise is actually proprietary. The Language Pledge© Nobody else who tries to duplicate the promise may do so. You have to come up with another name for it and have a different promise. The Virginia Governor's School language academies have a similar promise but are not allowed to call it The Language Pledge©. It's that legit! ❤❤ It is all that and a bag of chips!

[@iVasco]

hello!!! middlebury student here^^ i typically dont leave comments on youtube but i thought i should share my experience since it is still so fresh!! i just got back 2 weeks ago from attending the 6 week graduate program at the school of korean and... it was intense. i was taking the standard language classes in the morning 8am-12pm for a refresher, an hour lunch break, and then graduate classes at 14:00. i will say this, middlebury has an interesting approach for sure. its the only place that im aware of in the states and maybe even globally, that offers this type of language learning acquisition. for example, if i went to korea right now as a lets say level 1 or level 2 speaker > its obvious im a foreigner and would probably get responses in broken english. however, at middlebury with the no english approach, it really is a commitment from the teachers too; to also try and figure out ways to explain things in simplified terms especially if you are a novice speaker. (which in my opinion, is probably the hardest level mentally) this school is truly meant for those who have a true resilience and understanding in different environments and different cultures, and paitence. being also american, i can say we often times preach about diversity and inclusivity (in a linguistic perspective) but many foreigners accommodate (or are expected to) to english. many high schools offer spanish, or german, or french, but its not enforced to really stick with it and most people forget it once they're older. i come from a military background, so i was always traveling and meeting foreigners and interacting with them, and doing my part in researching culturally perspectives that i should probably respect when interacting with new people, so i brought those skills when attending middlebury. it really just depends on the language school you attend because every language has their own culture, and the beauty of it is that in a short amount of time, middlebury really does its best to give an authentic language immersion experiences, but it is also at the hands of the teachers in your respective language school that you attend. i noticed some schools looked more engaged with each other then others and that could be because of size (how many students were attending), or even culture. i believe this year, the spanish school was the largest with 250-300 approx.? students, my school (the school of korean) was the smallest with about 40 or so students. why we were the smallest school... im unsure about... its important to consider political or cultural (KPOP/KOREAN WAVE) influences as to why people want to learn a language (spanish is on the rise of language learning and a very well-established field), etc. and I noticed that in my time there, i was personally shocked that their wasn't more people wanting to learn korean, however the age demographics fell anywhere between 16-25 (with one language school student in their 50s and 2 graduate students in their 50s as well-however in this demographic generalization they are not included) and most were either 1) fans of K-POP/K-MEDIA (dramas) or 2) wanted to be TESOL teachers. it was easy to observe demographics and infer what type of people were learning what languages and why (of course, i couldn't go and ask students from other schools why they were learning their target language) (cont.)

[@iVasco]

as far as my personal experience, it was interesting. my own culture i grew up in (latin/hispanic) is similar to asian culture, so i adapted fairly well and fairly quickly (i think), but i was busy from 7am-7pm and didn't have much time to participate in club activities because they ran through the same time as my graduate classes and then we had dinner and then it was back home, shower, and rest. because it is such a fast paced and intense program >> time management is very hard to get in control of. for my graduate classes, i took 3. as far as those in my class, there was only 4 of us (3 native speakers, and then me), so it was nice that we were able to all get close and work together. but i definitely felt excluded in the classroom from time to time being a non-native korean, and then understanding culture, it was hard to speak up. korean is a complex language >> it has honorifics which is a system used when communicating that determines the levels of respect you have for the person you're speaking to. you speak informally or formally and theres levels within informalities and formalities. i have no problem speaking up for myself to those older than me on a daily basis (like at work, or if someone is rude to me in passing, of course appropriately) but at middlebury, even if for a second i might have felt disrespected... i was conflicted on whether or not i should say something because i thought "i know we're in america but... this is an immersion program... these are native speakers/native koreans who are unaware or (maybe ignorant)... do i stick up for myself or do i not say anything because of the unspoken hierarchy that honorifics sets" often times, i approached everything diplomatically, i stayed quiet and bit my tongue and just observed how others interacted with others and adjusted that way but it was hard. and it was hard addressing those older than me in honorifics, when they didn't do that to me >> but i (all of the language school students too) was expected to use them. the friend i made there, a native speaker, even asked me, "how do we address everyone? everyone uses different things!! i'm so confused!!" i never felt too stressed with academics, even in undergrad, if i got a bad grade i just shrugged it off and kept it moving because well, im learning this content for the first time so im not going to do well in every single assignment, and that was my approach taking this, in fact i consider myself a curious linguist that i really did love the classroom and the content provided. i think i struggled most with interactions with people, and again will say and reiterate!!!!! that it is in fact the culture and just my experience with this language school (i dont know how other language schools operate and are different from the one i attended!!!). i was the youngest student amongst my other 3 graduate classmates, and then my schedule never aligned with those who were simply language school students, so i found myself calling my parents often in any break that i had towards the last 2-3weeks of the program (even if it was for 5 minutes) because i genuinely felt like i was going insane (i had many...many breakdowns). and in the half way mark, i think everyone felt drained already too, teachers included. but because i wasn't friends with the regular language school students, when we had lunch, i often sat with the teachers and spoke with them which was suchhhhh a plus for me and definitely made me feel more confident in speaking (having a better accent especially because i was around native speakers) and also allowed me to hear more realistic convos vs. when i was with the language school students (level 1-2) they often found ways to say the same thing over and over again (of course understandable, they're novice speakers), and the accents would often confuse me. (cont.)

[@iVasco]

for the school of korean, the teachers rotate and are personally asked to come and teach from the director (who is very established and well-known within the field, a pioneer if you want to say that). this has both positive and negatives to it. from a linguistic perspective, korean is still in the baby stages. most (if not ALL) who study korean linguistics, are really only native koreans, and a lot of the research out now and still used is 20th century resources. there is a huge influx in L2 (2nd language acquisition) learners for korean as second language (KSL), but not enough teachers. which i think also ties back to my point of honorifics that i mentioned earlier, these teachers are a little older, and still are in that mindset of power dynamics, so it can be frustrating for sure. but disregarding that, the classes were truly phenomenal, everyone improved in their language learning level by the end of the term so that was amazing to see. however, many other students i talked to, this was either their 2nd summer back (which they had said this summer there was less students than the summer prior) or their only summer, and many concluded they wanted to learn korean on their own after the program and probably not come back to attend, which was disheartening to hear because i, too, felt somewhat the same, but was also curious what it would be like to go to middlebury as JUST a language school student. not ALSO as a graduate student. (which, i am no longer a school of korean graduate student due to other reasons)... the last day, when the pledge was finally lifted, i talked to other students and many had constructive feedback about the program, but many were afraid to be honest because of this understanding of who would be reading our feedbacks as well as no one likes to point out flaws of anything, instinctively we feel bad when we do that. i think the school of korean has a lot to improve on, and it would be nice to see where the go from here. again, this is my own personal experiences and things i observed in my time there, my main points are (if you decide to attend) 1) have resilience 2) be patient with yourself (especially you novice speakers!!) 3) have cultural sensitivity and - for the school of korean though my main points are 1) classes easy because the teachers are amazing and pretty kind and understanding but 2) the cultural perspective was hard. they know you're non-native and will be a certain way and kind of formulate a power dynamic off of that and use the immersion program as an excuse. which was very mentally draining for many of us. but at the end of the day, middlebury really isnt an experience i hated, in fact im glad i went and stuck it out because i was really tempted to fly back home at the start of the 3rd week. i learned way more then i wouldve ever learned in a regular language classroom and am so thankful to the teachers i had genuine and authenthic conversations with, as well as those i lived with too. (cont.)

[@iVasco]

ill probably edit this post more if other stuff comes to mind about my experience. feel free to ask other questions!!! (i saw a few commenters talk about their interest in korean, and though im not discouraging you to go, (please attend!!! especially as novice speakers, level 1 is the hardest and the foundation they lay out in grasping the language really is amazing!!!) i want to note that i have accumulated my own resources for language and have some colleagues who also teach online courses if you want to get a head start before you attend middlebury so you dont feel overwhelmed^.^) dont be shy to network :]] && happy language learning~~♡

[@storylearning]

This wins comment of the year!! Thank you for sharing this experience, it really sounds like an interesting journey, and I’m pleased that the video was interesting enough to provoke a reply. I’d be really interested to see how your Korean studies progress over time… good luck!

[@iVasco]

@@storylearning thank u so much!!!!! :] i recently came across your channel and have been intrigued, i see you offer resources as well so im definitely checking those out!!!!! thank you again for the kind words!!!!

[@ellisvan]

thank you SO much for sharing - this sounds like the exact kind of torture i need in my life

[@hurricanechelsea]

I did Middlebury's Portuguese Language School last summer and it was such an incredible experience for me. I knew the language well after having spent a year in Portugal as an exchange student but needed advanced level credit for my college program (self-designed and my university didn't offer Portuguese) and more academic exposure. I was able to get financial aid, though it was still $3000...it's hefty, no doubt, but worth it. I didn't advance that much (one sub-level) but I don't think the OPI test format really gives you the whole picture (especially for neurodivergent people). I gained a ton of confidence and clarity and I saw people advance a ton, like from no Portuguese to Intermediate-High level. And the people were incredible. My best friend from Middlebury is my best friend, period. My instructors were world class. Some of them had to teach over Zoom but we were all together (2021 COVID life). I have ADHD and am not a particularly serious person, though I adore Portuguese. I am very very sensitive and cried like every day from the workload. I will say though that the disability accommodations from Midd were phenomenal. Even with the challenges, I had more fun than I've ever had and grew in the language and as a person, despite being a nontraditional student. Other people were definitely not as bothered regardless of their language level. I was particularly strict about the language pledge (if anyone from home wanted to communicate with me, they had to message me in Portuguese or otherwise just forget I existed haha) though some people would have phone calls back home in English or Spanish or whatever. Still, it really was easy to forget I was still in New England sometimes. Also there are certain advantages to learning in the US vs. in a country where a language is spoken, like learning to describe US-specific things in the language that might not exist in those other countries. I desperately want to go back, both to finish the final level of Portuguese and to learn some other languages. I really didn't anticipate what an impact 7 weeks in Vermont would have on my life. If you can make it happen financially and you have the passion, it's worth a try. (Note, I haven't experienced life on the Bennington campus because Portuguese was in Middlebury last year.)

[@murdoch1717]

Muito prazer e Parabens!

[@simonledoux8519]

Was the focus more on Brazilian Portuguese? How was it for you in regards to your European experience with the language? I know there are a few aspects of grammar that are different as well as vocabulary. Please comment, I'd love to know about that specifically since I am interested in the Portuguese program. I also have much more exposure to European Portuguese.

[@hurricanechelsea]

@@simonledoux8519 There was definitely more emphasis on Brazilian Portuguese overall, which makes sense considering that's the bulk of the world's lusophone population. That being said, there were two instructors from Portugal (one for lower-level grammar and one who taught culture and ran the creative writing club, as well as teaching a creative writing class for level 4) and one instructor who's originally from D.R. Congo, lived in Angola for years, then lived in Lisboa for over a decade, so there is other exposure. I was definitely not the only speaker of European Portuguese and we were welcomed and appreciated by other students, instructors, etc. My Brazilian grammar instructor (level 3) made a special test for us on occasions where the grammar we PT-PT speakers knew and would use was different from PT-BR, which was touching. In the higher levels especially I think there's a lot of respect for what we already knew and the instructors were willing to learn from us, too. I had figured "well I might just end up having to do Brazilian Portuguese while I'm in this program" and while I did learn more about it, which is valuable, I was supported in continuing to learn European Portuguese, too.

[@simonledoux8519]

@@hurricanechelsea That is fantastic to know! It sounds like you learned an incredible amount. What an experience! I can imagine that you are pleased with your ability in the language. Thank you so much! I really appreciate you taking the time to answering my questions. It is super helpful. I am very familiar with Brazilian Portuguese and I visited Brazil this year. It exceeded my expectations. The people were so hospitable and patient with my Portuguese. I learned a lot there. My accent still remains Portuguese from Portugal. Muito obrigado!

[@hurricanechelsea]

@@simonledoux8519 yeah I was disappointed that I didn't show more formal progress in the OPI but I gained more confidence (oh, I can write university papers in Portuguese!) and so many friendships with people who love the language as much as I do, which means people I can speak Portuguese with even now. One of my classmates had done the program before five years earlier, (starting only with Spanish) and she did say that the people in the school weren't as close her first time there. I don't know if I was extraordinarily lucky with my schoolmates or if it's something about so many of us being so starved for human connection and novelty for much of the past two years, but I do still want to go back. My instructors were amazing, and that wouldn't change... many of them are Middlebury veterans. The director of the school next year is different from the one who was there through this year so I don't know how that might affect things. Our director wasn't super popular. I liked her but she rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. She also wasn't the most organized which was an issue for students and instructors. I hope Middlebury adds a master's in Portuguese like they have for all the other languages but Abenaki and nurture Portuguese. But I hope the school stays around the same size, because we had just enough people that you could speak to someone different every day if you wanted, but few enough that we had a lot of cohesion and could get to know everyone pretty well...even in a new language (for some people, anyway). I'm so grateful for the experience. I don't think I could have gained as much through the travel language schools or just living on my own. The fact that we all knew that our adherence to the language pledge would affect others' immersion as well really mattered. And our instructors were enough a part of our community that they would correct our grammatical mistakes even at lunch or whatever, so we weren't just making up our own version of the language, as some commenters have been concerned about. Another thing: despite being a widely spoken language, Portuguese isn't super widely studied, meaning that people in the Portuguese school want to be there, for a whole bunch of reasons. Art history doctorates interested in 20th century Brazilian modern art, people interested in antiracist movements around the world, fans of other Romance languages, practitioners of capoeira...whatever the reason, they sought out an opportunity to study Portuguese in depth, and it really creates a special environment. So anyway, I'm happy to answer any questions about it, though again some things have changed/will change. I could talk all day about it, truly. Everyone in my life is sick of hearing it 😅

[@anndeecosita3586]

I’m American and I went to language immersion school in the USA for seven years K-6. We didn’t start any English lessons until second grade. Sometimes my brain doesn’t realize when I’m speaking English vs Spanish. Especially if I’m shifting back and forth quickly, I will speak to someone in one and not realize it until I see their confused look. In college, I did a study abroad in Mexico. I did start to forget words in English. Now some of my friends from Latin America forget how to say certain words in Spanish. 😂

[@Uhhbyeee]

Went to language immersion k-6 for Chinese! I didn’t know what a pronoun was until 11th grade 😔

[@ailblentyn]

I understand that the experience varies a lot, from language to language, and from level to level. It sounds as if it’s most worthwhile for beginners.

[@keylanoriega7738]

This video was posted yesterday, isn't it? 'cause I saw until 20 minutes, and then I can't found it. Thanks for the info Olly. 🤗

[@stevekaczynski3793]

I did a three-week Russian summer school in England in 1982 after a first year studying Russian from scratch at university. English was discouraged during class hours but not banned. Middlebury is not doing anything especially innovative IMO although it seems to me it is almost bound to get results. It is just immersion - really, really strict immersion. Studying a language from scratch there sounds like the first few weeks would be hellish. Having some background in the language and just working to improve it would be a much easier experience.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

Another thing I recollect, not strictly immersion but encouraging use of the Russian language, was that crates of books in or about Russian were brought in one evening and we were encouraged to buy them. I did buy a few. Dictionaries mostly. They were brought from Collets, a bookshop in London that specialised in eastern Europe. Collets went out of business in 1993.

[@brianl6128]

I think this is a great way to learn a language as fast as possible! Yes it will take an extraordinary amount of effort, but you make up for it for the amount of time you save.

[@jonasgreen1918]

I just did the German language program as a Stufe 3 (b1/b2-c1). It was quite fun, and the immersion was really helpful, but I would say the classes (at least for my program) were only ok, and become relatively boring by the end. The community was great though. The thing I really noticed, was that if you put a lot of effort in addition to our classes, you could make a lot of progress, but without that, you won’t make nearly as much.

[@jonasgreen1918]

The extra effort combined with the opportunity to practice the language whenever you want makes for a very good combination.

[@ethanwalsh9172]

Jonas!!!! Wie gehts! 😂

[@jonasgreen1918]

Hallo Ethan, es geht mir gut! Es ist wirklich cool in Deutschland. Wie geht‘s?

[@donaldklopper]

Fascinating for sure. If you want to be great at something you have to have a single-minded focus around that. It's a bit psychotic, but it'll get the job done!

[@thomassenbart]

A similar school exists in Minnesota at Bemidji. Where they have immersion, in language, with native speakers, from morning to bed, all meals in language and often prepared by the students, with native cooks and in mock villages, which superficially looks like those in the country's language you study etc...Profs. and students together, broken down by ability level. There is no pledge, however. Best immersion I have been through, outside of living in country.

[@JanelleC]

Concordia Language Villages is primarily for high schoolers with options for younger kids and families, and Middlebury awards college credit. They’re both awesome!

[@thomassenbart]

@@JanelleC I was there with the military.

[@lavenderaqua2655]

Yep! I went to their japanese one!

[@JanelleC]

@@thomassenbart yeah i forgot they also got added as a language training center!

[@miji948]

Concordia Language Villages! I attended the 4-week Korean program in Bemidji back in 2016. I remember each student was supposed to do a 1 day pledge to only speak in Korean, but it wasn't very strict. I got scolded when I slipped up and spoke in English on my pledge day, but that was all. My biggest regret is that I didn't take the opportunity to speak Korean more, I was just too nervous about making mistakes and that nervousness definitely stopped me from improvement. I was also very homesick throughout the whole thing (since you're not allowed to have your phone) so I also regret not appreciating the experience more while I was there. If I could do it all over again, I'd try a lot harder!

[@catyoungworldwide]

I did the summer program and graduated from Middlebury’s MA in French in 2002 and went back for a refresher course in 2015. It’s an extraordinary place with an impressive commitment to immersion. I am so glad that others are still discovering the power of the Language Pledge! I may have to try the Mandarin School one summer…❤❤❤

[@AnneWest]

I'm leaving tomorrow for MIddlebury's Italian School. I'm excited but terrified!

[@andybeattie8064]

How was it?

[@AnneWest]

@@andybeattie8064 We enjoyed it BUT we were in the highest level and there was A LOT of focus on medieval poetry, literature and history and a lot of lecture by the professor (vs focus on conversation)...therefore I do not feel that my conversational ability improved much at all, even though we complied with the language pledge all summer. And that's why we went there. So it did not achieve our objectives. It may be fine for college students wanting to earn course credits but it was not appropriate for those of us (and there were a few of us in my class) who were older and there SPECIFICALLY to improve our SPEAKING. So, a lot of money spent for minimal improvement. If you are interested in the program I'd encourage you to ask A LOT of specific questions about how you spend the day and what you study. Unfortunately the website is vague in that regard, with a bunch of academic gobbledygook. The 6 non-college students in my class gave almost identical feedback at the end of the course, so maybe they have made some changes to the curriculum by now. Also, my experience in Level 3 doesn't necessarily reflect that of the other levels. Some of the total beginners made significant progress during the summer (steeper learning curve) so it may depend where you are in your learning journey.

[@juliancassidy3081]

Planning to apply to Middlebury this college application cycle, this is something I'm really looking forward to! Thank you for sharing~

[@rlopez8630]

me too!

[@OxysLokiMoros]

How can you pay for that? It is so fucking expensive...

[@jacksontran2119]

Great school, all the best luck in your application! Every Midd alum I've known LOVED their time there. It'd be a truly exceptional and fortunate experience!

[@romulosouzasantos8711]

This course seems to be amazing, but I'm afraid of the idea of not speaking one single word for weeks, I guess it's not for everyone. Thanks for this video!

[@AmbiCahira]

"How many of you have chickened out?" Not me I'm getting sold on the idea! I would love this!

[@digiprez77]

I did the Spanish school one summer, Level 2. I was a regular Middlebury student and I wanted to be in Vermont in the summertime, seemed like a good idea to earn some credits while I did it. I had a pretty good number of Midd friends in different language schools there with the same agenda. We definitely did not hold to the pledge 100% of the time. I did in and around the dorms, cafeteria, and in class, but I also had a lease on a place in town for my forthcoming senior year, and it was a bit of a refuge. We had a bunch of parties there. We invited some of the non-Midd students and most of them would hold to their pledges, which was totally cool, but some of them were happy to be able to relax a bit and be able to converse normally for a few hours. 7-8 weeks is a long time to be tongue-tied. Just like any educational opportunity, language school is what you make of it. It is definitely a great way to prepare for moving somewhere where you don't speak the language, especially if you really try and immerse yourself. It is not the case that if you slip up and speak a little English that a teacher is going to jump out of the bushes and kick you out. It is really more about making a good effort because the more you stick to it, the more you will learn. Some people are forced to attend because of their jobs, and I think they have a harder time. I was just in for the convenience really, so I followed the rules on campus, but when I was with my friends out kayaking, fishing, jumping off bridges and everything else you do in Vermont it was just regular talk with a lot of Russian and Chinese swears thrown in for effect.

[@shiptj01]

The language pledge is a good thing. My Spanish teacher wouldn't let us speak English in class and I believe that it made us better with the language.

[@n.b.3521]

They have similar programs in Canada (but only for French as far as I'm aware). I did an 8-week stint once and moved up one level in that time. I imagine beginners would actually learn more than those of us who were already pretty advanced. Polishing always takes more time.

[@sgt.mcgillicuddy2948]

Était-ce Sainte Anne?

[@rlopez8630]

Did the Russian program there this summer!! (2023) It was fantastic and my Russian definitely leveled up!!

[@foreverlearningfrench]

I would totally do this program. Great video Olly.

[@Someone-ct2ck]

If I would say one word about learning languages effectively, that word would be "immersion".

[@kennethadrian]

i wanna leave work and just study languages all day 😭

[@pedro5230]

You should make a video on the language teaching in K-pop training systems, trainees from all over the world learn Korean super quickly and really well

[@yoru900]

Ngl I'd like to do this at some point, probably for the Korean course

[@iamwoman.hearmeroar.6146]

I took Japanese (level 1) and Spanish (level 2) and they were both so different. Obviously, the Romance languages are easier because they share many cognates with the English language, however, neither program was easy for me. If you go and do your best, you will learn and you will improve over the weeks, but know that it’s ok to bend the pledge during mental/emotional/physical health concerns or emergencies. Yes, many students outright broke the pledges but with this program you reap what you sow.

[@simonledoux8519]

This sounds like a fascinating program that I would love to do. The price tag is now over 10K and without a scholarship, it would be difficult for me. I went to the French Language summer immersion program at the Université Sainte Anne in Nova Scotia Canada. It was an excellent program and the have a ,4 and 5 week programs. The price is a fraction of Middlelbury. It was also quite intense and you had to sign a contract to speak only in French. There is a 3 strikes and you are out policy regarding speaking any other language besides French. I loved the program but I only did the one week course. Another advantage of the University is that it's located in a francophone area of Nova Scotia so you can speak French when you leave the campus. The locals are used to having student around and encourage the use of the language. Back to the price of Middlebury, I think for that kind of money, I'd prefer to go to a country that speaks the target language and study and live there for 8 weeks. Although, I am sure the Middlebury produces some impressive results. I am sure I would love it.

[@jacksontran2119]

Thanks for the reference! I'm an English speaker in Canada looking for a French immersion program, will look into Univ. Sainte Anne - Nova Scotia is beautiful too in the summer!

[@videogamerka0009]

I always thought that languages school are bullshit because you will never get enough immersion in two hours a week to learn a language. But this is so cool and so well thought out and all those extra activities in target languages to make you feel like you're abroad, genius. I bet it costs ton of money but it least you get so much content out of it.

[@Komatik_]

I learned Swedish at school, traditional study, didn't use it outside school. Still retain a lot of it. School study can work, but you do need interest and volume. I studied Swedish for six years, for example, and I doubt I'd be terribly competitive with someone who went through the Middlebury meatgrinder.

[@videogamerka0009]

@@Komatik_ Well you can learn anything even with terribly insufficient methods. But how long it's going to take makes difference. No one wants to spend ages learning a language. What you achieved in 6 years they will achieve in few months.

[@Komatik_]

@@videogamerka0009 That's true. But the two hours a week thing is wrong: It works. But it's not the best method. I know English because I wanted to play video games, and my English is way, way better than my Swedish because of active immersion.

[@adritfranca]

Hey Ollie, thank you so much for doing this video. I was looking for information about this university has more than 6 months and I wasn't found almost anything related to what I saw in this video. Thank you so much. ❤🇧🇷

[@timetravellist1930]

THE DAILY SCHEDULE, but correct me if I'm wrong 7am Wake up 8am - 10am Resources for Communication 10am - 11am Rest or Tutoring or Homework 11am -12pm Culture Classes 12pm - 1pm Oral and Written Production 1pm -2:30pm Lunch 2:30pm - 7pm Co-Curricular Activities 7pm - 8:30pm Dinner 8:30pm - 10:30pm Films or Concerts 10:30pm - 2:30am 4 hours of home work 3am - 7am 4 hours of sleep

[@igorgoncalves3849]

I attended DLIFLC, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center. It was an amazing experience !

[@BlueberryLoveMuffinn]

The language pledge is ingenious!

[@grantemery2140]

It's interesting to compare this. Back when I was a practicing Mormon, I worked at their Missionary Training Center in Utah, where missionaries spend the first weeks of their missions (2 weeks if not learning a language, 6 weeks if your new language has a new writing system to you, 9 weeks if your new language has a new writing system). It was an intense boot camp with classes from 7 AM to 9 PM 7 days a week. We encouraged high levels of language use (we expected conversational levels by the time they left), but it was balanced with the joint responsibility of learning missionary duties, etc. I'd love to see how it compares to these other programs.

[@JuriAmari]

I’m considering doing Middlebury next summer if my study abroad plans fall through. I’m hoping to improve my Japanese after taking a 7 week course at Harvard Extension. My undergrad TA’s been trying to get in for years and his Japanese fluency’s pretty good. A couple of my friends have been there for Spanish and Korean and Middlebury’s effectiveness is not a myth! The great thing about Middlebury is that once you’re in, you’re in for life. So if you want to try again another year, things won’t feel so steep.

[@lspthrattan]

The pledge idea sounds great to me! Almost through the video and I'm already in another tab checking it out! Thank you!

[@sbrucedaley]

This answered most of my questions about this school. I would love to do something like this for Arabic or Japanese. Thanks for the info!

[@maxgrochocinski837]

i went to middlebury for japanese if you have any questions

[@sbrucedaley]

@@maxgrochocinski837 I definitely appreciate it. Do students of all ages live in the house or is there an age cap? Could you provide a rough estimated cost of the program?

[@murdoch1717]

@@sbrucedaley About 10k and they have students of all ages there in the same facilities. There is some financial aid.

[@sbrucedaley]

@@murdoch1717 thanks!!

[@murdoch1717]

@@sbrucedaley You're welcome bro!

[@theoldone3485]

I am really intrigued. I’m at a point in my career where I can take two months off work if I want to. I just requested info on their immersion program.

[@slicksalmon6948]

Absolutely fascinating! Interesting, however, is that when you look at the website for the school, they don't actually promise that the program will take you very far in the language. With about 400 hours of class/study plus immersion, they say you'll get about one unit farther in your language competence. In other words, if you're A1, you'll get to A2. If you're A2, you'll get to B1, and so on. That's not tremendous progress, and it's certainly not like you're getting from zero to fluent in 7 weeks. Published reviews run the gamut from "tremendous" to "horrible, overpriced and outdated". I don't know what to think.

[@tonymancini8170]

This feels like them just being more realistic than a lot of other programs as far as the smallest amount of progress they can guarantee.

[@israellai]

I mean, does anyone really expect or even want to get from zero to B2 in 7 weeks? This is the fastest you can do, and as Gabriel said, at this speed of learning you'll also lose it quickly. Plenty of weekly language courses take a year or two to get through one level.

[@slicksalmon6948]

@@israellai I completely agree. But many people have unrealistic expectations as evidenced by all the Benny Lewis lovers.

[@ben-taobeneton3945]

@@israellai I can share a bit of my experience. I did a similar language school. Not 7 weeks but 3 months. It feels a bit absurde but maybe being in that environment it's different. So 7 week might work if your fully immersed in it. What got my attention was this line: _"This is the fastest you can do, and as Gabriel said, at this speed of learning you'll also lose it quickly"_ When I did my language course witch was, no cap, 16hours every day non stop. It was depressing. We speedrushed everything so fast that I had to redo all learning on my own in my own pace to recap of what I learned. I was mess after that. But that's just me. Also a factor was that I did from home - from zoom. It's different than being on the spot.

[@JanelleC]

Complete beginners do get to a comfortable level in holding a conversation after 8 weeks, and the Portuguese for Spanish Speakers program gets you REALLY far in the language.

[@warreneckels4945]

When I was learning second-year Spanish in high school, this guy jokingly hit on me. (I'm male. I don't know if he was gay -- we did not admit to such things back then.) Two hours on two days forcing myself to speak Spanish really increased my ability in the language. Seven hundred waking hours in a foreign language - that would be incredible!

[@khyberw]

If they had a Turkish or Latin program I would 100% do this!

[@londongael414]

I like the idea of learning other things through the medium of the target language, and aspects of this course are appealing. It does look exhausting though! I think the relentlessly social nature of the course would not be for everyone - and languages are not just about talking. There's something slightly creepy about being isolated in this environment for such a long time, too. I'd like to know how many people have been expelled, and to hear from some of them. Very interesting video.

[@PowerPivotLeadership]

that's my feeling. I just can't people that much.

[@nafdikyaaqsa]

This was mind-blowing, thanks Ollie!

[@lelandv1969]

I wish there were a programme like this here in France (especially for Japanese which I've been studying for several years, but don't feel like I'm progressing beyond B1 / JLPT N4/N3 level)...

[@sasharama5485]

I'd love to go to such school. Sounds fun. Imagine falling in love with someone you're not allowed to talk to😂

[@israellai]

oof then you'll have to learn that language too

[@sasharama5485]

@@israellai i guess you're right. A very cultural relationship 😆

[@yomama...isaverynicelady]

@@bofbob1 I think the imagination is one of the distractions. Silent meditation is supposed to silence the mind (including the imagination), not just your external surroundings.

[@stevenponte6655]

I met a lovely french girl while studying French in the south of France many years ago. At first she kept insisting I spoke to her in French (she was fluent in English and Italian as well), as she knew I was there to learn French, and pretended to not understand me when i reverted back to English! As things progressed she gave up on the French with me. I barely learnt any French but it was a wonderful summer romance! :)

[@sasharama5485]

@@stevenponte6655 that's such a nice romance😊😊

[@ChiefMadokawando]

I did Mandarin. It was an extremely difficult but very rewarding and life changing experience.

[@cosettadc8486]

Interesting indeed! The key is the intensity of the programme. I took an intensive American English course 25 years ago with ELS and the results were amazing. Could you please give us some hints about similar intensive courses in the UK?

[@DomDollx]

Love languages, picked up korean by ear thru dramas and at a time I was able to pick out conversations even tho I was not literate. It's out of practice before I was able to pick it up, I tried using an app to learn the language but like this program it's imp for the intense and regimental method in learning it. I don't think as adults it's easy to learn otherwise. Glad to know of this program. Ty

[@michaelshort2388]

I have always wanted to go to Middlebury, ever since I first heard Gabe's Ted talk. lol

[@k.5425]

I need to do this to learn korean since it seems I'mbeing lazy aboutit, learning on my own.. And I'd like to do this for Spanish to polish it and attain a Spaniard accent

[@tobikrutt]

WOW, I really want to do this. I started learning Spanish about 6 years ago and I'm probably at a relatively solid B2 now, which is fine for my purposes...conversing with friends and traveling. I have had tutors but never formally studied in school or college. When I was about two and a quarter years into my learning path, I went to Mexico for 2 weeks and stayed with a local family and did an immersion program at a school. Boy, did it boost my Spanish... especially my comprehension. I really took the school's emphasis on avoiding English to heart and rarely spoke English, and never with my host family. Actually I don't even know if they spoke English because I never even tried speaking it with them. I almost went crazy the first week because it was 15 hours a day of nothing but Spanish and I thought my brain was going to explode. But then on Monday morning of the second week, I was having my usual morning chat during breakfast with my "casera" (hostess) when I suddenly realized I was late for school, so I said goodbye and ran out the door. It wasn't until I was halfway to school that I suddenly realized that for the very first time ever, I had forgotten that I was speaking in Spanish. I wasn't translating in my head at all during our conversation. That was a huge breakthrough. That whole following week, I noticed a real jump in my comprehension when I walked around the city and had conversations with local people and with my teachers. When I got back to the States, I listened to an advanced Spanish podcast that I had listened to a couple of weeks before I left for Mexico. I had only understood maybe 50% of it, but when I got back from Mexico I understood about 95%. Those two weeks also cleared up some grammatical aspects of Spanish that had always plagued me, and afterwards I was able to express myself more easily. I would love to do this program for Italian or Portuguese.

[@criticalthinker6011]

Thanks for sharing this, Toby. I've also been learning Spanish for about two and a quarter years and am about to do an immersion program in Mexico. I've recently retired so I'm planning on staying in Oaxaca for a minimum of 4 months. I'm going to do the same as you and not speak English. I can't wait to see what my level is like after 4 months!

[@tobikrutt]

@@criticalthinker6011 I loved Oaxaca and will definitely return. I retired last year and now it's easier to travel for longer periods of time.😄

[@AndreaAvila78]

I absolutely loved this video! I had no idea that school existed. If I was rich I would go there and do all the languages!!! I would also love to work in that school ❤️ teaching Spanish, my mother tongue.

[@hockeyme3113]

Can you go to the language school without going to the college for other courses?

[@Learninglotsoflanguages]

I would totally do it, if I didn't have a family. Lol. Itd be hard to be away from family or only tall to them a very short time.

[@solarmoth4628]

I think that for the same price you can do immersion programs in the country of your language. I think that the price is a bit expensive for a 8 week program in the US.

[@Lil_Kasook]

This is actually awesome. Looking into signing up for it

[@jackfeinstein722]

i completed Stufe 2 in the german school last summer. it was a fantastic experience. all of the professors are great, i've made some life-long friends, the classes are largely interesting, and being on campus is always fun. it is legitimately a very difficult academic experience. i felt myself being challenged in a way that i hadn't before; i was asked to communicate in a language that i didn't know in a way that i couldn't. by the end of it, though, i'm very confident to say that my german is better by several orders of magnitude. i highly recommend it

[@onetrueninjabear4408]

I'm looking to immigrate to Japan in the few years and hope to do the Immersion program before I do so.

[@paulwalther5237]

I've compared the Middlebury option to just going to a school in the country whose language you're studying and I'd probably choose the latter each time but at the same time, when you go to these language schools, there is NO pledge. Everyone is speaking English 99% of the time they're not in class. When I was in Japan learning Japanese I questioned myself what would happen if I just decided to only speak Japanese for a day or more. I never followed through with it. Most of my foreign friends were not intermediate (or higher) in Japanese and I'd basically have to stop talking to them. The pledge is definitely key to this whole thing. It's getting me wondering if I could try to take this pledge on a smaller scale in my own personal life with Korean (the latest language I've decided to learn). Like maybe pledge to only think and use Korean for an hour a day. (Make myself THINK in Korean... wow. I don't think that's part of the pledge at Middlebury but if you're making a personal pledge for an hour a day it might have to be included?)

[@canchero724]

I'd agree, this level sounds way too unnecessary at lower levels. Maybe this could be useful to break through from the infamous intermediate plateau to a higher level. Forcing yourself to only use a language for a summer when you already have a decent understanding of it could really take you closer to truly being comfortable with the language.

[@stevenponte6655]

Yes I was curious about the same thing. i spent a few weeks in "immersion" school in France and I must confess I hardly spoke French outside the classroom. It was summer and tourist season, everyone made it too easy to speak English. You can take the pledge yourself, but you cant make the waitress, shop assistant etc. take the pledge :)

[@paulwalther5237]

@@stevenponte6655 or more importantly your fellow students. You’ll be thought of as weird if you insist on speaking bad French to everyone all the time when everyone speaks fluent English. I stayed in France for six weeks at a language school too. Outside of my host family I don’t think any French people wanted to speak English to me 😆. I particularly remember how sad the some shop keepers looked when they found out I was a foreigner.

[@kevinmiller1356]

I would choose to go to another country because Middlebury is wildly expensive. Easily 10k for like 2 months. Unless you’re studying a Nordic language, it’s going to be way cheaper and more enriching (though maybe not as helpful in your language goals) to study abroad.

[@simonledoux8519]

@@stevenponte6655 I persisted, especially in France. I always answered back in French. I also explained that I was in the country to learn the language. If you are in touristy areas of Paris, you might encounter people would will respond to you in English. However, that isn't the case elsewhere. I really recommend living with a host family where you will hear French the moment you wake up. Don't be discouraged, Steven. Return to France or visit the French speaking areas of Canada. Keep at it!

[@frankhynd885]

The French seven week intensive summer course at Middlebury Language School costs US$ 10,915 including tuition, room and board.

[@jamesr1703]

Wow! I'm renting an apartment in Leipzig for 650 Euros a month and taking a local class. Total cost with all expenses will be around 4,500USD and it's only a 4 week commitment.

[@stevenponte6655]

@@jamesr1703 interesting. I am weighing both options for next summer. How is your French coming along?

[@xazimir4266]

That’s a LOTTA money for 1.5 months basically

[@fruitandstuff570]

Financial aid covers half.

[@knmid]

@@fruitandstuff570 They say it's limited and fcfs. Vague...what's the income limit?

[@TheAnthraxBiology]

In Ireland we do summer camps with a similar pledge to learn Irish. If you speak Irish you get kicked out. Some camps are lax on it but mine wasn't at all so from the minute we woke up til we went to sleep it was Irish all day doing different activities and all I did was think in Irish. Everyone left struggling to readjust to English but their Irish stayed at a much much higher level than before. It's always been so obvious to me from that experience that a mix of classes during the day and then activities and free time the rest of the day with the total banning of English is the best way to learn, so I'm surprised these aren't more common.

[@sagemeline]

I am incredibly envious. I've wanted to attend an Irish immersion school since I was little; never got the opportunity.

[@Tiqerboy]

I think this would be the perfect environment to 'level up' my Japanese because I know enough to carry on basic conversations, and my lack of progress is simply not having access to native speakers and being forced to use it. And I'd be fine being placed at the wrong level. Too low and I can build confidence going over things I only thought I knew well. Too high and I'm forced to challenge myself. OTOH, if I was learning a language from complete scratch like Arabic or Chinese, I would probably find that environment too intimidating. I don't think I could handle having to mumble for a few weeks before getting to where I am with Japanese.

[@garyb2392]

This is my dream program ! TY! I’m checking this out

[@DieezahArts]

I attended EF school London in 1997 and even without having any pledge in place, things were designed to minimize the opportunities for students to get tempted to use their native language. They did their best to avoid having students from the same country/speakers of the same language in tge same class/group. Similarly, when it came to accomodations in host families, a definite effort was made to avoid having housemates who spoke the same native language. Some activities offered by the entertainment office of our school made it easier for us to mingle with British folks other than teachers and staff... Some members of the staff and faculty were from various places including New Zealand...

[@r.b6170]

It's incredible; I wonder if any such language schools exist in England.

[@Patrick-xc4ul]

Sounds like the best thing for me. I couldn't even pass intro to algebra both high school and college so I am not an institutional man. Wonder if I could get a grant. I used to live on the Monterey peninsula now I'm across the bay in Santa Cruz. Nice to know there's more than one boot camp for language learning.

[@zivlau5401]

If I remember correctly, there is another school in Minnesota that offers similar courses. I think it is better to have some basis of a language before attending this kind of super-intensive courses, so that you would not be left in the dark at the beginning and get discouraged. By the way, are you allowed to have your own entertainment, like watching KZbin in English at night?

[@thomassenbart]

There is, it is at Bemidji and I have gone there twice for French. It was great and intense.

[@paulwalther5237]

I would think that would break the pledge.

[@murdoch1717]

No english at all ever during the program.