Hebrew 7-week Immersion Program

The immersion program is for beginner to advanced students who want to improve language proficiency as rapidly as possible. Students have the option to study 7-weeks or 3-weeks on campus.

Curriculum

All courses provide proficiency-oriented instruction in listening, reading, speaking, writing, and grammar. Students engage in activities that enhance presentational, interpretive, and interpersonal modes of oral and written communication.

Students are enrolled in one of seven levels according to their proficiency as determined by a placement test and prior experience with Hebrew. If you wish to take an additional course in Classical Hebrew, you need to have attained at least the Intermediate Mid level as defined by the ACTFL proficiency guidelines. Read more about level placement.

Biblical Hebrew Track

The Biblical Hebrew Track offers students an intensive and immersive introduction to the language of the Hebrew Bible alongside the living language of modern Israel. In this track, students complete two academic hours of Biblical Hebrew and one academic hour of Modern Hebrew every day, allowing them to develop strong philological skills while also gaining communicative ability in contemporary Hebrew.

Through the study of syntax, verb patterns, and semantics, students build a rigorous foundation for reading and interpreting biblical texts in their original language. At the same time, the Modern Hebrew component enables students to engage with Hebrew as a living language, strengthening their overall linguistic intuition and deepening their connection to the broader Hebrew linguistic tradition.

Students in Levels 2–5 follow this integrated model from the beginning of the summer. Level 1 students begin with Modern Hebrew only during the first half of the program, establishing a strong foundation in the language before transitioning into the combined Biblical and Modern Hebrew curriculum in the second half of the summer.

As part of the Middlebury Language Schools, the program follows Middlebury’s renowned total-immersion model, reinforced by the Language Pledge, which commits students to using Hebrew as their language of communication throughout the summer. This unique environment allows students to make rapid progress while experiencing Hebrew as both a classical and contemporary language.

Ideal for students of biblical studies, religious studies, Jewish studies, and related fields, the track provides a strong foundation for advanced textual study and sustained engagement with Hebrew across historical periods.

A Typical Day

Daily activities include four to five hours of classroom instruction followed by afternoon cocurricular activities. All students in the School of Hebrew will engage in extensive reading and listening activities using the texts from invited lecturers, novels, short-stories, plays, movies, media items, and journalistic accounts. Students are encouraged to choose from a wide array of cocurricular activities.