Middlebury Language Schools begin summer sessions in June

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — This month marks the beginning of the Middlebury Language Schools’ summer sessions, known internationally for their intensive immersion approach to the teaching of language and culture.

Each summer, the Language Schools offer three sets of summer sessions for foreign languages at the Middlebury College campus location. For the third year, Mills College in Oakland, Calif., will serve as home base for the entire Arabic School and offer additional sessions in French and Spanish. For the first time, the entire Japanese School will also be located there. Middlebury at Mills was established in response to the increasing demand for admission to the Middlebury Language Schools.

At the Middlebury campus, the eight-week session for Chinese and Russian will begin on Friday, June 17; the seven-week session for intensive language studies in French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish will begin on Friday, June 24; and the six-week session for graduate-level Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish will begin on Tuesday, June 28. At the Mills College campus, the eight-week session for Arabic and Japanese will begin Friday, June 10; the seven-week session for intensive language studies in French and Spanish will begin Friday, June 17; and the six-week session for non-degree graduate Arabic will begin Friday, June 24.

Since 1915, more than 40,000 students from all walks of life — including more than 11,000 advanced degree holders — have attended one or more of the Language Schools. Corporate executives study side-by-side with writers, journalists, doctors, lawyers, missionaries, government officials and diplomats. Undergraduates and graduate students from Middlebury College and other institutions also attend the summer sessions to fulfill language requirements or complete degrees.

For the fifth year, philanthropist Kathryn Wasserman Davis has funded the 100 Fellowships for Peace: Investing in the Study of Critical Languages, which grants 100 scholarships to cover tuition, room and board for a summer of study in any of six critical languages and related global issues during the summer of 2011. The initiative is intended to challenge Middlebury College and the Monterey Institute of International Studies, a graduate school of Middlebury, to use the institutions’ combined expertise in language acquisition and policy studies to recruit and train future potential peacemakers.

Under the guidance of about 290 faculty members at both locations from colleges and universities throughout the world, students of all ages and nationalities live on campus, totally immersed in their target language. Students live, learn and interact in the language they have come to study, and all agree to abide by the Language Pledge, a formal commitment to speak the language of study and no other for the entire summer session.  The Language Schools also host cultural events that are often open to the public.

For more information about the Middlebury Language Schools, contact Acting Director of Marketing Nelson Caldwell at 802-443-5028 or caldwell@middlebury.edu.