May 30, 2001
Contact: Sarah Ray
802-443-5794
sray@middlebury.edu
Posted: May 30, 2001
MIDDLEBURY,
VT-to begin summer session on June 8 MIDDLEBURY,
Vt.-Visitors and residents of Middlebury can expect to overhear a diverse
mix of languages this summer: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian,
Japanese, Russian, and Spanish.
Friday,
June 8 marks the beginning of the Middlebury College Language Schools’
summer sessions, known internationally for a rigorous approach to the
teaching of languages and cultures.
This
year, approximately 1,150 students will come to Middlebury to participate
in the Language Schools throughout the summer. During the course of the
Language Schools’ 86-year history, more than 36,000 students from all
walks of life-including more than 11,000 advanced degree holders-have
attended one or more of the 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.
Under
the guidance of approximately 250 faculty members from colleges and universities
throughout the world, students of all ages and numerous nationalities
live on campus, totally immersed in their target language. Students eat,
sleep, drink, and shop 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.
Each
summer, the College offers three sets of summer sessions for foreign languages.
The nine-week session for Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian begins
Friday, June 8; the seven-week session for French, German, Italian, and
Spanish will begin on Friday, June 22; and the six-week session for graduate-level
French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish will begin on Monday, June
25.
Programs
offered by the Language Schools reflect Middlebury College’s overall commitment
to excellence in language education and international studies.