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.