Living German at Middlebury
| by Carolyne Ulomy
From June 29 until the afternoon of August 14, it was all German, all the time for Carolyne Ulomy, whose home language is Swahili.
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| by Carolyne Ulomy
From June 29 until the afternoon of August 14, it was all German, all the time for Carolyne Ulomy, whose home language is Swahili.
Caroline Finken, Master in Applied Languages in French student, completed a summer practicum as a conservation intern at the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte in Maincy, France.
Ying Zhang, whose Chinese Program at Montgomery Bell Academy was recognized as one of the 16 programs across the US to receive the 2024 CLTA Distinguished K-12 Chinese Program, shares about how Middlebury’s Master’s in Chinese program shaped her as an educator.
Fang Bian, who teaches Mandarin Chinese at Bergen County Academies in New Jersey, has used the teaching methods she learned in our MA program to integrate authentic language materials with activities that lead to more scientific, productive, and effective student output.
Markus Clark, an alumnus of our Italian Immersion and MA programs, spent his second summer as a Bilingual Assistant at our Italian School in summer 2025.
Drawing on her professional and personal experience, Dr. Pen-Pen Chen shares insights into how language connects identity, community, and opportunity. Dr. Chen highlights the cultural and professional advantages of learning Chinese in today’s world while reflecting on her own journey as a Chinese American. This engaging discussion offers both inspiration and practical reasons for embracing language learning.
Video originally published by the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Arizona, June 26, 2025.
U.S. Marine Johnathan Vazquezcook, currently stationed in Okinawa Japan, can now hold a basic conversation in Japanese after attending our School of Japanese: Level 1. Our dedicated faculty and staff ensured he was never afraid to stumble and helped make every interaction feel meaningful.
Motoko Tabuse has been the Director of the School of Japanese since 2019. The School of Japanese includes our 8 week (12 credit) immersion program as well as two graduate programs: MAT with Teaching Licensure and Master of Arts in Japanese Language and Culture.
Our bilingual assistants are indispensable to the success of our programs. Each summer, they plan and execute co-curricular activities and support our students, faculty, and staff. In this article, three of our bilingual assistants share about what they love most about working at the School of Japanese.
PhD student Shahriar Akhavan Tafti’s summer at our German School “rewired his brain,” and “changed his very being.”
For Yale PhD student Michelle Keefe, who is typically very talkative, entering the German School at Level 1 was a daunting prospect. In the end, she was surprised to find that her impulse to communicate overrode her lack of language.