German
Experience the best—and simplest—option for learning German.
Apply Now Inquire NowSpend a summer at the German School and you’ll experience the single most effective method for rapid language acquisition: a total immersion environment with the Language Pledge®—a promise to read, write, listen, and speak only in your language of study.
Founded in 1915 as the first of the Language Schools, the German School has decades of experience in helping students achieve true fluency in German language and culture, whether they are undergraduates, graduate students, professionals, or life-long learners of all ages.
German Program Options
Apply to a program based on your language proficiency. High school graduates to 80+ years old are eligible.
- 7-week immersion program for beginner to advanced students who want to improve language proficiency as rapidly as possible. Please see summer Dates and Fees.
- Graduate programs for students seeking a degree or graduate-level courses. Please see graduate Dates and Fees.
- 7-week German for Singers program that integrates the study of German language, literature, and culture with the study and performance of German vocal music. Please see Dates and Fees.
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Connection to Language for a Lifetime
I came into the Middlebury German Language Program with pretty much zero experience speaking German. And it’s been really cool to form friendships with people and read books and write essays and just live daily life in German. It’s definitely been a challenging experience to not be able to fully express myself or say everything that I want to say all the time.
But it’s been really cool to see how I’ve progressed and how every week, I get a little bit better and a little bit more comfortable. And I think that the connections that I’ve formed here and being able to form relationships and have ideas and be in classes exclusively in German.
That connection to language is something that I’ll take forward into the next year.
Live in Language
In class, you’ll rapidly build proficiency with the help of our dedicated faculty and benefit from our emphasis on meaningful, real-life communication. For graduate students, our programs provide rigorous graduate instruction in key content areas.
Outside the classroom, you’ll participate in organized in-language cocurricular activities—such as soccer, theater, choir, and film club—each designed to help you build new vocabulary while developing cultural fluency.
Funding
Thanks to the support of generous donors (including Language Schools alumni) and Middlebury’s commitment to provide an opportunity for as many students as possible, we are pleased to offer need-based financial aid and merit-based fellowships and scholarships. Students can also apply to outside funding opportunities including the Boren Fellowship, Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship, and VA Benefits.