Can I use my Segal Education Award at the Language Schools?
Software developer Jack Pearson was awarded a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award at the end of his term of service. He used it to attend our 7-week immersion program at the German School.
Hometown: Santa Barbara, California
Program: 7-week Immersion
Current: Software Engineer
What surprised you about your experience at the Middlebury Language Schools?
How well peoples’ humor comes through in German, even with a beginner’s little vocabulary. Yes, it’s different humor. Less subtle. Less of the New Yorker, more of the Three Stooges. But it really does come through even in the first week at level 1.
Why did you choose to study at the Middlebury Language Schools?
In university, my Old English professor had nothing but good things to say about the program.
Then after a term of service with AmeriCorps, I had a grant for education expenses. I learned that the campus is gorgeous, the food is good, and they are serious about the Language Pledge. That was that.
Please describe how your language skills improved due to your studies at Middlebury.
I came to Middlebury with no German. After I left, I comfortably spoke German with a couple I met in a hostel. Reading Nietzsche in German has gone from impossible to merely daunting. And reading Old English is easier too. When I pick up Beowulf, I look up maybe only half as many words as I used to. So, my use of German is currently confined to my own curious whims. But I would love to work in Germany some time. Then maybe I will have to stop learning all the different words Nietzsche uses for “fate” and “sickness”, and instead learn “onion” and “U-turn” (a word resorted to far too often when I am in charge of directions).
What makes the German School a unique environment to learn the language?
The most unique thing is of course the method. The homework is fairly light in the first level, so one spends his time learning German by playing volleyball in German and talking with others over meals. And the school finds very interesting faculty. One faculty member in summer 2024 has been knighted in Germany, has written a German children’s book about the Middle Ages, and is a beast in table tennis.
What advice would you give someone wanting to attend the German School?
Speak with others even when you don’t have the words. Signing is a lot of fun.
And when you learn a word after dancing around like a monkey for two minutes trying to communicate it, you never forget the word.
If you’ve had other language learning opportunities, how would you compare them to your experience at Middlebury?
The only way I’ve studied languages in the past has been in traditional classrooms. One hour per day. Students ranging from enthusiastic to present to I-would-rather-be-anywhere-else. Middlebury is so much more full of passion and ambition. We covered roughly a semester of German in the course of one week.
Describe your typical day at Middlebury.
I would wake at 8:00 and be in the cafeteria by 8:30. I would have just ten minutes to have my coffee and a small breakfast. Then it was off to class at 9:00. First I had an hour of literature, where we read simple poems, and in later weeks Kafka and fairy tales. Then two hours of grammar. Class was over at 1:00, when I’d head to the cafeteria again for lunch. Usually I’d chat with whoever stayed until it closed at 2:30. Then depending on the day, I’d play volleyball, do yoga, play table tennis, or read a book about the Melusine myth with the help of a professor and other students. Some evenings I’d then go to the pub with friends or otherwise hang out in the Pearsons lounge.
Check out our AmeriCorps staff and alumni benefits and apply to the German School before our final application deadline on May 15th.
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