Middlebury Language Schools to Begin 112th Summer
The Middlebury Language Schools, which are known around the world for their full immersion approach and Language Pledge, will welcome more than 1,400 students and 300 faculty and staff to the campuses of Middlebury and Bennington Colleges this summer. Among the many highlights of the summer, the Chinese School will celebrate its 60th anniversary this summer, and the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) graduate program will graduate its first cohort of students.
The Language Schools offer programs ranging from beginner to graduate level in Abenaki, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. The Arabic, Italian, and Portuguese programs take place on the Bennington campus, while the remaining nine are headquartered on the Middlebury College campus. Graduate students will also be in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in Paris, France, for six weeks this summer. This will be the final summer the Language Schools will operate in Bennington. Arabic, Italian, and Portuguese programs will return to the Middlebury College campus for summer 2027.
The average age of a Language Schools student has inched up to 31, with this year’s group including more than 175 students over the age of 50. Forty-eight states and 76 countries are represented. Fourteen percent of the students have listed themselves as complete beginner (Level 1) students, while 23 percent will be enrolled in Language Schools graduate programs. The students include healthcare workers, translators, retirees, undergraduate students (approximately 34 percent), journalists, graduate students at other universities, engineers, government employees, historians, and teachers.
The students bring a remarkable variety of backgrounds and reasons for improving their language skills. In the Arabic School, for example, a global public health specialist who specializes in mental health in post-conflict settings has enrolled for her first summer. Two sisters, who are both military veterans, will attend the School of Spanish. In the Portuguese School, a journalist and Russian alumna who has worked extensively in Ukraine and Russia is learning Portuguese as her work shifts to South America and the Amazon. A flight attendant and her husband with Italian heritage will be in the Italian School together. A physician enrolled in the Betty Ashbury Jones MA ’86 School of French because he is planning to move to France to open an international healthcare consulting business with a focus on oncology. A student in the School of Japanese has been learning Japanese while living in Japan on a rice farm and is studying sake brewing.
“The faculty and staff of the Language Schools are looking forward to welcoming our students from around the world,” said Tim Page, acting dean of the Language Schools. “Our students represent incredible backgrounds and share a passion for language learning.”
Language Schools students will live, learn, and interact 24/7 in their language of study for the duration of their time in the program. They sign Middlebury’s Language Pledge®, a formal commitment to speak, write, read, and listen exclusively in their language of study for the entire summer session.
Since 1915, more than 58,000 students from all walks of life—including more than 13,000 advanced degree holders—have attended one or more of the Language Schools. To learn more about who enrolls in the Language Schools, please see this year’s student profile.
Information about the Middlebury Language Schools can be found online or by contacting the Language Schools at 802-443-5510.