Summer school applications rise

In spite of the economic struggles of the past year, the Middlebury College Language Schools continue to attract highly qualified candidates.

The College continues to receive an increasing number of applications for the Arabic, Chinese and Portuguese schools. These languages remain popular given the increasing prominence of these languages in the world.

“We expect to have between 1,520 and 1,530 Language Schools students this summer. This includes both the Middlebury campus and the second site at Mills College in California,” Michael Geisler, Vice President for Language Schools, Schools Abroad and Graduate Programs, wrote in an e-mail.

That number also includes students who will attend the two graduate programs abroad, in Guadalajara, Mexico and in Poitiers, France.

The Language Schools offer programs in 10 different languages at the main Vermont campus as well as at the campus at Mills College in Oakland, Calif. Spanish and French have historically been the most popular languages offered, but in recent years there has been an increased interest in other languages.

“The Arabic School generally receives the most applications along with Chinese,” said Jaime Northrup, Marketing Director for the Language Schools.

“We have seen a pretty big surge in the interest in the German School over the past two years.”

One of the schools to enjoy a notable increase in applicants is Portuguese, receiving 172 applications this year, up from 125 last year.

At the Mills campus, the Arabic School is by far the most popular.

“[The program is] doing well, with about 170 students in Arabic, 50-70 students in Spanish and about 30 students in French expected there,” Geisler said.

“Arabic is pretty much filled to capacity already.”

“They are a great partner and the students really seem to like the campus,” Northrup added.

“The Arabic School is very happy there.”

This summer will not see any major changes to the Language Schools. Over the past five years the program has expanded to include a graduate course in Chinese, the graduate program in Poitiers, the School of Hebrew, the new campus at Mills College and the Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy (MMLA) for middle and high school students.

“We decided to consolidate for this summer and not add any new programs, especially because we grew by 130 students last year,” wrote Geisler, in an e-mail.

Although no new programs are being added, the MMLA is increasing from two sites to four sites this year. The program already has a presence at Green Mountain College in Vermont and at Bard College in Massachusetts, a site that is run jointly with the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, and will open new sites at Oberlin College in Ohio and Pomona College in California this summer. The MMLA offers courses in Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish and German at the pre-college level.

“Much like the Language Schools, we offer language immersion experiences for middle and high school students,” said Roberto d’Erizans, Director of the MMLA.

“The program runs four weeks, and combines both classroom and extra-curriculars to provide a fun yet challenging learning experience for students.”

Similar to the college-level Language Schools, the MMLA includes out-of-classroom learning experiences such as performances, special guest speakers and field trips.

For example, students in the Spanish program at Pomona College take a trip to Univision Studios.

One special event this year is the FIFA World Cup that will take place in South Africa, starting on June 11.

The international nature of this major sporting event lends itself well to activities at the Language Schools.

“When it is a World Cup year, soccer pretty much dominates the atmosphere of the Language Schools, but in a good way,” Northrup said. “We work with LIS to get as many of the games in the respective languages as we can and the summer soccer matches seem to take on additional meaning.”

Even when it is not a World Cup year, the Language Schools are never short on activities.

“The Language School packs so much into the summer in terms of activities, that there is always something new and interesting going on and it is impossible to keep up with it all,” Northrup said.