My French teacher is encouraging me to attend the Middlebury Language Academy in Quebec. Is it a good program and does it actually improve your language skills? I’m currently a sophomore in French 2H at my school and I really want to be fluent in French. Also, would it be better to do this or spend a year abroad in France (taking everything into account, not just the language learning)? Thank you!
The Middlebury classes will generally provide a full immersion experience of good quality, but they are super-expensive (ca. $7K for their international programs). Their classes will, at best, give you high school credit which your school may or may not accept. I frankly don’t think Middlebury classes are worth it.
In considering whether or not it makes sense for you, there are a few questions that you should be asking:
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Will you able to skip a level after taking the summer program either by virtue of having taken the class or via a placement exam? Will the class count toward your high school graduation requirements?
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What do your parents say? Can they afford it? Do they support your doing it?
If the answer to any of the above questions is no, you might want to think about doing a less expensive program. For not much more money than we would have spent sending our daughter to a Middlebury program, our family traveled to Europe and rented an apartment, my daughter took a college-level class in the humanities at a university that satisfied one of her high school graduation requirements and she took informal language classes at a language school. Between self-study, her part time language classes and just living in the country, she improved her language skills enough to skip two levels in her foreign language, while simultaneously earning college credit in another area.
Another less expensive immersion summer program can be found at Concordia Language Villages. Their programs can be done for credit or not for credit.