<p>I am very interested in studying Arabic next summer at Middlebury. Anyone on CC have any experience with the summer language program? I don't really have any specific questions, but just curious to hear what people have to say about it. I'll post this in College Admission and Search too!</p>
<p>Valerie</p>
<p>hey!</p>
<p>i'm really interested in doing that program too! i got the phamplet book thing and it looks amazing. i've been taking french, but i dont really want to continue it. so i'm vacillating b/t arabic and spanish. spanish is just so practical ... but arabic is so interesting and i would love to eventually live in someplace where arabic is the native language.</p>
<p>anyways, did you just graduate high school? i'm going to be a senior... i dont know how hard it would be for me to get into the language program :S probably pretty hard...</p>
<p>why do you want to do the language program? post if you get some info, thanks!</p>
<p>i am a freshman in college. you may have to wait a year until college because they want a year of study in a university because the program is "intense". i am looking for more info so i will keep you updated. i actually speak spanish already and want to eventually translate for the gov't etc. my boyfriend is lebonese so lately i have been hearing arabic and i actually love it. he is teaching me little sayings here and there but knowing the culture hearing him speak it makes me really want to study arabic. spanish and arabic is a nice combo - you should continue french in college and take arabic in the summer. a lot of arabic countries also speak french</p>
<p>well, they "highly recommend" that you have a year of undergrad study before applying but they do consider high school grads. i dont know if they accept many though...i should email and ask about it.</p>
<p>one thing that i didnt really understand about the program is that even if you are a complete beginner at whatever language you choose to study, you still have to ONLY speak that language (except you can converse with ur professors in english a bit). but...how will i talk to other people if i can only say a couple of words, ya know? if doesnt seem very efficient..i dont know. what do you think?</p>
<p>it says that for people starting a new language that they use a "watered down" version of the pledge until they are familiar. then after they can talk a little (which after a week or two there you should be speaking well since its 6 hour classes in the day and 5 hour studying sessions at night) they use the real pledge.</p>
<p>You'll also be constantly surrounded by other students of your langauge--some first-year level, others more advanced. You'll begin to pick up more than just what you learn in class</p>
<p>^^ yeah..have you done the program before?</p>
<p>I haven't actually; I plan to do it next summer. A professor of mine, though, was former dean of language school and study abroad, so we talked about it sometimes. From everyone I've spoken to, it seems like an amazing (albeit INTENSE) experience.</p>