<p>In addition to requiring students to take most or all classes in the language of the country the program is in, Middlebury places students with a roommate from the host school and requires a one-on-one tutorial for each student in the language of the host country. I think the student proposes the topic/inquiry for the tutorial. It’s worth making the study abroad choice carefully because you don’t want to have a semester that is much lesser in academic quality than others. If the student just wants to travel and have some exposure to other cultures, that can be done in the summer.</p>