Our language immersion give students the chance to improve their comprehension and speaking skills over a short time by extending language learning into the real world. Programs may include an exchange with a classroom in a different part of the world, a virtual tour of a city, or a meta-discussion of how we learn language, and always include an inclusive, immersive experience in speaking and listening.
Language Programs
Spanish:
Gabo’s Enduring Influence
Gabriel Garcia Marquez (also known as Gabo) is the only Colombian author who has won the Nobel Prize in Literature. What was it about his writing that changed the history of literature for Latin America and the world?
Join a team of Colombians to learn how the ‘magical realism’ described by Gabo is part of their national character. We immerse ourselves in the Colombian culture that underlies his stories, and explore the magical world that Gabo created through guided tours of key locations throughout Colombia.
French:
Migration and Culture in Marseilles
Like many countries in the Eurozone, major change is ongoing in France in the first part of the twenty-first century. We explore Marseille’s culture, and explore where it
juxtaposes—or is enhanced—by changing demographics.
Throughout this course, students have direct contact with locals, non profits, students, immigrants, and recent migrants, we come to understand the scale of this crisis around the world, and the challenges migrants face when trying to find a new place to call home.
Language in Context
These program sessions are designed to foster listening comprehension and conversational skills, as well as building student motivation and interest in the target language. Native speakers, from your language of preference, provide level-specific challenges for students, enabling contextual language learning.
Sessions involve both small group and one-to-one interactions, with flexibility according to the unique needs of individual learners.
The size of the group and pacing of the sessions allows learners to regularly negotiate for meaning, increasing the effectiveness of the comprehensible inputs and moving students towards heightened
fluency.
Mandarin:
Modern China and the World
From the stories dictated by Marco Polo (while in jail, incidentally) in the early fourteenth century to today’s barrage of media reports on the “rise of China,” the world’s most populous country has always been an object of interest for the rest of the world.
We delve into the benefits and challenges of doing business in China, social entrepreneurship in the Chinese context, and what it is like to be a young person in a rapidly-changing China. These language focused lessons and activities also bring out similarities and differences in values, attitudes, and behaviors, thereby developing true cross-cultural understanding.
Spanish:
Untouchable Colombia
As Colombia rapidly emerges from its history of armed conflict, certain places in the country remain little known to the outside world. Either from extant insecurity, environmental conservation, or simple difficulty in access, virtual visits to these ‘untouchable places’ provide rare opportunities to interact with locals and broaden our world.
This program moves from the ‘Science Island’ of Gorgona to the World Heritage Sites of Chiribiquete and Caño Cristales to the famed ‘lost city’ of Ciudad Perdida, with individual Colombians sharing stories of how the nation has transformed from illicit crops and war to peace and development.
Arabic:
Morocco: A Land of Cultural and Religious Syncretism
Morocco is a melting pot of histories, religions, and cultures that demonstrate the intricate connections that bind us together. The unique religious and cultural syncretism present in Morocco provides a rich backdrop for students to explore their own identities and expand their understanding of culture, language and geography.
We explore Morocco’s ethic of Pan-Africanism, embracing the conflict dialogues we come across with a commitment to listening and empathizing, and it’s his history through both individual and collective narratives.
