My Long Summer at an Intensive Language Immersion School
Middlebury Language School is a 6-8 week intensive summer program where students sign up to speak the target language — and only that language — in everything they do. It’s an attempt to bring the concept of foreign language immersion to the United States without needing to leave the country.
I attended the Japanese school in 2014, and while I managed to learn some things and make some good friends, the program, as a whole, is not something I recommend. Here is my full experience with it.
The Levels
The Japanese program is organized by five levels of difficulty, with level one being for beginners and level five for the most advanced (in Japanese, these levels were referred to as 初級 I、初級 II、中級 I、中級 II、and 上級 for levels 1-5, respectively).
Your level is decided in the first week by a placement test. Once decided, the four classes you take each day are all with the other students who placed into your level. The amount of students in each level was very much like a parabola, with the highest amount (about thirty students) in level three, and the smallest amount (about 10-12 students) in levels one and five.
The placement test is fairly accurate in putting you where you’ll fit best, but you still have about two weeks from the first day of classes to choose to drop down or move up. As far as I know, students in my year only chose to drop down. I myself placed into level four, found it too difficult, only to drop to level three two weeks later and find it too easy.
The main flaw with the level grouping system is that it makes the immersion fake. You spend four hours of your time with students who can’t speak Japanese much better than you. Then, you spend another four hours doing homework, most likely asking the people in your level for help (if you’re not asking a teacher), because those are the students who remember that particular thing so-and-so-sensei said that you didn’t quite get.
As a result, you spend so much time with these students that they become your friends — which is great, except that’s now one less opportunity to really challenge you to speak and learn Japanese.
A true immersion environment would be sink or swim. You’d be constantly exposed to Japanese way above your level, forcing you to learn in order to get things done. At Middlebury, it was extremely easy to coast. Extracurricular activities and meals were really the only times you got to speak to other students in a group setting.
If you were a beginner, it was hard to understand anyone above you, hard to enjoy the Japanese guests who were invited to visit and give talks. If you were an advanced student, you probably had the least amount of time because you had the most amount of (and the most difficult) homework. But you would always have to dumb down your speech to be understood by other students whenever you wanted to talk to them. The only way “up” was to talk to teachers.
Sure, it’s “all Japanese, all the time,” but not done in a way truly conducive to learning.
The Language “Pledge”
The language pledge dictates that for the entire duration of the program, you will speak the target language and only the target language, save in cases of emergency (or occasional, brief conversations with loved ones). It’s taken seriously enough that Middlebury forces you to sign a contract saying you’ll uphold it.
Everyone does *not* obey it. You thought the fear of being expelled would stop people from speaking English?
Of course, there were definitely some 真面目 (serious) types who were suspected of tattling on students who were hiding that they were speaking in English, but at least a third of the students took breaks.
A friend of mine who was a Middlebury undergrad and knew the campus better than the rest of us found a room in a building away from the Japanese school’s dorm where a few of us would laugh and gossip about the teachers. Students would go into town on Saturdays and speak in English, away from the watchful eyes of teachers.
There was a conference room in the dorm where the beginner students would joke and complain in English, all the while with their textbooks open, ready to immediately switch into Japanese if the wrong person were to walk in. Being that this was the Japanese school, students would often “katakanify” words to get around the pledge in public.
Students would go to other students’ rooms and speak in English in low voices (a friend and I got caught doing this with no repercussions, which makes me wonder how egregious the case of a student speaking English to get expelled really has to be).
Truthfully, violating the pledge was one of the best parts of the program. Not because you were speaking in English, but because you were finally able to really bond with people. It’s not easy to go through such an intense, rigorous program and not be able to express yourself or connect on more than a superficial level with the people around you.
Referencing jokes with students outside my level in Japanese that we’d originally made in English, to the great confusion of the teachers, was fun, an opportunity for laughter and bonding in an otherwise stressful environment. Not only that, but people of various age groups, backgrounds, and with different reasons for attending were a part of the program, and for at least half of the students there, it was difficult if not impossible for them to talk about themselves otherwise.
And there’s the fact that sometimes, explanations of how a foreign language works just won’t make sense to you in that foreign language.
4 Hours of Homework (to Match 4 Hours of Class) Every Night
The goal of the program is not so much to teach you Japanese as it is to shove an entire textbook down your throat in eight weeks. No matter what level of difficulty you place into, you *will* have a lot of work.
While this work load is expected, in practice it made the program feel more like two months of cramming for a very important test instead of dedicated learning time. In level three classes, of the fifteen chapters in the Tobira: Gateway to Advanced Japanese textbook, we studied ten of them, and the accompanying workbook made up the bulk of our homework assignments.
In level four classes, as the textbook was written by the professors and consisted of mostly excerpts of literature, manga, and poetry, the homework was focused on writing comprehension and using newly introduced grammar patterns in compositions correctly. Either way, it took a long time to complete. And as you can expect with cramming, the
knowledge you spend so much time stuffing into your short-term memory fades easily, even with a few weeks’ break.
If you happened to be exceptionally quick with your assignments, you would still end up fairly bored, since there would be few other people free enough to do anything with.
Extracurricular Activities Are Fun… But Drain Your Time for Homework
For all the pledge breaking I discussed above, there actually wasn’t all that much opportunity to do so. The other fun thing about Middlebury (although it took a considerable amount of time away from all of the homework you were assigned) was the extracurricular activities. There were clubs to join, like karaoke, or calligraphy, and outdoor sports as well, like soccer or volleyball. At the halfway point of the program, you were required to switch to another club. There were no prerequisites — you could join any club you want to.
Then every weekend, there were a few special activities. Some of these were during the day, multi-hour events, like 運動会 (a field day), while others were in the evening, like movie nights or the occasional party. There was even a talent show at the end of the year. If you’re thinking about attending this program, I highly encourage you to click through the photos and videos of speakers and events from past years to get a sense of some of the really cool things you get to do.
They were all great ways to diffuse stress and make friends while engaging in something usually related to Japanese culture, and were particularly interesting also because they forced you to use the language outside of a classroom or mock real life setting.
It’s Expensive
The Japanese school cost roughly $11,000 when I attended, and as of 2018, that cost has risen to $12,155. This doesn’t include the cost of books, travel, or living expenses. There are a few scholarships, but only for very specific situations, such as the Portuguese Teachers Fellowship for students in the Portuguese school.
The most you can get in financial aid is roughly half of the entire cost of the program — if you’re lucky. The financial aid is need based and *does* run out. That $11k? I paid that entirely in student loans.
Almost as bad as the financial aid is the communication for it. The only way to know if there is still aid available is by a page on their website that essentially only says ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ next to the name of the language school. This year they have at least added a small date at the bottom of the page to let you know when it last updated.
The year I applied, Middlebury did not send out a single piece of outreach notifications about aid, and it wasn’t until after four months of waiting and an email to the director of financial aid that I got an answer. Talk about not a good first impression.
A Quiet Town So You Can Do Nothing But Study
Every year, the Japanese school moves between locations. In odd numbered years, it’s located at the Mills campus in California. In even numbered years, it’s located in Middlebury, Vermont. Whatever you do, do not go on an even-numbered year.
Middlebury, Vermont is a small, quaint, stereotypical New England town. There are maybe five restaurants, a farmer’s market. A handful of cafes. A post office. A church, complete with a steeple. Luckily the town is pretty walkable and there are at least sidewalks. On particularly sunny, hot, humid days, you are graced withe the hearty, inescapable aroma of cow poop from the many dairy farms nearby.
And who knows? Maybe that’s your cup of tea. Maybe you will find it quaint. But don’t go to Middlebury expecting there will be much to do outside of campus if you feel the need to escape the constant Japanese grind without going very far.
Final Thoughts: ★★★✰✰
The Middlebury Language Program is academically brutal. Not necessarily because the work is difficult, but because there is so much of it. Even though I went into the program willingly, excitedly, even, I was constantly stressed, as I needed to do well enough to transfer the semester’s worth of credits to my home institution. Even if I didn’t need the credit, the desire to do well would leave anyone struggling and exhausted. Not to mention, going $11,000 into debt to spend most of my summer doing homework was not exactly what I had expected.
My desire to learn Japanese was tested to the point that I wasn’t even sure I wanted to bother with the language anymore, and I ended up taking a year and a half long break, losing memory of most of what I may have gained from the program in the process. Me, who was printing out kanji practice sheets at 13 and who studies electronic flashcards for fun.
For the cost alone, if you’re looking for an immersion experience, I would recommend finding one that’s actually in Japan.
If you want to meet some cool people (and willing to break the language pledge to do it), for some reason need to complete a lot of college credit in a short amount of time (I received the credit equivalent of four courses, but your school may not give you this), plan on going to Japan right after the program is over, and don’t mind spending your summer in hot, humid buildings with your nose in a book, then go to the Middlebury Language School.
But trust me when I say there are more enjoyable and less expensive ways to learn Japanese, and if you frequent this site, it’s safe to say this program is probably not for you.
Studying Japanese – whenever I can – wherever I can.
Does anyone have experience with a language school like this in Japan? I feel like it would work a bit better.
I did a language school program in Tokyo (ARC Academy). I personally found it a good experience. Here’s a brief overview of my background and my experience with it.
I had studied for about 2 years half-heartedly in Houston, Texas, at the Japan America Society. It was 2 hours once a week with Genki Vol. 1 and 2, with no assigned homework.
Luckily (unluckily?) I never had to study in college, so I never learned how to really study.
In spring 2012 I took a trip to Tokyo for a week, and made it a point to check out ARC. I had e-mailed a few times and scheduled a time where I could meet with a current student and ask all the questions I wanted for about 30 – 45 mins one-on-one. Class environment, course materials, etc.
I joined in October 2012. There was a placement test (written, but may have been speaking. Don’t remember) and was placed in a class with about 18 of us total. I was placed in level 2 (out of 10.. with 10 being the most advanced). Most of my classmates where Chinese. But some other classes had mostly Vietnamese. Depends on the time you join what majority will make up your classmates. And age was mostly 18 – 24ish. I was 28 or 29 at the time. I did see one student (not in my class) who was probably 40 – 50 though. Students at the school were from all over. Philipines, Taiwan, Croatia, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Russia, and so on.
“Terms” are 3 months. Most of my classmates had joined today back in July. Teachers only used Japanese in the classroom. Classes were 1.5 hrs, 15 min break, 1.5 hrs. Then anywhere from 1 – 3 hours of homework a night.
Weekly kanji tests, monthly (or thereabout) tests to see how well we knew the material covered (vocab, grammar, listening, etc.).
I’d never taken JLPT, but I feel I started at probably a mid N5 level and when I finished I was a high N3. I did take N3 in July 2013 and passed, though several classmates took N2 and passed. N3 was my goal, so I was happy.
The school was strict on attendance, which I was happy about, because students wandering in late can be a distraction.
The school was not very strict on cheating though. A few times during tests a student was be spotted cheating and was simply told to stop, with no punishment.
The school was expensive though. At the time tuition was around 700,000 yen. Textbooks and application fee excluded. The school does handle all the visa paperwork for you though. The school can help you find housing, but luckily I was able to stay with a Japanese friend’s family.
The school probably isn’t for everyone, but I felt like I made a wonderful choice.
Thanks for posting. I had read about that Middlebury program years ago and it sounded great. I didn’t have the opportunity to do it due to cost and felt like I missed out on my chance to be fluent. Sounds like there’s no secret key even at these expensive programs.
You definitely didn’t miss out! Self-studying has been much, much better for me. You just have to find what works for you. Some students of the program had been there before, so they at least liked it, but I don’t know what it really did for their Japanese skills.
Thank you very much for this post, Adam. It’s always interesting to read about different Japanese schools, especially ones in the US. Those are often cheaper and more attainable for a good majority of us.
I also did a language school program in Tokyo, Japan. The school was called International Christian University – or ICU for short. I didn’t know it at the time, but it’s very well known in Japan since the royal family’s daughters both attended. It’s also difficult for Japanese students to get into, as they have to pass an English test.
I was there from 2011 through 2012, just shy of 12 months.
PROGRAM
When you first arrive at ICU, you are given a placement test, including a listening section. You have 14 days to request a change if you feel you were misplaced; in my case, I tested low, and asked to be moved up. For me, it turned out to be a good move.
Levels are 1-8 or so; the super advanced levels get a little fuzzy. I started in level 301 and finished on level 5 by the time I was done. Level 1 was absolute beginner and level 6-8 were rated fluent enough to take other classes in Japanese such as History, Literature, etc.
ICU offers both a summer program and a year long program, so 4 terms total.
The summer program is intensive only, and only focuses on Japanese classes.
INTENSIVE vs. NORMAL
The year long program can either be normal or intensive classes, although I would call them “intensive” and “more intensive”. I took the “normal” level of classes, as I was also taking other classes for credits back home. If I had taken the intensive course, I would have ended at level 6.
Normal Japanese classes have you completely memorize 20 Kanji and 30-40 vocabulary per week. Classes start at 8am and go until 3pm.
Intensive simply means you do 2 levels in the time frame you normally would do 1. So, double the Kanji, double the vocabulary, double the grammar and homework. Each term goes through 1 entire textbook, so in intensive you go through 2 books. Classes end at 5pm.
CLASSES
Classes are from Monday through Friday. You have an hour lunch break. There are classes dedicated to listening/speaking, reading, writing, Kanji/Vocabulary and Grammar. You get a LOT of homework. Despite this, you are expected to study beyond what the homework gives. The homework merely reinforces what you learned; it does not help you get ahead.
Often, we were expected to know the material before actually studying it. For example, our reading teacher would have us read word lists that we had never seen before, or read excerpts from the textbook that we had never gone over. Since this was done out loud in the classroom (and was embarrassing), some of us started studying the next week’s chapter before we even finished the current one.
If you want to have time to spend with your friends, explore Japan or take other classes besides JLP, then I would HIGHLY recommend the normal level classes.
TEACHERS
Obviously, every teacher is different, but at level 301, they do not hold back from using Japanese. Think rapid fire instructions and explanations. Typically most of us didn’t catch everything that was said, so there was a lot of collaboration between students to piece it all together.
They also graded very strictly. Kanji must be perfect – no missed or wrong strokes. Vocabulary must be perfect. Grammar must be perfect. It was easy to get points deducted.
TEXTBOOKS
ICU uses textbooks and audio files created by the Japanese teachers. So, they are not available online or from any bookstores. There is a bookstore on campus where they are sold.
OTHER CLASSES
Aside from the Japanese classes, you can also take extra classes. Typically these started at 3pm and went until 5pm or so. Some are in the evening. For levels 5 and below, these are conducted in English and are a mix of Japanese and international students. These classes are ridiculously easy. Most had no homework, only the occasional paper essay, quizzes and tests. Straight up memorization for quizzes and tests.
I believe that they are made easy on purpose for 2 reasons:
1. Japanese students are likely to have problems accomplishing their homework with limited English knowledge.
2. International students are often so bogged down with Japanese lessons they have little time to devote to these classes.
These classes are part of the Japanese Cultural Program offered at ICU, so they revolve around Japanese history, literature, culture, etc. If you pass all of these classes plus your JLP classes, you receive an offical certification for passing.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS and FRIENDS
There is a huge mix of international students. Most of them came from English speaking countries such as America, England, Australia, etc. We had a few from China and Taiwan as well.
Due to the stress and the fact that everyone is constantly in the same classes as you, you become best buddies with your fellow classmates. Rarely did we hang out with people in higher levels, mostly because they were so busy.
Another reason for this is most of the students are houses in the international dorm. I, however, was placed in a Japanese dorm. So I had a Japanese roommate and dormmates while most of my friends had international roommates.
HOW I SPENT MY TIME
I obviously spent most of my time studying on the weekdays and hanging around campus. On the weekends we would take trips into the heart of the city to explore. I did not participate in any clubs, as the Japanese workload (to me) was too much. Others did join clubs though.
DROPPING OUT
Much like Adam experienced in his post above, the level of stress was absolutely real. The amount of homework was incredible; missing 1 assignment put you back quite a bit. There were quizzes in at least one class per day, tests every chapter and exams (written and oral) every 1/2 term and full term.
Because of this, many people dropped out of the JLP program. When we moved from level 301 to 401, maybe 5 people dropped out from our class of 20. When we went from 401 to 501, we were reduced to about 10. Some people failed to pass, and had to retake the lower level or some failed and simply dropped out.
For me, failure was never an option. I had to pass all of my classes in order to graduate college upon my return. I also decided that no matter how stressful I was, I came to Japan for a reason – to learn Japanese. My regret would have been enormous if I had dropped out.
Dropping out does not mean you were forced to go home early. You could still stay and take the other classes available during your time.
IMMERSION
Some people would think that being in a college in Japan would mean instant immersion. I’m here to say this was not true, at least in ICU. The other Japanese students and staff knew enough basic English pretty well, and would default to it most of the time.
Because of this, ICU is a bubble of English in the middle of Japanese Tokyo. It literally is a different world once you cross the campus border. To truly get immersion, you have to leave campus. Also, when you hang out with your international friends you always revert back to English no matter how hard you try.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE
Overall, while it was an extremely stressful stay, I think there is no experience quite like it. I was able to get all my credits needed for graduation, explore Japan and most of all, my Japanese level grew by leaps and bounds.
I felt my mind had “clicked” into Japanese by the end of my year; I have no doubt that if I had stayed for another year, I would probably have been WELL onto my way for fluency. My mind had started instinctively grasping the grammar, my listening skill had grown so much.
It was really hard for me to calculate these changes, but when I went back to my college in America and took the most advanced class they had, I literally SLEPT through the Tobira book. It was that easy. And when I had left for Japan, Tobira seemed insurmountable.
So for me, this made it all worth it.
My biggest regret is forgetting most of what I have learned over the course of that year. But when you go from an environment dedicated to learning Japanese every single day, to your home where you need to write thesis papers in English, I think you are going to lose something no matter what you do.
Thanks so much for sharing your own language school experience!
But I actually didn’t write this. It was our awesome guest writer NekoNeko :)
Oh, right my bad!
I definitely appreciate the different perspectives. Thank you NekoNeko!
I went to Middlebury Summer Intensive program over 30 years ago, and have a family member currently attending. When I went, it was amazing. The teaching method was completely different, but very very effective.
Unfortunately Middlebury has succumbed to the ‘naturalistic’ and ‘experiential’ method of teaching foreign language. No longer do you sit with headphones and practice rapid fire drills (of common phrases, words, and declensions) and memorize pages of important common words, instead it’s about ‘culture’ and doing power points. And if you want to be a tourist and go sushi eating in Japan and have a pile of cash to drop, then this is your program. For anyone who wants some fluency fast, nope. It won’t get you there. It’s an insipid, feel good program now. For sure, it’s more intense than just about anything, if you can’t self motivate, but honestly, not worth the 10k. Do Rosetta Stone, Anki, and park yourself at airbnbs in Japan with that money, you’ll be better off.
I don’t want to invalidate your experience and views, as I did the Italian program 20 years ago, so it’s not apples to apples (I had the impression that the Italian school was among the best run programs and its 20 years ago) and in any event people can have different perspectives, but I had thought it it bar none the best way to learn a. Language and I learned far more there than in a year in Italy. It never left me and I’m fluent today.
A few points. Yes you are speaking with people above and below your level, but it’s a full immersion experience. If you’re going to find a way to go to the target country and somehow not spend half your time speaking English, then you have a pointt that that could be more immersive. But as an English speaker, I feel like that’s incredibly hard to find. And the most important point is to be straining to speak and understand the target language all your waking hours; less important is whether the person you’re speaking to is above or below your level. And if you’re the personwho decides to break the language pledge, then, sure, it’s not full immersion and you harm yourself. In my experience yeah the cool kids did speak some English in private on weekend nights, but the school gave them a talking to so that it didn’t become widespread, which is the only thing I think you can reasonably expect the school to do.
As a three-time attendee of 2 Middlebury language schools over the past 20 years, I can’t stress how much the Language Pledge to only use the target language will make or break your experience. Forming those relationships in English? You missed out. Pushing past all of that while remaining in your target language is the way to go. I remember a level 2 conversation one summer between 3 girls, one of whom was considering hooking up with a married guy (who had removed his ring for the summer) and the other girls advising her about various benefits or pitfalls to doing so. In the target language. It’s living the language, and all of the emotions and frustrations that accompany it, that imprints the learning. And it’s not just about contact hours – frequent “breaks” in English shatters the depth of that immersion.
This was a really insightful article to read. I am planning on attending the Chinese School this coming summer and it was good to see an article that is actually critically of the experience so I know what to expect. For me personally, I am concerned about the homework. Even in Middlebury College’s regular academic year a major complaint I saw when looking at reviews was just how much homework they assigned. I have a friend who attends Middlebury as an undergrad and he attested to this in regards to his beginning French class. For me personally, I think I will still go through with the program despite this article.
My main reasoning attests to a few things, 1) the current state of China makes it difficult for me to study abroad there this summer 2) while there are people who break the pledge, I plan on sticking to it the best I can because I really feel I need an immersive experience to actually improve (I’m taking intermediate Chinese at my college and have felt my improvement stagnating for a while now) 3) I find it very difficult to self-motivate so self-study isn’t very effective for me 4) In immersion programs abroad you do get the opportunity to speak with native speakers on a daily basis and be surrounded by the language but equally I feel a lot of (admittedly somewhat irrational) apprehension towards speaking a target language with a native speaker who is not in a teaching role. Simply put I get really self conscious that I am inconveniencing other people by speaking crappy Chinese and barely getting an intelligible point across. Heck, I have Chinese native as a roommate and I have not spoke to in Chinese once because of this. I don’t believe I would be able to really benefit from an immersion program abroad, at least not at my current level, because I get the feeling I would be too nervous to actually strike up conversation with people and take advantage of the situation. It sounds stupid I know, but something psychologically makes it easier for me to speak with other learners or teachers than someone I just randomly meet. I’m not positive I am making the right decision, but for all it’s worth my Chinese professor (who wrote my letter of recommendation for the application) supported my decision and I am trusting her insight as well.