The Chinese School at Middlebury College Summer Program

In the Chinese School, we choose our faculty from among the most dedicated, hardworking professionals in academia and select our students from a pool of highly qualified, highly motivated learners.

As a student in the Chinese School, you’ll meet with your teachers for four hours of daily classroom learning, as well as individual review sessions and drop-in evening office hours. Between times, you'll join them in organized cocurricular activities—including tai chi, hiking, theater, calligraphy, cooking, and Majiang—each designed to help you build new vocabulary while developing cultural fluency.

Whether in class, at poetry club, in the dining hall, or just chatting with friends, you'll be living the language for eight intensive weeks. When you leave campus at summer’s end, you’ll say goodbye to friends you're likely to meet again later—as professional colleagues in the Chinese-speaking world.

Welcome to the Chinese School!

Deadline: Rolling Admissions

The Chinese School 9-week program is full. We are no longer accepting applications to the summer 2010 session. The online application for the summer 2011 session will be available in mid-October, 2010.

The 6-week MA graduate program is still accepting applications.

Financial aid availability: click to view.

Access the Online Application >> NB: The online application for the summer 2011 session of the Language Schools will be available in October 2010.

The Chinese School
Session     Dates     Tuition     Room & Board     Total
9-week
4 units     June 11-August 13     $6,165     $3,296     $9,461

To be considered for a grant you must meet the following requirements:

   1. You must have a complete application submitted to one of the ten Language Schools.
   2. You must also have completed a Language Schools Financial Aid Application, including all other requested documentation. All financial aid is based on financial need, as determined by Student Financial Services.

Some facts to consider about financial aid:

    * It is important that you get your complete financial aid application to us as soon as possible, because our funds are limited and do run out.
    * You do not need to be enrolled in a Middlebury College degree program to qualify for a grant.
    * All Language Schools students are eligible to apply.
    * All financial aid awards are based on need for qualified applicants to the Language Schools.
    * All Middlebury financial aid is awarded in the form of grants. Private loans are available for students in non-degree programs.
    * Summer Language Schools students at all levels and Middlebury MA or DML candidates enrolled at one of Middlebury's Schools Abroad are eligible to receive grants.
    * Visiting U.S. and Canadian students should complete the Language School Financial Aid Application.
    * Middlebury undergraduates should complete the Summer Aid Request form.
    * International Students should complete the Middlebury International Financial Aid Application.

Fellowships

Middlebury offers a number of merit-based fellowships and scholarships for the summer Language Schools. Please refer to the links on the right-hand side of this page.

To be considered for a fellowship you must meet the following requirements:

   1. You must have a complete application submitted to one of the ten Language Schools.
   2. You must meet all additional application requirements (these vary by School; refer to the individual application instructions).

While each School's daily schedule is unique, it's still possible to sketch a general idea of how your typical day might flow. The first half is spent in anywhere from three to five classroom hours, followed by lunch with your professors and peers.

In the afternoons, you put your newly learned language skills to work, participating in cocurricular activities ranging from cooking and calligraphy to music and dance.

During the evening you might attend a lecture by a visiting scholar or commentator, watch a film, or participate in a cultural celebration relevant to your language and culture of study.

Here's what a typical day might look like:

8:00 a.m. - Wake up, eat breakfast, and prep for class

9:00 a.m. - Morning classes (class time ranges from 3 to 5 hours in the morning, depending on the School)

1:00 p.m. - Lunch and rest

3:00 p.m. - Cocurricular activities, free time, homework, and class preparation

4:00 p.m. - Afternoon classes (afternoon class time varies, depending on the School)

5:00 p.m. - Films, lectures, or presentations

7:00 p.m. - Dinner

8:30 p.m. - Faculty office hours, cocurricular activities, homework, class preparation, dances

10:00 p.m. TV and . . . sleep (both in-language)

Where cultural understanding meets true fluency.

Middlebury has led the world in full-immersion language studies since the launch of its first summer program in 1915. Today, graduates of the degree programs at the Middlebury Language Schools and Schools Abroad, the Bread Loaf School of English, and the Monterey Institute of International Studies can be found working in education, government, journalism, international business, and the non-profit sector.
Master of Arts Degree

When you study at Middlebury, you work with some of the world's leading academic language professionals and learn alongside motivated peers who share your appetite for linguistic achievement. In a combination of one summer* plus an academic year, or in just four summers on our Vermont campus, you can earn your master's degree.

* The MA in German requires one summer on our VT campus. A second summer is required for the MA in Russian, Chinese, and Mediterranean Studies; it is optional for the MA in French, Italian, and Spanish.
Doctor of Modern Languages

Students interested in continuing their language studies beyond the MA level may enroll in the Doctor of Modern Languages (DML) degree program. Unique to Middlebury, the DML prepares teacher-scholars in two modern foreign languages, helping them develop as teachers of second-language acquisition, literature, linguistics, and language pedagogy.