4-week pledge to speak no English presents challenge

COLCHESTER - Maggie O’Hare learned just how hard it is to order a drink at Starbucks without using English.

The 17-year-old from New York City had taken a pledge to only speak Chinese for an entire month while attending Middlebury Interactive Language Academy at Saint Michael’s College. This meant that she had to get creative to communicate to the barista what she wanted. She recalled using arm gestures to show the drink size and fanning herself to signal it should be hot.

For one month each summer, 225 high school age students travel here from all around the world for an immersion program through the language academy. The Saint Michael’s campus is one of of two in Vermont, the other being Green Mountain College in Poultney. The Colchester site offers French and Chinese.

O'Hare said Friday that meals at the campus dining hall are similar to her experience at Starbucks. Students are not allowed to speak English with the food service employees.

“We’ve been teaching Chinese to the guy who makes pizza,” she said.

French academy students spoke to the Free Press without using English. Their interviews were translated.

“The learning here is really exponential,” said Hannah Morrison, 15, from Los Angeles. “After the first week we can think in French.”

She found out about the program after receiving an email, and was interested in quickly developing her language skills after only studying for one year.

Most students have taken some classes in the language they are learning prior to attending an academy, but levels vary. Some even arrive as absolute beginners.

“I really like learning languages, and this is a very good chance to practice with other people my age,” Morrison said, communicating in French with ease and proficiency.

To minimize exposure to English, students turn in all electronic devices at the start. They are kept in an isolated and controlled environment where exposure to English is nonexistent. Even administrative staff or visitors walking by must switch to the immersion language or stop talking.

One of the essential components of the program is the language pledge, in which students agree to abstain from English for the entire four week experience. This linguistic isolation carries a price tag of about $6,500.

“It’s very difficult in the mornings when I just wake up, and at night when I am tired,” Morrison said of staying in French.

Brandon Hall, 15, of Nashville, Tennessee, found out about the program through his school which offered a scholarship. He is interested in going into international business with his French skills.

“The class at my high school is for grammar and vocabulary,” Hall said. “Here we’re learning in context.”

The summer language academies started in 2008 by Middlebury College and are now run by Middlebury Interactive Languages, a joint-venture between K12 Education, a technology education company, and the college’s language school. They also produce language learning computer software in addition to the academies.

Each day includes regular language classes and culturally-authentic sports, music, dance and daily meals.

Students of both language programs will often leave campus for visits and excursions in the Burlington area. When heading to stores and cafes they are required to maintain complete language immersion.

Inside a classroom on Friday, a student was diligently trying to explain the poster he created about recycling. He would frequently pause, searching for a Chinese word, with his classmates chiming in to help him out.

An exception to the language pledge was made to better facilitate communication as the students spoke with the Free Press.

Spencer Jacob-Skolik, 17, of Weston, Connecticut, was impressed with how far he had come in just under four weeks.

“I’ve learned how to learn more,” he said. “I can think more quickly in Chinese, I can speak more quickly, and I can pick it up more easily.”

Jacob-Skolik said he would recommend the program to those with a similar interest in the language.

“I would say it’s definitely the most efficient and most fun way to learn a language,” he said.

His fellow students were in mutual agreement.

“Now I find myself thinking in Chinese, which is really crazy,” said Michaela McCoy, a student from Hong Kong.

Andrew Butt, 15, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, like many of his classmates, was eager to be interviewed so he could speak English.

Butt said he looks forward to listening to English music once the program ends. He described how he uses onomatopoeia to circumvent missing vocabulary.

“Sometimes it’s really hard only speaking Chinese, but other times it’s really funny,” he said. “Like when you have to describe a marshmallow as a white poof-poof and later that same day you describe a cloud as a white poof-poof.”

Hannah Berkowitz, 17, a student from Miami, expressed how tiring staying in immersion can be.

“When there is something really simple and easy that you want to say, miming it for five minutes can be really frustrating,” she said.

The French and Chinese language students come together for games and activities but stay in their chosen languages. A soccer match with cheers in both Chinese and French is a common sight on the Saint Michael’s field.

Rabia Mairech is the summer site director for the program's Saint Michael’s campus. Originally from Morocco, she is knowledgeable about languages herself, speaking French, Arabic and Spanish fluently, in addition to English.

“Students come to the office and they don’t want to speak to you in English,” Mairech said. “That shows how much involvement they have in the program.”

She said what separates Middlebury from other immersion programs is the dedication to keeping the experience completely in the new language.

The only exception is when students are allowed to call home on occasion.

“You do everything in the language, you eat in the language, you sleep in it, take a shower in it,” Mairech said. “At the beginning it’s very challenging for them, and then they get to a point where when they call home they start speaking the language.”

Morrison, the French student, echoed the thoughts of her peers when reflecting back on her progress through the program.

“Maybe when I’m an adult I will live in a French speaking country,” she said. “It’s impressive to see that we can communicate very well after just four weeks.”

Contact Alexandre Silberman at (802) 651-4888 or asilberman@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @alexsilbermanvt

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