Summer Immersion Programs And How They Can Help You

Blog College Immersion Programs

The idea of an immersion program is relatively new. This is especially relevant to a country like the US where there are people of different cultures. In a multicultural country with different language, students of different cultures who want to interact better with each other may want to learn a language other than their own. Even though English may be the normal mode of official communication, a student community may require the understanding of more than one language. Because it is a country with an amalgamation of different languages, it is necessary for students to be aware of some common languages to communicate. While English is usually the common language of communication. Many students in the US are not familiar with the English language, while there are also students who are familiar only with the English language. It is generally believed that anyone, especially a student, might have to go abroad to learn the language of another country (say German, French or even Chinese). Many are of the idea that it would be useful to go for an immersion program in their own country rather than having to travel to a different one. An immersion program helps to improve your linguistic skills by learning to communicate in a different language. The best thing about immersion programs are that:

It helps to build one’s understanding of another language

It provides practice of talking and communicating in another language.

It even encourages students to attempt different activities in the new language with the help of their instructors as well as their fellow students.

In the usual sense, a requirement for learning a language is not needed, especially since there are no specifications of the number of semesters that a student will have to complete for their immersion program. However, the summer program is highly useful to students because it enables to understand a language within the few summer months because it covers what would be 12 months’ worth of studying the language.

The Value Of A Summer Immersion Program
So it goes without saying that whatever language you may want to study, a summer immersion program is highly valuable to students. Many students may find this an exciting and less inconvenient way to learn a new language. Such a program is highly relevant for a country like the US where students from different cultures across the world come together to study. This also students from the home country to interact and communicate with students from different countries.

Canada for one uses immersion programs to help its students learn French. As far as a classroom environment is concerned, immersion programs are useful for teachers in simulating such as environment to encourage students to speak a particular language better, for example by having an “English only” area in their classroom and insisting that all students communicate only in the English language. This would be an excellent opportunity for students to start learning and teaching, and being spontaneous in a language that they were unfamiliar with, and thus improve their language skills.

Leave a Reply