A summer immersed in language and culture

The Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy began at Middlebury College and was originally established in affiliation with the Monterey Institute of International Studies. The Academy attracts students in grades 8-12 from all over the country and internationally – it’s a place where students become “one” with culture and language using the incomparable Middlebury Immersion Learning Pedagogy. 

These holistically oriented programs have been pioneered by the Middlebury family of professionals for nearly a century. The Academy is recognized as the “standard” upon which others measure their students’ results and their own teaching principles.

The philosophy is rooted in the idea that cultural and linguistic fluency are strongly reinforced by an individual’s participation in cross-curricular activities ranging from sports and the arts to cooking and discussion groups – all conducted in the target language.

Students take The Language Pledge which is a formal promise to communicate exclusively in the language of study, creating a total language-immersion environment. Activities at The Academy provide a rich framework for meaningful communication to help students realize academic and professional goals.

The “No English Spoken Here” agreement helps to create a unique, immersive environment designed to support independent exploration, maximize language acquisition and foster the cultural understanding needed to thrive in the classroom and more importantly, in the international world we all live in today.