Program highlights
The Interschool Language Immersion Program is designed to give Middle School aged students a unique opportunity to have fun learning and improving their communication skills in Spanish, French or Mandarin. This special summer program provides continual low-risk opportunities for students to practice their language skills in a relaxed atmosphere. It is designed to mimic the process of first- language acquisition, and as such, vocabulary and grammar structures are taught in an organic, as-need basis.
Now in its ninth year, the program will take place June 21-24 and June 26-July 1, 2022 at the Spence School. The program, which is open to rising 5th-9th graders, is a total immersion experience for students who wish to play in, learn more about, and feel more at ease in French, Spanish, or Mandarin. The faculty, creative and experienced educators from among New York’s finest independent schools, encourage learning and fun through hands-on projects, cooking, games, sports, and field trips throughout the City. The small counselor to student ratio encourages students to speak as much as possible in the target language while still enjoying themselves. This year, students may enroll in one or two weeks of language immersion. Students are grouped according to grade level as well as language proficiency. Students must have had exposure to at least one year of their chosen language to participate.
French Program
Middle School students will have the opportunity to practice their French-speaking skills as they learn to cook, perform skits, play soccer, and more during this two-week immersion program. Our teachers, who come from Interschool Schools, design thematic units that teach new vocabulary and grammar in context. Previous themes have been: La Bande Dessinée (the comic book), and La Francophonie (Francophone countries).
Chinese Program
Middle School students will perfect their tones, learn calligraphy, dance to the Erhu, and compete in dumpling-wrapping contests, all while expanding their vocabulary in Chinese. Students of this program speak Mandarin all over New York City during excursions to Manhattan’s Chinatown, Flushing’s Main Street, and Staten Island. They will learn about culinary traditions as well as folklore, shadow puppets, and dance during these two weeks.
Spanish Program
Middle School students will have the opportunity to speak Spanish all over New York City as they learn about Latin American culture, food, art, dance, and music. Students engage in skits, sing songs, and learn to make Argentinian alfajores and mate, Mexican guacamole, Venezuelan arepas, and other culturally specific foods. As the thematic units in the past have focused on specific countries, students have learned everything about those countries (Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Chile, Spain, Puerto Rico, Columbia and Argentina) from geography to poetry.
