College campuses add language immersion programs

Next fall, a group of 10-12 students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison together will live in a dormitory dubbed the Russian Parliament. By Fall Horvath Davidson, AP

Pauline Turpin, Lille, France, working on the decoration speaks for her dorm room at Centenary College in Shreveport, La. everyone in a wing of the dormitory exclusively French.

By Fall Horvath Davidson, AP

Pauline Turpin, Lille, France, working on the decoration speaks for her dorm room at Centenary College in Shreveport, La. everyone in a wing of the dormitory exclusively French.

During the semester, she will speak, read, watch TV and pretty much do all their communicate in Russian. "The idea is that we create a little bubble for them of Russia on the Madison campus in a supportive environment, "says Diana Murphy, associate director of the Russian flagship Center and Language Institute. Colleges and universities nationwide creating and extending existing language immersion programs, under which students live together while learning a language around the clock.Dustin Cowell, who teaches Arabic in Wisconsin-Madison and is Chairman of the Department of African languages and literature, says foreign language immersion programs are effective, because the language is a part of the students when they use it to express their feelings or to talk about gewonedagelijkse activities. "It has language outside the classroom and increase your vocabulary," Cowell says. "To try to tell your friends about something that happened that day is much more personal. " By Greg Pearson, the (Shreveport, La.) Times

Jackson Hall, at Centenary College in Shreveport, La., houses Le Quartier Fran? ais, a wing dedicated to the French language and culture.

Cowell says that the immersion program can students to their antennae up and thinking about what they say. "The first time you might not have said it very well, but you start to think about different ways to say it, "he says. "Every time you say something, you are focusing on that speaking manner."Among the other programs nationwide: • Centenary College in Shreveport, La., a French immersion program launched in 2010 on a floor of a dormitory calls it Le Quartier Francais. • Emory University in Atlanta has a Spanish home and a smaller German program. • the University of Virginia has a French home House House Spanish, German, Russian House and the House Shea, including Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Urdu, Italian, Japanese, and Persian. • the Thatcher language House on the University of Massachusetts-Amherst provides students with an opportunity to live in a residence hall dedicated to learning ChineesFranse, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. A designated floor you will find for each language. • to Middlebury College in Vermont, the Department of language contains a School of Hebrew. "We always add languages when we feel there is a need, "says Michael Geisler, vice president for the Middlebury language schools. "We have Arabic for a while and we have a thriving and growing Middle East program. Arabic is one of the languages spoken in that region and Hebrew is the other. "Andy Wilson, Director of residence life at Emory, says that there are some native speakers in the House, as well as people who are trying to acquire fluency live or proficiency. "The programme varies from year to year as to community standards on speaking Spanish in the home, "says Wilson. "A few years, Spanish is the only language that is spoken in the House and then there are other years where English is permitted during certain hours."Among the students take part in the Centenary French program is senior Alexandria Pittman, who wants to travel to France and teach English after graduation. "It is difficult, "she says only speak French in the students home. "It's like splitting up my brain in half."Despite that, Pittman says, she loves the dormitory and both her French and her knowledge of French culture have improved. She attributes much of her roommate, Pauline Turpin. Turpin is an exchange student at the Catholic University of Lille. They logged on to come to school in Louisiana through a partnership which Centenary with her school has. "Every time I said that I was going to Louisiana, people said ' they speak French there, ' "she says with a smile."But they don ' speak French. "Wisconsin-Madison also has an Arabic, Persian and Turkish language immersion Institute. It runs an eight-week summer program from mid-June to August. Arabic was the first language of the programme in 2004. Persian was added in 2005 and Turkish in 2010. "Students are not supposed to use a language other than the language they for the period of eight weeks study, "says Cowell," on Friday nights, they are of the complex for about 12 hours released and they can use English. "At Emory, Wilson says, the more immersed students receive, the more they get from the program. "The more prepared to restrictions on their ability to speak their first language, the more likely they are to leave the program with more fluent and more knowledge about the culture, "he says.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ 's. Report corrections and clarifications, contact standards Editor Brent Jones. For consideration of publication in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and State for authentication. Our corrections, go to corrections. usatoday.com. We've updated the guidelines for the conversation. Changes include a brief overview of the monitoring process and an explanation about how to use the "report abuse" button. Read more.