Arabic Summer Immersion Program

The Summer Immersion Program in Arabic is part of the Arabic language program at Bard. This summer program covers a full year of language learning through 120 contact hours. The main goal of the program is to create an intensive second language learning setting in which students are encouraged to challenge themselves intellectually within an international academic environment.

The Arabic Summer Immersion Program provides students with the opportunity to obtain unique cultural experience through daily interaction with native speakers. In the summer of 2005, for example, students spent 6 weeks at ALIF - the Language Institute in Fez, Morocco. The students lived with host families in Fez. They attended classes each weekday and went on field trips during the weekends to places of historical and cultural significance (the Sahara Desert, Meknes, Ifrane). In addition to field trips, the program includes a wide range of cultural activities; students watch films, listen to music, and visit museums and restaurants.

The ALIF Institute shares its classrooms and grounds with a large, well-established English language school, thereby providing an ideal environment for interacting with young Moroccans.

Hebrew Summer Immersion Program

The Summer Immersion Program in Hebrew (4 weeks at the University ofHaifa, Israel is part of the Hebrew language program at Bard. This program covers a full semester of language learning through 80 contact hours, and is designed for students with little or no exposure to the language. The main goal of the program is to create an intensive Hebrew language learning setting in which students are encouraged to challenge themselves intellectually within a foreign academic environment.

The program provides students with the opportunity to obtain first hand experience of the Israeli culture, while interacting with native speakers. The program offers a wide range of social activities including visits to museums, restaurants, and trips to sites of special historical and cultural significance. The students' experiences outside of class have a profound effect on their linguistic skills. They bolsters students' confidence in themselves, and encourage them to develop their language and communication skills.

The university is located in Haifa, a port city in the north of Israel. The University has a diverse student body, with a mixture of Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Druze, and a combination of new immigrants with native Israelis.