If you can't spend a summer in Spain, Duke's Summer Session may be the next best way to learn the fundamentals of Spanish.
Now, as administrators evaluate the success of a one-year-old program that teaches Spanish intensively over the summer, they have decided to expand the level of study. Students who choose to participate in the language program will have the option to take Spanish 63 in Summer Session Term II, after having taken Spanish 1 and 2 in Term I.
"My goal is to engage students in the process of learning Spanish so they will ultimately want to continue with Spanish through the 100 level," said Liliana Paredes, director of the Spanish Language Program.
In addition, Robert Thompson, dean of Trinity College, said he and other administrators have decided against adding other languages to the program. He said it only makes economic sense to run a program that will attract enough students - but he added that if demand for other languages, such as French or German, increases, he would like the summer program to accommodate that.
"This has been one big experiment, and because it seemed to work so well last summer, we are trying to fine-tune it to make the experience just right," Thompson said.
Summer Session 2002 marked the beginning of the new language learning endeavor, crafted by Thompson, who called the inaugural year an "intense, draining, but enjoyable experience." In only six weeks, students met six hours a day to learn and practice the language skills most students learn over a 30-week time period.
Students in the summer session achieved relatively high grades compared to students enrolled in Spanish 1 and 2 during the regular school year. The summer session students took the same number of quizzes, tests and exams, and they passed the course with little trouble, Thompson said. Given the small faculty-student ratio and the amount of time devoted each day to the course, students had better access to help and more time to practice problem areas.
However, when those students enrolled in Spanish 63 the following fall, their grades took a slight tip from the summer, even though everyone passed. Students and administrators attributed the drop to the change in classroom dynamics.
"It was a big transition from speaking six hours of Spanish a day and then only going to three class periods per week in the fall," said Kendra Ferguson, a sophomore who enrolled in the program last summer. "On the Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule, I had to do more outside preparation, and all the information was harder to retain."
The motivation to compress two semesters worth of Spanish into one summer is two-fold.
For some, complete immersion in a language is the best way to gain a sense of real mastery. The 50-minute class periods to which most students are accustomed may allow for language competency, but little more than that, administrators said.
"Time-intensive courses are the most beneficial. Ideally, one should spend as many hours possible immersed in a language," Paredes said.
Ferguson agreed, saying, "It is much easier to learn a language when you have to speak it six hours a day."
Still, even if total immersion may be one of the best ways to learn a language, many find six hours of classroom time a day to be daunting. A second reason for making the summer a time for intensive language study was to allow for strategic time management, Thompson explained.
With Curriculum 2000 in place, students need or want to explore many more options. Pre-medical students, for example, may use the summer to fulfill the foreign language requirement to make time for other required classes during the regular school year.
"We wanted to use the summer purposefully," Thompson said.
Athletes in particular seemed to benefit from the program. Of the seven students who enrolled last summer, four were athletes.
"I knew the reinstitution of the language requirement would be especially hard for athletes, given their demanding practice and travel schedules," Thompson said. "Mastering a language cannot be accomplished while sitting in an airport. You need to be there in class. It's not like catching up on history reading."
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