Program Reviews

I chose the Middlebury School in Cameroon because I knew I wanted to study French outside of France. I wanted to immerse myself in a place to which I never would have otherwise had a connection. My four and a half months abroad in Cameroon were perhaps some of the most challenging but I wholeheartedly know now that I would have regretted a decision not to go.

Re French language study: Living with a host family meant listening to and conversing in French everyday. Navigating the streets of Yaoundé meant you were surrounded by French. This program allows for full language immersion and therefore a significant strengthening of my conversational French. Classes at the local university were very manageable. Various theoretical and fictional readings as well as numerous writing assignments (weekly journals, reading reactions, longer papers) further strengthened my French reading and writing skills.

Re host family: My host family was a very significant and central aspect of my abroad experience. My family members became my mentors and my closest friends and it was in the home that I learned most about life in Yaoundé and Cameroonian culture. I was embraced as a daughter and very cared for.

Re safety: With several support systems (host families, the program director, program professors, friends, program peers), I felt very safe living in Yaoundé. The taxi system becomes second nature very quickly, and I was able to comfortably navigate the city on my own.

The best part about studying abroad in Cameroon and about Cameroonian culture is the warmth you find in human interaction - go and see for yourself! Absorb it all!

I went abroad to Delhi with Middlebury's program in Spring 2016. The overall program was very well-run and the experience intense, but awesome. I attended Lady Shri Ram College and lived in Greater Kailash I, very close to the school. Safety was not a big deal for us, even though everyone was concerned about this before we left. As long as we followed smart travel strategies and used commonsense about moving about the city, we were comfortable moving around by ourselves. At LSR, I was able to play on the school's volleyball team and took two classes about Indian literature and history, while we took Hindi at Zabaan Institute nearby. The Hindi courses were by far the highlight of this experience - Zabaan is a great partner for Middlebury to be working with. They are very challenging but very willing to adapt to our travel schedule and study needs. The courses at LSR aren't challenging in the same sense that a liberal arts college in the US is, but the courses had a lot of reading that went with them. We were also able to travel a lot on weekends, which allowed us to see some of the many, many diverse areas and subcultures in India.

I have had the incredible good fortune to travel to many different parts of the world. Out of all the study abroad programs I have ever done, the Middlebury program in Cameroon has been the most special. When I was deciding which study abroad program to do I was immediately attracted to the program in Cameroon.

The Cameroon program appealed to me because I wanted to experience something radically different from my status quo. As an American, Cameroon proved to be just that. Despite the fact Cameroon is so unlike where I am from, I quickly felt at home. I think there are two reasons for this.

Firstly, I had an excellent experience with a wonderful host family. My host family quickly welcomed me into their lives. I did not feel like a guest, but rather one of them. My close relationship with members of my host family enabled me to learn a lot about Cameroonian society in a short period of time. Any time I had a question I felt comfortable asking members of my host family about things I did not understand. Their explanations were incredibly helpful and enabled me to learn a lot about Cameroon.

Secondly, the Middlebury faculty did a fantastic job teaching my fellow students and me about Cameroonian life and how to live in Yaounde. For example, in Yaounde people move around the city in taxis. When I first arrived in Yaounde, I really thought I would never be able to navigate the chaotic system. Cars drive through the streets and potential passengers hail cabs. There is then a quick negotiation with the cabbie about destination and fare. Almost as quickly as the taxi has stopped, it starts driving again. Sometimes you get a ride if your destination and price works for the cabbie. Sometimes you have to wait for another taxi. The Middlebury director did a wonderful job showing us how to use the taxi system. I soon got the hang of it and by the end of my stay using the taxi felt completely normal.

Study abroad in Cameroon will challenge you but it is worth doing. The program was extremely broadening and I wholeheartedly recommend it. If you want to do a tremendous amount of learning in a relatively short amount of time and forge close connections with incredible people, this is the program for you!

M-CMRS provides the perfect support system for a group of students studying abroad. The academics are both exciting and rigorous with a one-on-one tutorial system that allows for the personalization of subject matter to the student's choice. Students grow in both writing and research. Students are able to take tutorials with tutors from multiple different colleges in Oxford.

M-CMRS's affiliation with Keble gives students access to clubs, organizations, and events around Oxford. The social aspect of M-CMRS is what you make of it. You can be as involved or not involved as you wish although I recommend joining an organization in order to get the full experience. Social events also take place within CMRS. The affiliation also give students access to the Bodleian library, an invaluable resource for tutorials.

The location of St. Michael's is unmatched. Directly in the heart of Oxford, students are close to everything of need and of interest. The staff are dedicated to the program and its students. Beyond academic support, the staff is there for the students' overall well-being.

The program at M-CMRS is well organized to help students adapt and thrive in a new environment. During my semester at CMRS I found the challenge of the tutorial system to be fulfilling and exciting as I learned new skills in research methods, literary analysis, and in-depth note taking. The fast-paced format of the classes pushed my limits and helped me develop and become more comfortable with my writing process.

The staff members at CMRS are very helpful and are dedicated to the success of each student. Their interest surpassed academic advisement and they were deeply aware of each student’s mental and physical wellness.

The CMRS program is perfectly structured to enable students to experience all parts of Oxford student life. The location is right in the heart of Oxford and makes interaction with the greater population quite easy. Social events were frequent both within CMRS and at Keble and the other Oxford schools.

I would recommend the CMRS program to anyone interested who is passionate about Medieval and literature studies as well as anyone interested in experiencing the Oxford system. Overall a very valuable experience.

Middlebury School abroad provides the most immersive, educational and adventure-filled opportunity I have found in a study abroad program. Students live with host families and commute within Yaounde with excursions to various parts of the country, with their host families, friends, or with a Middlebury professor as part of course research.

One of the strongest facets of this program is the full-immersion. All of my friends were from Cameroon or West/Central Africa (who study at the university) and the locals. Many other Americans from other study abroad programs I met in-country had only close American friends and after 6 months of being in the country, still did not understand basic cultural and linguistic concepts of Cameroonian people. I spent 10.5 months in Cameroon with the same host family who has become part of my own family simply because I was able to see them everyday, join them on family outings, activities and participate in family life on a regular basis. As a result, the subtleties of their familial culture became more apparent to me, some of which I was not able to fully recognize or understand until month 4 or 5.

After I left the country, I was still able to expand my understanding of Cameroon and Cameroonians because my relationships with my family, friends and the locals had grown very deep and endured even after my departure. Strong connection with locals is important because it enabled me to participate and even organize on-campus student marches and panels focused on environmental awareness. As an outsider coming in, not many people can do this without imposing their own views onto the community. But my Cameroonian friends welcomed me into their student clubs and social activism campaigns.

Flexibility is also among the strongest facets of the program. If you’d like to take dance classes, do an internship, or volunteer somewhere, the Middlebury director knows anyone and everyone who can set you up with whatever you want to do. The in-country director provided me with an incredible amount of support and guidance not just for classes but also with personal and professional growth and opportunity.

I was in Cameroon almost 4 years ago and I would not recommend any other program to someone who is interested in learning French, a local language, cultural immersion and/or personal and professional growth. This program has a wealth of opportunities for whatever you are interested in studying without the feeling of being an “outsider” looking in.

I am so grateful for my semester at Middlebury's School in Beijing!

The highlight of this experience was living with my Chinese roommate Liying. Communicating with Liying every day greatly improved my language skills and cultural understanding. Most importantly, we developed a deep friendship and are still in touch.

Middlebury's School in Beijing also provides a variety of rigorous classes that appeal to students with different interests. While the majority of my peers wanted to study politics, I was interested in Traditional Chinese Medicine and contemporary issues in China. I was able to take classes in both these areas and learned more than I anticipated. There were also students interested in art, cuisine, religion and international relations.

Middlebury's School in Beijing has an incredibly hard-working and talented group of teachers. In particular, I really appreciate that Zhang laoshi, the program director, was always available to discuss personal or academic concerns with any student.

I really enjoyed exploring Beijing over the course of my semester abroad. As the ancient and modern capitol, Beijing has many historical sites, as well as modern restaurants and art galleries. My favorite spots to explore on the weekends were "hutongs," or ancient residential communities with preserved architecture that have been maintained as homes or transformed into restaurants and shops. The city is also well known for its parks. Ultimately, Beijing's fusion of old and new makes the city a great place to learn about China. Despite its modernity and status as an international city, Beijingers did not insist on speaking English and were very friendly towards foreigners. Beijing is also a great city for outdoor lovers because it is surrounded by mountains. I particularly enjoyed hiking unrenovated sections of The Great Wall.

I would highly recommend this program to anyone interested in challenging themselves, learning deeply about China and improving proficiency in Mandarin!

When you couple Amman's charming dysfunction with the difficulty of the Arabic language pledge, finding your way in this program is a challenge, but rewarding adventure. Seeing your learning/language skills progress throughout the semester is an exercise in patience and determination. The teachers are excellent (especially Fusha and Aamiya), Middlebury staff is great, and Jordan language partners/mentors are invested in befriending their American counterparts.

Students live in homestays for their 1st semester, which was by far the most fun/rewarding experience. I lucked out by having the best host mom, who became a close friend, but others might not have lucked out as I did.

Emphasis on getting out of the "Middlebury bubble" is strong, important, and one of the strongest aspects of the experience. Academically, students have project week, investing in a pertinent Jordanian topic, and often have assignments where they must interact with Jordanians. "Days of exploration" encourage students to get out and know Jordan. Also, the program staff creates a culture where exploration in Amman and relationship building with non-native English speakers is encouraged.

When I signed up for the Oxford program I knew what I was getting into. I wanted a rigorous academic experience in a place that could further my educational goals. Unfortunately my interests lay outside of the medieval and renaissance in Western Europe, and the program failed to give me the support I would have needed to meet these. Instead of finding a tutor who specialized in my area of history, the head tutor, an English medievalist, tried to tutor me himself. It was not a benefit.

That said, I treasure the hours I spent in the Radcliffe Camera and the Oriental Institute Library.

Beyond this, I made no friends while I was there, and the only person in our group who did joined the rugby team and was adopted by that group. Oxford was not an open social experience like you'd find in America. We had no opportunities to take classes with English students and even though I joined clubs and often tried to initiate conversations with people, I never felt that students were very interested in getting to know people not already incorporated into the Oxford social scene. Most of the people in our group that I've subsequently talked to since coming back feel the same way I do; that Oxford was a very strong academic experience, but that for various reasons we were unable to really experience the best of what life in that city could be. I don't miss it.

As a student who received a poor French education in high school, my language proficiency was pretty horrible when I started my first collegiate French course. Obviously, I improved over the next two years, but I still was unable to communicate effectively. With any language, there exists a specific lexicon for the classroom setting and a specific lexicon for navigating one's everyday life. Therefore, when I arrived in Bordeaux, I was quickly reminded that my level of French was mediocre at best. I took the Middlebury Program very seriously, and I can honestly say that it was one of the best decisions that I ever made. I made leaps and bounds with regards to my language proficiency, and upon returning to the States, I discovered how much I had actually improved.

One of my most fulfilling memories occurred the week before I left France. After the fall semester ended, I stayed in Bordeaux through winter break. Consequently, I was in the city when the spring semester students arrived to begin their study abroad experience. I helped out during orientation, and during one such occasion, I recall addressing a group of students in one of the classrooms at Sciences Po. I talked briefly about my experience in Bordeaux for about a 5 minute interval, and then sat back down while the directors of the program took over. All of a sudden, I realized I had just talked without thinking about what I was saying. My mouth had simply opened and the words had come out.

The program is designed very well. The directors are amazing people and great leaders, and my host-family situation could not have been better. I had the best semester of my entire life.