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:: APIP Home :: In The News! :: Dates & Fees :: Application :: FAQ :: Links :: Contact :: Testimonials Department of African Languages and Literature Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia
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Our aim at the UW-Madison Arabic & Persian Summer Immersion Program (APIP) is to create an intensive language learning environment in which participants are encouraged to challenge themselves and stretch the limits of their language learning potential. Students in our program sign a language contract agreeing to communicate in only Arabic or Persian during the entire length of the eight-week course. We realize that this is no simple task--it is an endeavor that can be emotionally and academically taxing--but it is the cornerstone of the program because it has proven to be very successful and rewarding. This endeavor is supported by a team of dedicated and accomplished faculty focused on helping students achieve the lofty goals set by the program. The series of cultural activities that will take place throughout the summer is another indispensable component of the program. Students of Arabic will watch films from the Arabic world, take field trips to local meeting points of the Arab community, listen to lectures of matters of interest to students of Arabic, and eat Middle Eastern meals, all in the company of teaching staff. Students of Persian, likewise, will watch Iranian films, listen to Persian lectures and music, and visit Persian restaurants all in the company of Persian-speaking teaching staff. A television in the dormitories will receive Arabic and Persian satellite stations, and a variety of Arabic and Persian language newspapers, magazines, books, music, and other media will also be available. ____________________________________________________________________ The site of the 2006 program was the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, a sister campus to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. La Crosse is a small city of approximately 51,000 people in western Wisconsin located along the banks of the Mississippi River. Here we created a controlled language environment empowering our students to immediately put their language skills into action and test the boundaries of their learning ability. As students lived and breathed in Arabic or Persian, they were learning in a way that is impossible in courses that devote only a few hours per week to speaking and listening drills. Indeed, the experience required students to use the language even more than study in an Arabic or Persian-speaking country where communication outside of the classroom frequently takes place in a European language, and students are bombarded by western media. Those who are planning study or work in the Arabic or Persian-speaking world will find that this program is an excellent preparation. This summer had five course offerings: Elementary, Intermediate & Advanced Arabic, Elementary Persian, and Intermediate Persian. Each course was equivalent to one year of language study in a normal university setting and offered eight semester credits. The program is open to UW and non-UW students, as well as professionals. We are committed to helping students achieve their Arabic and Persian language goals through an atmosphere of intimate cooperation and collaboration among our students and faculty. |
| Last update: 1/08/2007 |
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