My Off-Campus Study and Immersive Language Programs

With Carleton’s language requirement, many have been inspired to further pursue the learning of a language even after completing the language requirement, with this specific question in mind. While we have amazing faculty and classes in each language department, I can confidently say, with lively concurrence from Professor Kiley Kost and perhaps to the disappointment of those who want a concrete set of grammar exercises, that an immersive experience is the biggest and most helpful push for acquiring a foreign language. 

My Off-Campus Study Experience

This past spring term I went on a Carleton-led Off-Campus Study or OCS called German Studies in Austria. As the name suggests, we studied German in – you guessed it – Austria. It is a language-based immersive program and other than being one of the best experiences I’ve ever had, it did spring my acquisition forward. I clearly remember my first day, scrambling to get on the right train after the airport and hearing German in the wild for the first time. Up until that point, German had been something that I learned about in a textbook, and now here it was serenading my ears in the S-Bahn station with its surprisingly soothing tone, contrary to American WW2 movie depictions. 

While it was difficult the first week, especially with the Austrian accent (iykyk), myself and all my classmates quickly acclimated and started picking up the language like never before. I can’t count the number of times I stumbled on my German words and the waiter or worker switched to English, but as long as you stay firm and continue in German, they are almost always going to go along. The people in Austria were always super excited to hear that we were learning German, which made situations like the one I just mentioned a lot easier to navigate.

One thing that helped me was the fact that we each got assigned a “language buddy”, an Austrian local who was trying to improve their English. I will say that most of them did not need any help at all with their English, but a lot of us benefited from having a local who spoke German that we could regularly speak to. 

We ingested so much German media such as plays and operettas, ordered food in German, had all of our classes in German, did tours in German, read literature in German (this is not for the weak), conversed in German…you get the point. Towards the end of the OCS, I even started dreaming in German.

I think that the best part of this OCS was not just the learning-the-language aspect, but the fact that I was able to enjoy cultural experiences in the context of its original language, not a translated summary. For example, the Kaffeehauskultur (coffee house culture) that is central to Viennese life would not have been the same if we were handed English menus, and the production of Brecht’s Die Dreigroschenoper in Der Theater in der Josefstadt, would not have been the same if I couldn’t understand the play on words and double meanings.  

All this to say, if you want to increase your understanding and fluency in a language you’re familiar with, or not so familiar with (I started learning German at Carleton!!!), Carleton has some great opportunities for you.

Katelyn (she/her) is a junior at Carleton from Las Vegas, Nevada and a psychology major with minors in cognitive science and german. She is a proud first generation student who loves to participate in all things happening around campus. She is involved with Carleton’s student-run first-gen organization 1Gen, KRLX, and Babyteeth. When she is not in the gym playing Varsity volleyball or lifting (super heavy) weights, she can be found hanging out with her friends or in the small park next to the Weitz, specifically on the east-most swing.