Potential polyglots come to Dartmouth every summer to improve their foreign language skills by participating in the world-renowned Advanced Language Program.
The machine-gun style language drill which incorporates equal parts grammar, vocabulary-building, and fun is an essential part of learning a foreign language at Dartmouth.
The Advanced Language Program, developed to facilitate foreign language acquisition, uses the Rassias Method to teach people around the world how to feel comfortable and natural speaking a foreign language in a short period of time.
Now in its 15th year of operation, the ALPs under the aegis of the Rassias Foundation continues to draw students interested in tackling a foreign language from as far as Japan and Russia.
These 10-day language sessions administered in a variety of foreign languages have benefitted beginning, intermediate, and advanced students in either learning, refreshing or expanding knowledge in foreign language.
Chinese, English-as-a-second-language, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Modern Greek, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish are just some of the languages that have been taught at ALPs in its 15 years of existence.
The rapid-fire Rassias method, developed for training Peace Corps volunteers in the early 1960s and adopted to college level instruction in 1967, is the brainchild of French and Italian Professor John Rassias.
"The system facilitates learning, increases retention of a language, and is a dramatic and energetic assault on the senses," Rassias said.
"One-hundred eighty languages are being taught this way," Rassias said.
Also, The Rassias Method is being used in over 600 universities, colleges, elementary and high schools throughout the country, as well as abroad.
"The Rassias Method views language as culture and culture as language," Rassias said.
The ALPs program presents two sessions in the summer and the current session running from July 14 to July 24 features five languages.
"This session, we have people from Canada, Mexico, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Italy, Senegal, Spain and Turkey," Rassias said.
The languages taught this session are Chinese, ESL, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.
The ALP program provides a total immersion experience for attendants including a rigourous schedule of drills and master classes with faculty members and assistant teachers.
Students are given a name in the target language and program attendants are encouraged if not required to eat, sleep, and breath in their target language.
"Classes are divided according to the student's experience in the language, and the ALPs programs provides over 100 hours of actual instruction," Rassias said.
Rank beginners build a solid working vocabulary and resolve grammatical inconsistencies by increasing their language proficiency and practical applications in the language.
Intermediate students are taught how to manipulate syntax and grammar while instilling cultural awareness.
And advanced students practice self-expression by refining their sophicatication of grammar in the target language.
This has been a method of language learning 30 years in the making so all the glitches have been for the most part detected and addressed, Rassias said.
"Progress is assured," Rassias assured.
"I have learned more French here in three days than four years of high school," said Gerard Morici, an 18-year-old ALPs French student.
Although Morici said he was nervous and intimidated of speaking, he is now very enthusiatic about the program and participates whole-heartedly.
"You are definitely put on the spot, so you have no choice but to learn," he said.
"ALPs has destroyed the monotony of learning the language," he said.
Andre Riskin, a 16-year-old student from Missouri agreed.
"The [Rassias] Method is very conducive to language learning," he said.
Riskin plans to use his new-found language skills by taking more courses in high school and at college.
"I was able to read French, but not speak it well. I am now able to express myself," he said.
Rassias said he is pleased with what is happening and the progress of the ALPs program.
"Word is getting out more and more, and the program has continued to develop," Rassias said.
"This year the ALPS boasted more than 170 participants including several Dartmouth students and alumni," Rassias said.
