Looking to improve your language skills, or even learn a brand-new language from scratch? You’ve likely heard of the benefits of language immersion, a teaching method that creates an optimal environment for learning a second language. Rather than memorizing endless vocabulary lists or learning about your new language, you experience everything in your target language, from your instructor’s lectures to classroom debates to conversations with fellow students. Historically, such programs have only been accessible to students who are willing and able to travel, but luckily, those days are gone. Enter Beloit College’s Center for Language Studies, which offers a completely remote version of its highly regarded intensive Summer Language Program. With immersive courses in Chinese, Japanese, and Russian, Beloit provides the rare (and very affordable) opportunity to seriously uplevel your fluency from the comfort of your home. Here’s everything you need to know about the program for summer 2027.
Note: This is a sponsored post written on behalf of Beloit College’s Summer Language Programs. Our site only partners with programs that bring significant value to students and the material in this blog is 100% the genuine opinion of College Transitions.
Beloit’s Intensive Summer Language Program: 2027 Key Facts
- Dates: June 14 – July 30, 2027 (7-week program); Session I runs June 14 – July 6 and Session II runs July 8 – July 30
- Format: Fully online, live virtual immersion; classes meet weekdays on Central Time
- Languages: Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, and Russian
- Levels: First-Year through Fourth-Year (Advanced in Russian), plus JLPT prep courses in Japanese
- College credit: 4 semester hours per 3.5-week session, or 8 semester hours for the full 7 weeks
- Tuition: $2,200 per 3.5-week session or $4,400 for the 7-week program (books not included)
- Who can apply: High school students, college and graduate students, and adult learners
- Admission: Rolling until classes fill; the application closes in mid-May
- Financial aid: Need-based John Wyatt Awards are available to all enrolled students
View the 2027 flyers: Program Overview | Chinese | Japanese | Russian
What is Beloit’s Intensive Summer Language Program?
Offering intensive language immersion courses to high school, college, and nontraditional students alike, the Beloit Summer Language Program has been helping students build their language skills and achieve fluency since the Center for Language Studies (CLS) was founded in 1982. Each of Beloit’s 3.5-week course sessions is equivalent to a full semester of a college-level language course, so if you opt for the full 7-week experience, you’ll receive roughly 150 hours of classroom instruction, complete a year of immersive college-level language study, and earn eight semester hours of credit in just two months.
How is this possible?! The answer is three-pronged:
Cultural Literacy Focus
Beloit not only delivers effective and engaging small-group online language instruction but also stresses cultural literacy. Why is this important? Effective communication in any language requires an understanding of its cultural context, so Beloit’s immersive lessons, films, and activities are structured to provide deep insight into a country’s culture and history. Depending on your language, that might mean Chinese calligraphy and Chinese chess, a Japanese tea ceremony and live language exchanges with people in Japan, or classic and contemporary Russian films discussed without subtitles. Every program also includes a Culture Day built around arts enrichment activities. This creates a foundation that will benefit you for years to come.
Time Commitment
All of Beloit’s summer language immersion programs require a full-time commitment, giving you a unique opportunity to focus intensely and singularly on the language you’re learning. This means you can make huge leaps in a short amount of time, leaps that are impossible within a non-immersive course.
Experienced Instructors
A major reason why Beloit’s language immersion programs are so effective and successful? Their outstanding and enthusiastic language instructors, many of whom return to CLS summer after summer. Japanese Program Coordinator Akiko Ohashi Brennan, for example, has taught with the program since 2010, while CLS Director Olga Ogurtsova leads the Russian program. Since classes are kept small, you can expect individualized instruction and continuous feedback from your teacher, who you’ll be interacting with extensively throughout the course.
What languages can I learn?
Catering to beginner, intermediate, and advanced students, Beloit’s Summer Language Program offers eight courses in each of its three languages, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian, spanning four years of college-level study. Each 3.5-week session covers one semester, so you can take a single session or complete a full year of the language over 7 weeks. Whether you’re hunting for a summer Chinese, Japanese, or Russian program, completing the beginner course will qualify you to take intermediate college-level coursework and give you basic communication skills for travel, while completing intermediate and advanced courses prepares you for upper-division college coursework as well as travel, work, or research positions that may require higher levels of fluency.
If you’re enrolling in the first semester of any First-Year course, you do not need to have any prior instruction in the language. Every other course requires prior coursework or the language coordinator’s consent. Here’s what you can expect to learn in each 7-week course:
Chinese
First-Year Chinese: Build basic Mandarin skills; develop the ability to talk about family, interests, daily activities, and your neighborhood.
Second-Year Chinese: Discuss topics such as school life, Chinese cuisine, and renting housing using more complex sentence structures, write short essays, and compare China with your home country.
Third-Year Chinese: Solidify intermediate-high skills while exploring contemporary Chinese society through readings and discussions on issues like gender equality and wealth distribution.
Fourth-Year Chinese: Gain advanced proficiency by reading academic essays and poetry, writing summaries and essays that defend your viewpoint, and discussing employment and current events.
Japanese
First-Year Japanese: Learn hiragana, katakana, and your first kanji; develop the ability to speak, write, and function within common daily living situations.
Second-Year Japanese: Communicate exclusively in Japanese across multiple types of conversations and social situations, master additional kanji, and prepare for third-year study.
Third-Year Japanese: Work toward intermediate proficiency (with a focus on JLPT N3) by researching topics of interest, writing reports, presenting findings to the class, and participating in language exchanges with people in Japan.
Fourth-Year Japanese: Practice advanced skills in formal and informal registers through one-act plays, oral presentations, essays, and translations of newspaper and novel passages.
JLPT Prep: Advanced students can also take dedicated Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) prep courses targeting the N3/N2 or N2/N1 levels.
Russian
First-Year Russian: Build basic language familiarity and skills; learn major grammar concepts and hold conversations about everyday topics like family, jobs, and food.
Second-Year Russian: Significantly expand your grammatical knowledge and build fluency through presentations, role-play, extended dialogues, and storytelling.
Third-Year Russian: Master the speaking, reading, and writing skills necessary for advanced oral communication and self-expression in a course taught entirely in Russian.
Advanced Russian: Work toward Advanced High proficiency (or higher) on the ACTFL scale through novella readings, film analysis, debates, presentations, and weekly one-on-one meetings with your instructor.
What type of experience can I expect in Beloit’s summer language intensive?
For starters, you’ll be surrounded by other highly motivated students who are just as serious about learning a language as you are. Because Beloit’s online language immersion program is fully virtual, it attracts participants ranging from high school juniors to college professors, including undergraduate and graduate students as well as working professionals like teachers, engineers, lawyers, and entrepreneurs. Whether preparing for a study abroad program, planning to accept a job or research position abroad, or simply passionate about learning a new language, your classmates’ diversity of perspectives, life experiences, and goals will make your experience much richer. In addition, the connections you’ll create with other students are part of what makes Beloit’s Summer Language Program so enjoyable for its participants. One advanced Russian student summed it up this way: “On a 10-point scale, I give this program an 11!” You only need to read a few of the program’s many rave testimonials to get a feel for what you can expect.
In terms of your day-to-day schedule, expect a full-time, intensive commitment. Live classes run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday, with a lunch break from noon to 1 p.m., followed by tutoring and office hours in the afternoon. Additionally, expect to complete about five to six hours of homework per day and spend weekends on self-directed study, with group study sessions available.
Sound intense? Don’t worry. As long as you bring a healthy amount of self-motivation, passion, and curiosity to the table, you’ll find Beloit’s programs flexible, supportive, and accommodating. Remember, class sizes are kept intentionally small, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to interact with classmates and receive individualized attention from your instructor. Ultimately, Beloit’s atmosphere leads to greater strides in short-term learning as well as enhanced long-term retention.
How much does Beloit’s intensive summer language program cost?
Beloit’s Summer Language Programs are highly affordable. For summer 2027, each 3.5-week session is $2,200 and the 7-week program is $4,400, with no room and board costs since the program is fully virtual (textbooks are purchased separately). At the culmination of the program, you’ll receive between four and eight semester hours of college credit. As two second-year Chinese students put it in their testimonial, “you are the best value by far.”
Financial aid is also available. Every enrolled student is eligible to apply for the need-based John Wyatt Award for Language Immersion, named for the founder of CLS; you’ll receive the application link in your admission email. College students may also be able to use federal aid through a consortium agreement with their home institution, or Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship funds if their school receives them, and payment plans are available through Beloit’s Bursar’s Office.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Beloit’s Summer Language Program fully online?
Yes. The program is a live, virtual immersion experience, so you can participate from anywhere. Classes meet on weekdays according to Central Time.
Can high school students attend?
Yes. Beloit welcomes high school students, and its participants range from high school juniors to college professors.
Do I need prior experience in the language?
No prior knowledge is needed for First-Year courses. Placement in intermediate and advanced courses is based on your prior coursework or the language coordinator’s consent.
Can I enroll in just one 3.5-week session?
Yes. Each session is equivalent to one semester of college-level language study and earns 4 semester hours of credit. Enrolling in both sessions (the full 7 weeks) earns 8 semester hours.
When are applications due?
Admission is rolling until classes are full, and the application closes in mid-May. Accepted students pay a $300 non-refundable deposit to hold their place.
Next Steps
If you’re looking for an intensive language immersion program that can help you build lifelong skills, fast-track your level of fluency, and offer a transformative and personalized learning experience, we strongly recommend Beloit’s Summer Language Program.
Have more questions, or curious about how to apply? Applications for summer 2027 require just an online form and an unofficial transcript, and they’re accepted on a rolling basis until classes are full, so if you’re interested, submit yours as soon as possible.
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