International Policy and Development

Eiad Alhamed – Have Fun with It! (Arabic, English)

All Student Stories, Graduate Programs, International Policy and Development, Master of Business Administration

Story taken from interview with Eiad, MBA & MA International Policy & Development, ’18; Written by K.Throgmorton

Eiad talks about learning English almost by accident. While his father was teaching his sisters with textbooks and CD programs, Eiad listened to English music, and played video games. Soon, the language came easily and he was pursuing his education in places like Cyprus and Montana, USA.

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Tangut Degfay – My Never-Ending Journey to Learning People (Amharic, English, Japanese, Korean)

All Student Stories, International Policy and Development

Story written by Tangut Degfey, IPD, ’18

for-profile-pic-visiting-nikko-historical-city-in-tochigi-perfecture-japanMy language journey started when I began studying Japanese at Middlebury College. Growing up, I was interested in the East Asian region, particularly the
technology that came from there. We had a TV, a refrigerator, a radio and other electronics equipments that were imported from one or more East Asian countries and the more I saw the names of the countries on those equipments, the more I grew passionate about learning about the culture and geography.

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Kuanysh Agaidarov – English here and now and in the future (English, Russian, Kazakh)

All Student Stories, International Policy and Development

Story taken from interview with Kuanysh Agaidarov, IPD, ’18; Written by K. Throgmorton

Growing up in Kazakhstan, most of Kuanysh’s language learning happened in university, supplemented by his study in the English as a Second Language program at the Institute last year. He grew up speaking Kazakh and Russian, his studies at school and university were also in Kazakh and Russian; as a result, he has a strong command of those languages.

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Henry Clock – So many languages, so little time (Chinese, Arabic)

All Student Stories, International Policy and Development

Story written by Henry Clock, IPD, ’16

h-clock-great-wallI spent 2012 learning Arabic and Chinese in immersive learning experiences in Morocco, Shanghai and Cairo. Study abroad experiences made both languages come alive but it was difficult to keep up my skills in one language while studying and living in the other.

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Danny Pavitt – Spanish-Immersion in my Own Country (Spanish)

All Student Stories, International Policy and Development

Story written by Danny Pavitt, IPD, ’16

You may consider the question that I initially did: Who goes to Vermont to study Spanish? Well, I can emphatically confirm that Middlebury College turns non-believers into Spanish-speaking believers. For seven weeks, students pledge to speak, eat, dance (salsa, flamenco), socialize, listen, read, write, and hopefully dream in Spanish.

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