• The three immersion programs in French, German, and Spanish provide an intensive experience and unique challenge for students who have excelled in language study to continue their study of that language in a total immersion environment, which is generally unavailable in the regular school environment.
• The Latin Academy provides an intensive experience for students who have excelled in the study of Latin to continue their study in a milieu unavailable in the regular school environment and introduces the students to classical Greek.
• The partial-immersion programs in Japanese and Russian provide an opportunity for interested students to be introduced to the Russian or Japanese cultures and languages which are not widely taught across the commonwealth. Advanced classes are also available to students who have studied Russian or Japanese.

The information below is provided as a brief overview of the Governor’s Foreign Language Academies. For complete information, please refer to the Guide for Students and Parents or the Guide for School Personnel.

I. Purposes of Academies

Immersion Academies.   Residential, three weeks.  (French, Spanish, German, i.e., the languages for which there is sufficient foundation in the secondary schools to enable all academy operations to be conducted in the language.)

• To provide an intensive experience and unique challenge for students who have excelled in language study to continue their study of that language in a total immersion environment which is generally unavailable in the regular school environment.
• To also introduce these students to a different language learning experience -- that of a less-commonly taught language (Japanese, Greek, Arabic, Russian,  etc.).
• To honor excellence in foreign language learning and teaching (the students, those who have prepared them for the experience, and those selected to teach them in the academies).

Language/Area Studies Partial Immersion Academies. Residential, three weeks. (Russian and Japanese Studies)

• To provide an opportunity for interested students who have excelled in the study of another language for at least two years to be introduced to the Russian or Japanese culture and language which are not widely taught across the commonwealth.
• To provide an opportunity for excellent language students to advance their skills by experiencing a new, less-commonly taught language.
• To provide an opportunity for students who have studied some Russian or Japanese to further their language skills and deepen their cultural understanding.
• To honor excellence in foreign language learning and teaching (the students, those who have prepared them for the experience, and those selected to teach them in the academies).

Latin Academy.    Residential, three weeks.

• To provide an intensive experience for students who have excelled in the study of Latin to continue their study in a milieu unavailable in the regular school environment.
• To introduce the students to classical Greek.
• To honor excellence in foreign language learning and teaching (the students, those who have prepared them for the experience, and those selected to teach them in the academies).

II.  Who Is Involved?

Students:

Students must be nominated by an accredited public high school from a Virginia public school division or a private school that is accredited by the Virginia Council for Private Education or other accrediting agency.

Each secondary school may nominate one student for the French, German, Latin, and Spanish Academies; those high schools with enrollments in grades 10, 11, and 12 above 750 may nominate two students for each of the above mentioned academies.

Each secondary school may nominate one student for the Japanese Academy and one student for the Russian Academy.

All nominees must meet the eligibility requirements below. Eligible students:

• must be at least juniors but may be mature sophomores during the current school year, 2007-2008;
• must not have graduated before the opening of the academy;
• must be eligible to attend public school in Virginia tuition-free (i.e., be residents* of Virginia);
• must be nominated by an accredited public high school from a Virginia public school division or by a private school that is accredited by the Virginia Council for Private Education or other accrediting agency;
• may apply to only one Governor’s summer residential program or foreign language academy per year;
• may attend only one Governor’s summer residential program or foreign language academy during their high school career; and
• shall be genuinely interested in attending the Governor's Foreign Language Academies and have the emotional maturity, stability, and self-discipline to live away from home for an extended period.

*For information regarding residency, please refer to Superintendent’s Informational Memorandum Number 140, issued by the Virginia Department of Education on July 27, 2007.

Students of the French, German, and Spanish Academies must meet the additional criteria below. Eligible students:

• must have completed at least level three of the language prior to the beginning of the academy;
• must have developed good proficiency in using this language; and
• must be willing to use the target language for all social and academic interactions.

Students applying to the Latin Academy must have completed at least level two of the language prior to the beginning of the academy.

Students applying to the Japanese and Russian Academies must have completed at least level two of ANY language prior to the beginning of the academy, but are not required to have previously studied the academy languages. Students currently studying Japanese and Russian are also encouraged to apply.

Faculty and Staff:

Most are Virginia public secondary school teachers, approximately 6 per academy. Occasionally a private school teacher or a college professor will be a part of the staff.  Also, approximately 3-6 young people per academy who are native speakers, college majors, or former students assist faculty in instruction and monitor dormitory behavior.

Information and applications for teaching and resident assistant positions.

Teacher observers:

Language teachers from across the state are allowed to visit the academy of their language (French, Spanish, German, Latin) to observe and learn from the experience.  Teachers of any language may visit the Japanese and Russian Academies, which take beginners in those languages. This teacher observer program has proven highly successful as a leadership and staff development experience.

Information and applications for teacher observer positions.

III. Program

For the immersion academies all functions, from brushing one's teeth in the dormitory lavatories to class discussions to going swimming or on field trips, contribute to the academy purpose.  Each academy is uniquely designed by its staff.  Elements of a student's day in a language academy may include:

- Wake-up,  breakfast
- Classes, such as:

The economics of Latin America
The unification of Germany
Life in France seen from an economic perspective
Great works of art
Literary samplings
A second language (Arabic, Korean, Greek, Russian)

- Lunch
- Another class (or two)
- Creative activities, such as:

Journal writing
DVD production
Drama
Dance
Music

- Sports, games
- Dinner
- Films, aerobics, music, theater, student and faculty talent presentations.

IV. Background

During the summer of 1986 a pilot French Academy was conducted by the Virginia Department of Education.  Title II ESEA federal funding was used.  It is believed to have been the first in the nation in length (four weeks) and intensity (French-24 hours a day, seven days a week).  The Academy was inordinately successful judging from the evaluations of students, parents, the faculty and staff, the State staff, and other visitors.  The students could and most did speak French most of the time.  Almost 100% of all those associated with the French Academy in any way enjoyed the experience and were delighted to have been a part of it.  Subsequent academies in French as well as German, Spanish, Asian studies, Russian studies, and Latin have been equally as successful in every way.

The foreign language academy experience:

Greatly intensifies the students' interest in and appreciation of foreign language study;

Significantly develops their language skills in the immersion language;

Builds self-confidence;

Causes some students to be placed at a higher level of language study in their high schools; some students enroll in college courses while still in high school; others are individually tutored or worked with in some unique fashion;

Accelerates maturity and changes attitudes positively toward languages and peoples; and

Positively influences fellow students, teachers, and foreign language programs within the high schools from which the students come.

The academies are one of the most notable developments in foreign language study to have occurred in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  They have come to signify, even for teachers who have not had students participate, what language instruction is all about – communication. The focus of the academies is on using the foreign language in a functional and meaningful way.

In July of 1987, Charles Kuralt featured the German Academy on his Sunday Morning program (CBS).  This occasioned numerous inquiries from around the country from citizens and educators interested in the academies. These inquiries continue today.  In the summer of 1993, USA Today ran a 3-page supplement on innovative summer foreign language programs and featured the Virginia Governor's French and Spanish Academies.

For more information about the Governor's Foreign Language Academies, contact the specialist for foreign languages, Helen Small, at the Virginia Department of Education at (804) 225-3666.

Virginia STARTALK Chinese Academy

The Virginia Department of Education is pleased to announce the addition of the Virginia STARTALK Chinese Academy (VSCA) to the existing summer residential foreign language academy program for 2008. The primary purpose of the VSCA will be to offer Virginia high school students an opportunity to begin the study of Chinese (Mandarin), which is not widely taught in the Commonwealth. The academy will accept mostly beginners as well as some students with prior Chinese language experience.

Dates: June 22, 2008 through July 13, 2008
Location: Virginia Commonwealth University
Application postmark deadline: March 7, 2008

The 2008 Virginia STARTALK Chinese Academy will be modeled after the highly successful partial-immersion Virginia Governor’s Japanese and Russian Academies, and will operate concurrently with the 2008 Virginia Governor’s Foreign Language Academies: A Global Village (GFLA), sharing campus facilities and participating in several Global Village activities. The three-week residential program is for current tenth- and eleventh-grade foreign language students in the Commonwealth of Virginia .

Applications (Word format) for the VSCA are available below. The Guide for Students and Parents and the Guide for School Personnel (from the menu at the left) have been modified to include information pertinent to the VSCA. The guides describe the eligibility and nomination requirements specific to the program.

Student application
Teacher application
Resident assistant application
Administrative assistant application
Teacher observer application

Students who have already applied to another language academy have been notified of this new opportunity and may request to be considered for the VSCA as a first or second choice. In addition, the Department of Education will accept nominations to the VSCA from public, private, and home schools through a nomination process similar to the process for the GFLA. Each school may submit one nominee for consideration, and final selection will be made by a state-wide selection committee.

The Virginia STARTALK Chinese Academy is dependent upon annual grant funding and may or may not be available in future years. This federal funding will cover all program costs, with no contribution necessary from school divisions, private schools, or state funds. The VSCA will be funded through the STARTALK grant program administered by the National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland. STARTALK is one of several language programs under the umbrella of President Bush’s National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) of January 2006, which seeks to expand and improve the teaching and learning of strategically important languages that are not widely taught. Information about the national STARTALK program is available at http://www.nflc.org/projects/current_projects/startalk/.