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Rassias
Student Programs Rassias Language Programs
France, Spain, and China
For More Information, Contact
Bill Miles
Rassias Programs
P.O. Box 5456
Hanover, New Hampshire 03755
603-643-3007
Fax: 603-643-4249
http://www.rassias.com
E-mail: info@rassias.com
Type of Program: French, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese language studies; homestays; community service; and travel
Participants: Coeducational, grades 9–12
Enrollment: 175 students in groups of 20 to 25
Program Dates: Four to six weeks from late June through early August
Heads of Program: Bill Miles and Helene Rassias-Miles, Directors
LocationRassias Language Programs offers language studies, homestays, and travel in France, Spain, and China.
Background and PhilosophyRassias has been offering language study immersion experiences to students since 1985.
Rassias Language Programs sprang from Helene Rassias’ childhood experiences in France. There she accompanied her father, a renowned professor at Dartmouth College and developer of the Rassias Method® of language instruction. All Rassias language programs use the Rassias Method—an approach that provides a dynamic, uninhibited cultural and linguistic immersion. The approach is widely used at Dartmouth and many other institutions worldwide.
The homestay programs benefit from the directors’ personal contacts, which they have developed over twenty-five years of traveling and studying abroad. Working closely with local sources who are friends of the directors, Rassias carefully selects families for the homestay program. Students continue to speak, write, and read in the foreign language even after departing for the travel portion of their trip.
Program OfferingsRassias Programs—France (grades 9–11) Rassias French language programs, offered in Tours and Arles, combine French language studies with travel and cultural immersion. Courses are taught by a master teacher and 2 assistants. Group size varies from 20 to 25 participants, with orientation taking place in Normandy and Brittany (Tours) or the Pyrenees (Arles).
Tours (four weeks) Students with two or more years of French can expand their language skills while living with host families in Tours, a town located on the banks of the Loire River. Once in Tours, students attend French language classes in the morning. Afternoons are devoted to planned group activities or excursions. During this time, students live with host families. Visits to a Brittany coastal town, Normandy beaches, and Paris round out the experience.
Arles (five weeks) Students with two or more years of French study the language while living with host families in Arles, a town located in the beautiful region of Provence. Classes are held in the morning. Afternoons are devoted to planned group activities or excursions. During this time, students live with host families. During the final weeks of the program, students tour the Riviera, the Loire Valley, and Paris.
Rassias Programs—Spain (grades 9–11) These three 4-week Spanish language and family-stay programs are designed for students with two or more years of Spanish. They are based in Gijón, Segovia, and Pontevedra and are taught by a master teacher and 2 or 3 assistants. Group size varies from 20 to 25 students.
Gijón (four weeks) The family-stay and classes unfold in Gijón, a beach resort city of 250,000 inhabitants, which lies on Spain’s North Atlantic coast. Classes are held in Gijón’s famous sports club where afterwards students can play basketball and volleyball, swim, or take an aerobics class—all in Spanish. Orientation and a bit of tourism start the program in Segovia and Madrid. The final weeks are spent on a day kayak near the Pikos Mountains and a visit to the famed Guggenheim museum in Bilbao and end with exploration of fabulous Barcelona.
Segovia (four weeks) The ancient city of Segovia is the core of this program, where classes, excursions both in Segovia and to the castle towns that surround it, visits with local artists and politicians, and the family-stay all take place. The program starts with orientation in Toledo, where students not only explore this city, which on Spain’s national historical register in its entirety, but also spend time getting acquainted and moving away from English to Spanish. The group then travels through Andalusia (while continuing to speak Spanish) to amazing Granada, the classic beaches of the south, ancient Cordoba, and lively Sevilla. From Sevilla they head to Segovia and their 2½-week homestay. The program ends with several days in Madrid.
Pontevedra (four weeks) The program begins with orientation in the beautiful walled city of Avila. Here, students relax, explore, and start practicing Spanish. Students then travel to vibrant Sevilla and then to Extremadura, the land of the conquistadors. Here, students visit Mérida, Cáceres, the Yuste Monastery, and the beautiful valley of the Jerte River. On the way to Pontevedra, they stop in Salamanca. The sights, sounds, and overall urban quality of the city make this a favorite stop among students and staff members.
The homestay and classes take place in coastal Pontevedra. With a name dating back to time of the Roman Empire (Pontus Veteri), Pontevedra has been a central point of travel for pilgrims along the southern leg of the Camino de Santiago since medieval times. Located in Galicia, in a region known as Rías Bajas, Pontevedra is off the beaten track of foreign tourists, offering an advantage to those students who wish to speak only Spanish. While in Pontevedra, students visit beach resorts, small fishing villages, inland medieval sites, and the protected islands just off the coast, as well as more well-known places, such as Santiago de Compostela, Bayone, and Tuy.
Rassias Program–Gyalthang, Yunnan Province, China This program is a monthlong language, community service, and trekking program in Yunnan Province, located east of the Himalayas and one of China’s least visited and most intriguing provinces. One week of travel and trekking is followed by eighteen days of homestay, classes, and community service work and ends with one week at the Deqin School. It is designed by Dartmouth graduate, Rassias friend, and native Tibetan, Pasang Tashi. It is for students who are beginners in Chinese as well as those with one to two years of Chinese studies.
The trip begins in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan. In Kunming, students hike the Dragon Gate, with its gorgeous view of Dian Chi Lake, which is a source of inspiration to many local poets. Students also visit the Bamboo Temple, Green Lake Park, and a lively area of tea houses and cafes, which is also a cultural center for Tai Chi, Chikung, Peking opera, and western dance. After exploring Kunming, the group heads north to Dali. Dali is situated on a fertile green plain that is watered by eighteen streams cascading down from the symmetrical nineteen peaks of the Canshan Mountain Range. Students visit Xizhou, an ancient village famous for its delicate Bai Minority architecture and the batik heritage, go on a boat cruise on Erhai Lake, and then head 2 hours north to the ancient village of Shaxi. Shaxi Village is the only surviving example of a Southern Silk Road trade center and is listed as one of the 100 most endangered sites in the world.
The Homestay in Gyalthang (2½ weeks) Students climb 6 hours by bus to the Tibetan town of Gyalthang, situated at 10,820 feet. In Gyalthang, students combine study of the Mandarin Chinese language with a great deal of exploration. They meet the host students from No. 5 Middle School of Gyalthang, where the classes are held. Over this two-week period, students visit Tibetan monasteries and sacred pilgrimage sites as well as enjoy cultural performances, typical food, and a day of biking and picnicking through beautiful villages. Students also participate with the host students in a three-day community service project at the Bita Lake Nature Reserve, under the direction of Nature Conservancy U.S.A.
The group then travels to the Baima Snow Mountain School. Situated at 9,180 feet in the Baima Nature Reserve, the school was founded by the Wildlife Fund and a Tibetan lama for the education of orphans from the region and children from the mountains. Here, students continue their Chinese language courses as well as help teach the local children. Rassias students live with local families in a very rural environment and go with them to cultural performances and festivities, community service, and hikes to Lijiang, a World Heritage Site protected by UNESCO at the foot of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Students visit a 500-year-old village and Black Dragon Spring before returning to Kunming the following day.
StaffThe language programs are taught by a master teacher and teaching assistants. Many have had prior teaching experience using the Rassias Method. All attend teacher workshops at the Rassias Foundation at Dartmouth College.
All staff members have studied and have usually lived in the region that they will tour with students; many possess a near-native understanding of a country’s language and culture.
CostsThe fees, including airfare, range from $7200 to $8000 for the language programs.
Application TimetableStarting November 30 each year, all completed applications are reviewed during the first fifteen days of the following month. Programs are usually full following the March 31 deadline.
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