This past summer, a group of students from the foreign language department were given the opportunity to participate in ULM’s study abroad program.

While many students were either taking summer classes or working summer jobs, these students were traveling the globe and earning college credit at the same time.

One group of five students from the French department, led by French Professor Chris Michaelides, spent two weeks in Montpellier, the capital of the Languedoc-Roussillon region in France.

During their stay, the students took French classes at the Institut Linguistique Adenet in Montpellier during the mornings and took in the local culture during the afternoons and evenings.

“I had a really great cultural and learning experience in Montpellier. The class was challenging enough to push me to the next level in proficiency, and the people I met during the trip have provided me with a strong base for continued practice and growth with the language,” said Catherine Olson, a senior French major.

Aside from the students who studied in France, another group from ULM travelled to Merida, Mexico, where they studied Spanish and took in the Mexican culture.  Emily Winkler, a senior Spanish major, said her favorite parts of the trip included being in the culture, visiting nearby Mayan archaeological sites and being able to converse with the locals in their native language.

Charles Holloway, professor of modern languages who led the group to Mexico, said the trip gave students a great opportunity to experience the culture in a way that cannot be replicated in the classroom.

“When you do a program like this, you’re experiencing a culture from the inside, rather than just being a tourist where you’re looking at the culture from the outside,” said Holloway.

Another important aspect of the study abroad program is that along with studying the language in a culture that speaks it, the students involved also stayed with host families, fully immersing them in the culture.

“That’s a major benefit of the experience. They eat meals with them, interact with them and use the language constantly,” said Holloway.

For students interested in the study abroad program, information is available in both the French and Spanish departments, which are located on the third floor of Brown Hall.