Wabi Sabi Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 I've scoured the forums for old threads about Concordia Language Villages, but the reviews and feedback that I found were all a few years old. My son is hoping to go this summer (waiting to hear about financial aid) so I'd love to hear about your experience if your child has attended any of their camps. I'm having logistics issues: it's a long drive for us, so we have to figure out if we're just going to stay at a campground nearby to avoid making that trip twice or how we'll handle it. It would also use up all of my accrued vacation hours at work which would mean forgoing any other getaways this summer, but I also don't want to make that drive twice and airfare is super expensive... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenneinCA Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 My daughter went to German camp for two weeks last year. She is going back this year and spending four weeks. My older son is going to Spanish camp and younger son is going to Japanese camp this year. Both boys are going for two weeks. We managed to get the timing so all of them will be at camp for the same two weeks ( and daughter will be there two weeks more). Excited parents are we! We are in California and camp is in Minnesota so we are definitely flying the kids there and back. No issues with the planes last year and I don't expect any this year either. Ask any questions you would like... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 I have read recent good reviews for both French and Arabic. I thought hard about Arabic for Ds, but got some stupid bureaucratic runaround and decided against it. i may do it in future years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabi Sabi Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 I have read recent good reviews for both French and Arabic. I thought hard about Arabic for Ds, but got some stupid bureaucratic runaround and decided against it. i may do it in future years. Bureaucratic runaround from the camp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Dd attended the four week high school session last year. She learned so much and had a great time! We live far from the camp, so she flew to Minneapolis, was met by the camp people, stayed overnight with other campers on a college campus, then took the bus up to the camp the following day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 (edited) Bureaucratic runaround from the camp?I suspect it was a one time thing, I just hit the wrong person i guess. I emailed asking about placement and was told my son needed to be at least 12.5 yrs old for camp (nowhere on the website do they state this). I pointed this out to them repeatedly, but they kept saying they needed permission from an elusive dean, permission that never materialized. 2 months later, they read their own website and told me to go ahead and register. I had already made summer plans by that point. Edited March 25, 2016 by madteaparty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabi Sabi Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 My son really has just one concern, but it's a huge one for him: he is worried that the bathrooms/showers will be locker room style, and he is a kid who is super shy about exposing his body to anyone. Really though, are there any 10-13 year olds who are totally cool with being undressed in front of their peers, LOL? I'm sure it could likely vary from camp to camp, but what were the shower arrangements in your child's village? The only information I've been able to find about my child's camp (Japanese) is "Bathroom and shower facilities are located right outside the sleeping room doors" which is still pretty vague. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 This will be my daughter's third year in the French village. She loves it! Both previous years she flew in to MSP (first with unaccompanied minor service, second without) and was picked up by camp staff as arranged with no problems. Same thing going back. It is a little pricey, but cheaper than me flying with her and staying nearby for two weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legomom Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 (edited) This is a thread from earlier this year, but I am considering some kind of language immersion experience for my sophomore boys. One is learning French and the other is learning German. I am wondering about using some of the hours at camp as hours toward credit. Has anyone done that and if so, how many hours would be appropriate to use as credit? I am looking for a relatively efficient way to build some knowledge and fluency. They are taking first year German and French with WTMA this year. They have a pretty rigorous course load with all of their other work so it would be nice to get some credit in the summer through some kind of intensive to that it might reduce next year's load. ETA: I am cross posting this to the high school thread to also get ideas for other options for immersion/accelerated language learning . Edited November 8, 2016 by Legomom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 This is a thread from earlier this year, but I am considering some kind of language immersion experience for my sophomore boys. One is learning French and the other is learning German. I am wondering about using some of the hours at camp as hours toward credit. Has anyone done that and if so, how many hours would be appropriate to use as credit? I am looking for a relatively efficient way to build some knowledge and fluency. They are taking first year German and French with WTMA this year. They have a pretty rigorous course load with all of their other work so it would be nice to get some credit in the summer through some kind of intensive to that it might reduce next year's load. ETA: I am cross posting this to the high school thread to also get ideas for other options for immersion/accelerated language learning . No concordia experience but I'm considering an short term exchange program like adelosco for German.We did something like that for French and it worked well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legomom Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 No concordia experience but I'm considering an short term exchange program like adelosco for German. We did something like that for French and it worked well. Interesting! I'll check it out! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 I know I wrote on this thread earlier this year - but my daughter had another great two weeks at Concordia. She's applied for next summer for the Rotary Short Term Exchange Program. It's for high school students. Kids go to a foreign country for a month to stay with a family with a similar aged child. Then both kids return back to the first country for a month. I'm excited about the idea of both my daughter traveling to France and of hosting another child. The costs are totally reasonable (just a $300 application fee for background checking and matching families), otherwise families just take care of their own child's travel expenses and the extra child for the month. Unfortunately, there are like 30 kids applying for only 5 spots with our local Rotary club, so she probably won't get it... but I think it sounds like a great idea anyway! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 (edited) I know I wrote on this thread earlier this year - but my daughter had another great two weeks at Concordia. She's applied for next summer for the Rotary Short Term Exchange Program. It's for high school students. Kids go to a foreign country for a month to stay with a family with a similar aged child. Then both kids return back to the first country for a month. I'm excited about the idea of both my daughter traveling to France and of hosting another child. The costs are totally reasonable (just a $300 application fee for background checking and matching families), otherwise families just take care of their own child's travel expenses and the extra child for the month. Unfortunately, there are like 30 kids applying for only 5 spots with our local Rotary club, so she probably won't get it... but I think it sounds like a great idea anyway!Hosting is fun; I plan to do it every summer in perpetuity now :) best of luck to DD and pm me if you ever want to chat about it. Edited December 7, 2016 by madteaparty 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.