Speaking (like the) French: The Success of a Three-Week Domestic Immersion Program

Analyzing thirteen years of evaluations by students enrolled in a three-week intensive immersion course and comparing the paths students take after this immersion experience with those of students taking an equivalent semesterlong course, this paper argues that a home immersion program, as short as three weeks, can inspire students to overcome the discouragement that they may feel at the intermediate level, to pursue further study of the language by going abroad, and to major in French.