STUDENT COMMENTS/TESTIMONIALS
Jan 9, 2014
Melissa Hurtado; Undergrad, Neuroscience major - Hindi
She wanted to study Portuguese in DILS but cant because it is offered in the UM curriculum:
‘I am definitely taking Portuguese through UM but I wanted to be able to learn it well and I feel like the DILS program does just that."
Dec 15, 2013
Federico De Faveri; Undergraduate; - Russian
"My language partner was outstanding in teaching me the language and I think that I would have never got these results without her.
Thank you for leading an organization such as DILS, learning a language is such a valuable enrichment and DILS made me a better person by giving me this opportunity.
I look forward to another great semester of Russian!"
December 23
Blair Santaspirt, J.D. Candidate 2014, UM Law School. - Egyptian Arabic
"Your program was truly amazing and one of my favorite experiences during my time at the University of Miami."
Nov 2013
Blair Santaspirt J.D. Candidate 2014 University of Miami School of Law
"This program has been amazing and I absolutely love it. I have recommended it to as many people as I can. Thank you for the amazing opportunity. I will definitely pursue Arabic study after graduation."
October 2013
Swahili, Nikhil
"My experience in Tanzania was literally life changing. Much of the benefits of my experience came from my Swahili knowledge, and I am so thankful to you and DILS to have allowed me to pursue Swahili."
May 2013
Megan Roy received a Teaching Fulbright for Poland for fall 2013
"Thank you for everything that you do at UM - you gave me and so many other students an awesome opportunity to study a language that opens doors... Just like the Fulbright is for me!"
May 2013
Adaeze Ajoku, wrote this statement just before her graduation.
"I think my time in DILS truly afforded me to study a language- Russian- that I would have been too frightened to study otherwise since it has a completely different alphabetic system (I mean the 'r' sounding letter looks like a 'p') and difficult grammar rules. However DILS offers you a safe space where you can stumble and triumph with your language partner and fellow peers. I love that DILS is not for academic credit because it became something I did for pleasure outside of my coursework rather than an additional source of stress. Through DILS I learned a lot about Russian history and culture, watched some rather good Russian films and cartoons, and tried some scrumptious Russian dishes. I've also seriously reconsidered my childhood dream of joining the foreign service, which would actually be a possibility for me if I were to master Russian (in addition to Spanish). All in all, I can say nothing negative about DILS and my only regret is that I wasn't able to study more languages!"
March 2013
Sidonia Swarm - Croatian
"I am enjoying our language sessions with Jadranka (Language Partner) very much. I also feel much less pressured to learn because the learning is done mostly on our own time, which then actually makes me study more and enjoy doing so because I know I am doing it for myself rather than for a strictly regimented language class."
February 2013
Brigid Mahoney - Croatian
"I am really enjoying our sessions with Jadranka! I feel that we have been learning so much, and over the past 3 weeks she has helped us solidify our understanding of basic grammar. Our hope is that now we will be able to spend more time conversing with fewer breaks to ask for explanations. For the next class, we have decided to learn vocabulary pertaining to food and cooking, and we will be putting that vocab to use next class and committing it to memory through speaking exercises also geared to practicing our grammar. We will update you if this is in fact an effective way to expand our vocabulary and practice our grammar and speaking abilities."
November 2012
Student - Korean
"I have learned Korean for two semesters and I really like this language and culture. In addition, the language partner is so nice that I know more about how Korean people are and makes me want to continue learning Korean."
September 2012
Madhuri Nagaraj (Taken from one of her biweekly reports)
"I am enjoying this more than most of my regular accredited classes and really enjoy learning from Jun* as he is patient and works well with us to help us in areas we don’t feel comfortable and to practice together until we are."
May 2012
Sam Defrezze - Levantine Arabic
"Thank you so much for all you and the DILS program have done for me, you helped me to continue with an already ignited passion for Arabic that I might have not been able to develop without you. I am forever in your and Jimmy’s* debt for the incredible program you provided me over these past 3 semesters."
Spring 2012
Monika Freiser ; studied Swedish in DILS for 3 semesters.
"I highly recommend applying to participate in DILS if you have an interest in learning a new language not offered by standard college courses. I have Swedish relatives and had wanted to take Swedish lessons for years, so when I found out about DILS I was very excited. DILS paired me with a Swedish tutor and provided the textbooks and workbooks for free! For two years I met weekly with my tutor on campus and he helped me tremendously. So much so that when I visited Sweden last summer I was able to avoid using English except for a word here or there. DILS is a great program for the motivated student and I am very proud that the University of Miami continues to offer it."
*Language Partner
