Press Kit
Concordia Language Villages is an internationally recognized and respected world language and cultural education program serving youth, families, educators and adults. Our mission is to prepare young people for responsible citizenship in our global community.
PRESS VISITS
Please note that we welcome press visits to the Language Villages but they must be prearranged. Our programs are closed to the public during session for safety and immersion reasons, and you will likely be turned away if you show up unannounced without prior arrangement. Our programming schedule is varied and we cannot always guarantee a program type or specific language or age group will be in session when you wish to visit. If you are visiting our Summer Villages, we recommend you schedule your visit around one of our two International Day celebrations held each summer.
TRAVELING TO THE VILLAGES
Although our administrative headquarters is in Moorhead, Minn., please note that no programming takes place there and it is 3 hours by car to our main Language Villages site near Bemidji, Minn. If you are traveling by air, there is a connection from Minneapolis, Minn., or Fargo, N.D., to Bemidji. You will need to arrange for a rental car to reach the sites. We cannot provide overnight accommodation at the Language Villages, but we are happy to recommend accommodations nearby. Whenever possible, a member of our marketing & communications team will accompany you on your site visit. When this is not possible, a staff member from the Village you are visiting will host you.
PHOTO AND INFORMATION RELEASES
If interviewing or photographing participants under the age of 18, we require signed releases from guardians before you can publish identifying information. We will make all arrangements to do this.
REQUESTING PHOTOS
We have an extensive photo bank that we are willing to share with writers and reporters. We can supply you with high resolution photos in any format by e-mail or ftp. We can also supply cutlines but because of our privacy policy, we do not supply names or contact information for any people featured in our photos.
VILLAGE NAMES
At the Villages, our immersion methods also includes choosing a new Village name on opening day of the session. Within the program, we refer to staff and participants using only their new chosen Village name. For example, you will note the staff member's name as "Bob" and yet everyone will be referring to him as "Sven." You may find this confusing at first, but it is a lot of fun! We recommend you double check when doing interviews to keep it all straight!
PRESS PASS
We have granted press passes to local, regional, national and international organizations. Over the years, we have been featured in language and cultural publications, camp guides, business magazines, environmental journals, architecture publications and cooking columns.
TIME Magazine
Newsweek Magazine
Fast Company Magazine
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Bemidji Pioneer Press
Fargo Forum
WCCO TV (Minn.)
WDAY TV (N.D.)
Minnesota Public Radio
National Korean Television
Homeschool Magazine
Marq Magazine
Dallas News
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Boston Globe
Washington Post
Better Homes & Gardens
...
ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS
The Villages offers programs for all ages year-round. We are best known for our summer language and cultural immersion programs. More than 6000 villagers from across the country come to Minnesota every summer to immerse themselves in language and culture. Our goal is to provide an environment in which villagers find the courage and confidence to explore the language and culture, to speak and play in it.
The basics:
History
Programs
Villagers
Staff
Curriculum
Media Resources: Programs & Languages Offered (all are pdf files)
General Brochure
Youth and Families Brochure
Adult Brochure
Arabic Media Guide
Chinese Media Guide
Danish Media Guide
English Brochure
Finnish Media Guide
French Media Guide
German Media Guide
Italian Media Guide
Japanese Media Guide
Korean Media Guide
Norwegian Media Guide
Portuguese Media Guide
Russian Media Guide
Spanish Media Guide
Swedish Media Guide
History
In 1960, Gerhard Haukebo, Ph.D., a Concordia College (Minn.) faculty member, suggested the College initiate an experimental program using immersion techniques to teach language. In August 1961, 75 students between the ages of 9-12 attended the first two-week session at the German Language Village, then called Camp Waldsee. Read more about our history here.
1961 German Waldsee
1962 French Lac du Bois
1963 Spanish El Lago del Bosque
1963 Norwegian Skogfjorden
1966 Russian Lesnoe Ozero
1975 Swedish Sjolunden
1978 Finnish Salolampi
1982 Danish Skovsoen
1984 Chinese Sēn Lín Hú
1988 Japanese Mori no Ike
1999 Korean Sup sogui Hosu
1999 English Hometown
2003 Italian Lago del Bosco
2006 Arabic Al-Waha
2008 Portuguese Mar e Floresta
Architecturally-Authentic Sites
In addition to several seasonal sites at various locations in Minnesota and Georgia, the Villages have built seven year-round, architecturally authentic Villages in the North Woods of Minnesota on Turtle River Lake near Bemidji. These Villages are mini-worlds built with the funds of donations and designed to invoke an international destination and support the immersion environment. Currently, there are permanent Villages representing cultures that speak Finnish, French, German, Russian, Norwegian, Spanish and Swedish with fundraising underway to build a permanent Japanese Language Village.
Programs
Concordia Language Village programs span a variety of options for language learning and cultural exploration:
YOUTH
• Pre-Kindergarten Programs
• Immersion Day Camps
• Summer Villages (ages 7-18) Our flagship program since 1961!
• High School Language Study Abroad (ages 15-18)
• College Credit for High School Students (ages 16-18)
FAMILIES
• Family Weekends
• Family Summer Camps
ADULTS
• International Travel
• Global Language Villages Teaching Delegations to China and Tanzania
• Language Immersion Weeks and Weekends
• Elderhostel Language Immersion Weeks
• Cultural Retreats: Norwegian Rosemaling and Genealogy
• Professional Development: Spanish for Healthcare Professionals
EDUCATORS AND SCHOOL GROUPS
• Village Weekends for Teachers and Students
• Teacher Seminars on Second Language Immersion Methodologies
• Master of Education in World Language Education
Villagers
Each year, 11,000 participants from all 50 states and nearly 30 countries come to Minnesota and Georgia as either staff or villagers. Whether participants are beginning, advanced or heritage speakers, scholarship recipients, or gifted and talented youth, our programs are designed to fit all levels of ability and interest. The community of learners is supportive of every age and every level. Many of our villagers return to the program year after year and some return as staff.
Staff
Each summer, some 1300 program leaders and staff come together from around the globe, eager to share their knowledge and experiences with self-motivated and globally aware villagers. Energetic college-aged counselors join internationally recognized researchers, professors, and linguists to comprise a world-class team of educators who represent more than 40 countries.
Language Villages staff members are dedicated to helping each participant grow and learn. They are trained to express themselves in a variety of ways to help language learners understand the context of what is being communicated.
Curriculum
Curriculum differs from Village-to-Village and year-to-year, based on the expertise and interests of staff, relevance of activities to world events, and villager requests. However, basic elements of cultural instruction include traditions, holidays, ethnic crafts, sports, historic events, current events, drama, dances and music. Simulations are used as a key component of experiential learning.
Accreditation
The Language Villages is fully accredited by the Commission on International and Trans Regional Accreditation (CITA) and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCACASI) as a special function school. We are also accredited by the American Camp Association and regularly serve and present on the regional and national level at ACA conferences and training events.
