Language Immersion Student Residence (LISR)

I was the first student to move into the new Foreign Language Student Residence in Spring 1992. We had to live in Heritage Halls for the first weeks until the building was done. I had lived in the German House in 1990, when it was in houses. That was fun in its own way, but you didn't get to know the other houses. So the new setup was welcome, and a great location. If you have a good head resident, you can really learn. Both times I was in there, the House and FLSR, the men's head resident preferred to speak in English, but the women's head resident did speak in German. My apartment improved a lot in German, because I insisted we speak German at home, and I was the most experienced speaker. (I lived in Germany and did a mission in Austria.) The new building program was new, so we didn't have as many restrictions on food. We all cooked, and always had food for us outside the main meals. I had a car, so ended up going shopping for everyone every week, for all 16 months of both locations. The advantage of the FLSR was getting to know everyone else in the other houses, attending church together just a few steps away, and basically having a community. Most of my close friends from BYU were in the FLSR. (And there were a few bullies and jealous people as well.) The FLSR experience ended up being better than the old houses, because of cliques that formed in the old housing. During the Spring/Summer people from the FLSR would often take trips to national parks together, like Zions and Moab/Colorado River. We had a lot of fun. I do believe learning other languages opens your mind and your soul, and makes you understand humans better. A language does frame how a person views the world, because the world has to fit within that language. Learning another language lets you see the world from a different point of view, and the benefits are endless. I have used my language skills in life and in jobs, and it has greatly benefitted me. Dr. Hans Kelling was the advisor then, and he did a good job setting all this up. The buildings were all new and fresh, and no bugs that I remember. Keeping the place clean goes a long way toward not attracting bugs. (And Utah could learn what an exterminator is, but they aren't magic - clean up!) Some consider the buildings old (only 33 years old as of this typing), but it really isn't. In Austria I lived in apartments that were 500 years old. But buildings do need maintenance, and the residents do need to take care of where they live. Overall living there was the best experience of my time at BYU. I am sorry for those who had controlling or bad advisors. Sometimes that behavior comes from having to deal with irresponsible or out of control tenants, of which there can be many.

The best immersive experience if you want a tight-knight community of high-achieving young adults! I’ve made some of my best friends here. The program has its flaws, but there’s a reason people come back year after year.

I absolutely love the FLSR and the opportunity that it is! It tends to attract a very diverse group of students and is designed in such a way that it can foster a very tight knit community. You'll find that many of the people at the FLSR end up staying for as long as they can and there are people who have been here for years because they enjoy it so much. Some notes: If you can't commit to the dinners that are held four nights a week (Mon-Thu) then living here would be a mistake. Your acceptance into the program is conditional upon your attendance, so if your work or class schedule has conflicts, then it might be better to find other housing. The building and facilities are well maintained but old. You can expect things to work but not be in brand new condition. Maintenance is generally pretty prompt in responding to urgent needs. A lot of your experience will depend on how much you're willing to put into it. If you're willing to use your target language and engage in the community and communicate with your roommates and BYU Housing about any issues that arise then you are well set to have a simply marvelous experience. There are a lot of people at the FLSR for whom their job is to help you make things work. I would guess that the people who gave 1 star reviews are the ones who had issues with the notes that I made above or who were unlucky in the roommates that they had. Of all the on campus housing options, the FLSR is hands down the best opportunity for something spectacular.

I have very mixed feelings about the LISR/FLSR. Pros: The ward is amazing! Super friendly! Especially great for returned missionaries because most people are RMs there. And there are activities whether it be ward activities or mixers 2-4 times a week. Seriously the best community that is incredibly inclusive. I also really enjoyed the language immersion aspect. I improved greatly in my language while living there and it was nice living with a native speaker because she could help me with my language homework if needed. The dinner program wasn’t as bad as some people make it out to be. It’s kinda fun! You get to practice a language with your friends and eat dinner with them like 4 times a week! Plus you get more variety in your diet and fancier meals then ramen and spaghetti every night and you really only have to cook once a week. The other three days other people cook for you. Also it’s one of the cheapest options for on-campus housing with a huge living room. On top of that it’s close to the Provo Temple, Student Health center, MTC, and UVX bus station. It also has a shuttle bus to campus and you get free y lot parking if you live there. Cons: The apartments are very old! We called maintenance a lot! And they ended up ruining our shower head so it was facing an odd direction. They never ended up fixing it even though we asked multiple times. Also if you end up living on the first floor, you will see soooooooo many bugs! There were always huge spiders everywhere! Plus tons of ants. We couldn’t get rid of them! Another con is attendance is very strict. So if you aren’t gonna take the dinner class seriously, your grade will suffer. Last con is the director. We get a budget each week to buy groceries. And they still give us a budget for the week before finals and week of finals, but we aren’t forced to come because the last day of normal university classes are done. However, the director told us we had to use our budget to buy ingredients for recipes. She wouldn’t let us spend our money on something like a frozen lasagna for finals week. Which is so annoying cause no one wants to waste their time making a fancy meal for 14 other people during finals week. We just want to eat something quick and go and something like a frozen lasagna would have been so convenient to feed a big crowd without spending too much time cooking. I don’t think she should have any place in telling us how to spend the money we pay each month for food. It’s our money and our diets. Also she totally screwed over my friend by having a lack of communication with the our professor. Our professor told him he would have a spot in the fall and then months later the director told the professor there wasn’t an extra apartment to have another house for our language. Then a couple days later the director said there was an extra apartment for an a different language house. Even though there was already a native speaker and students lined up for our language house. I think it’s pretty messed up to lie about that. And she only let my friend know recently so it kinda screwed him over for finding cheaper housing cause it’s a little late to do that. So that’s why I’m conflicted. I loved the people living there but I hated some other aspects. It’s a great concept but poorly executed. The buildings could be updated and the program could use some changes too.

If you are looking for a place to live managed by people biased by their preferences and contacts, you are on the right place. Be aware, that you may have roommates who don't respect the housing agreement, but are not held accountable by the person in charge of the place. Trying to get out of your contract is a nightmare, and On-Campus housing does not make it any easier. There are lots of people here who claim to be "open minded" and "open to diversity," and in reality they make fun of it. There are lots of maintenance issues, and you should be ready to find a bunch of bugs and spiders in your apartment on a daily basis!

Ilived there for for years! (Spanish and Arabic house) Highlights: Like-minded people, everyone spoke at least a second language, multi-talented environment, I had two resident supervisors, one was amazing, the other one, no comments. You learn about different cultures, you get to bond with many people because we see each other almost daily. Dinner time may be an issue for those who want their 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM time slot free, but for me it was worthy and living there was a major highlight of my time in BYU.

Do not live here unless you are prepared to put FLSR at the top of your priority list and attend every single dinner. My second semester there I ended up having an evening class that conflicted with a dinner and they literally told me that my experience there should be more important to me than work and my education. They then terminated my contract two days before Christmas since I couldn't attend Wednesday night dinners, and left me homeless on holiday with no time to find another place to live. Insane to me. So unless you're 100% committed and know you won't have schedule conflicts, do not. Live here.