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Summer Language Learning Opportunities

Keep honing your language skills beyond the summer months. Explore diverse options, including online and in-person programs, both locally and abroad. With a wide range of opportunities available, the journey to language fluency continues year-round.

Critical Language Scholarship

The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) program partners with universities and nonprofits around the globe to provide cohorts of U.S. students an opportunity to study the language and culture in a country/location where the target language is commonly spoken.

8-10 week programs with a minimum of 15 hours per week of formal learning with extracurricular activities designed to supplement the formal curriculum, including regular one-on-one meetings with native speaker language partners for conversational practice, as well as cultural activities and excursions designed to expand students’ understanding of the history, politics, culture and daily life of their host country.

Outcomes

  • ACTFL OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview) assessment accredited and a college credit from Bryn Mawr College
  • lots of benefits, including a stipend for travel, materials, room and board

Requirements

  • domestic undergraduate students only
  • applications are due in November (applicants are notified if they passed the review process in January and all applicants are given their final notice in March)
  • students may only apply for one language and model per year or will be considered ineligible.
  • different proficiency levels are required depending on the language:

One year of study required

Two years of study required

CLS Spark (Remote Learning)

CLS Spark is a virtual initiative for U.S. undergraduate students to learn languages essential to America’s global engagement. Designed to leverage best practices in online language learning developed by the CLS Program during the pandemic, CLS Spark allows American students to study critical languages virtually when they may not have access to study them on their campuses. Participants will spend the summer learning Arabic, Chinese, or Russian through online classes and activities facilitated by native speakers at a host institution abroad.

Requirements and outcomes

  • ACTFL OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview) assessment accredited
  • appropriate for students with no classroom experience
  • students may only apply for one language per year, or will be considered ineligible.
  • program includes: Arabic, Chinese and Russian

Middlebury Language School

  • in-person, 7-8 week language immersive located in Vermont
  • sessions may not be worth the big price tag as we’ve heard mixed reviews. $11,000 for classes, room and board
  • fellowship, scholarship, and need based grant options available
  • proficiency assigned within the ranges aligned with ACTFL/CEFR standards upon completion
  • language options include:

Indiana University Language Workshop

The Indiana University Language Workshop is one of the most affordable programs of its kind in the country and undergraduate and graduate funding is also available.

  • average cost of the online programs are $2,000; 9-week immersion programs are ~$6,500
  • 8-week sessions primarily online; some in-person options
  • domestic immersion options on IU Bloomington campus for Arabic, Chinese and Russian
  • international immersion option for Polish, Hungarian, Czech, Chinese, Bosnian, Croatia and Servian
  • different learning level options for:
  • Arabic
  • Azerbaijani
  • Bosnian, Croatia and Serbian
  • Chinese
  • Czech
  • Dutch
  • Estonian
  • Finnish
  • Hungarian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Kurdish
  • Kyrzig
  • Latvian
  • Lithuanian
  • Mongolian
  • Norwegian
  • Pashto
  • Persian
  • Polish
  • Russian
  • Swahili
  • Turkish
  • Ukrainian
  • Uzbek
  • Vietnamese

Arizona State University

Arizona State University’s Critical Languages Institute supports intensive language programs in 14 languages.

  • 8-week course costing $1,750 online or in person, not counting room and board (study abroad option available but costs more)
  • scholarships and grants are available
  • languages offered:
  • Albanian
  • Armenian
  • Bosnian, Serbian and Croatia
  • Hebrew
  • Indonesian
  • Kazakh
  • Macedonian
  • Persion
  • Polish
  • Russian
  • Tater
  • Turkish
  • Ukranian
  • Uzbek
EARLHAM ALERT:
We continue to monitor the effects of an industrial fire 1.1 miles from campus.
EARLHAM ALERT:
We continue to monitor the effects of an industrial fire 1.1 miles from campus.