Welcome

Amman, Jordan

Tangier, Morocco

Kazan, Russia

Kyoto, Japan

About the Program

A program of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program offers intensive summer language institutes in thirteen critical foreign languages. The selection process is administered by American Councils for International Education with awards approved by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The CLS Program is administered by American Councils and The Ohio State University/Ohio University.

Languages Offered

The CLS Program is part of a U.S. government effort to expand dramatically the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. Students of diverse disciplines and majors are encouraged to apply. Participants are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship period, and later apply their critical language skills in their future professional careers. Please visit the CLS Institutes page for more information.

• Azerbaijani, Bangla/Bengali, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, Punjabi, Turkish, and Urdu: Beginning, advanced beginning, intermediate and advanced levels;
• Arabic and Persian: Advanced beginning, intermediate and advanced levels;
• Chinese, Japanese, and Russian: Intermediate and advanced levels.

Institute Locations

From the Participants

• I felt the meetings with my tutor were very useful. I got a unique insight into the life of a native Russian and was able to connect with her on a personal level. She also taught me a lot about how to speak and sound like a Russian outside of the "official" atmosphere of class.

  – 2012 Participant