Combined, the languages of Hindi and Urdu are spoken by almost a billion people across Pakistan and India. Hindi is the lingua franca of the entire country of India. Despite the growing international prevalence of the Hindi language in business, technology, entertainment industries, and more, Hindi remains a less-commonly taught language in the United States.
As the most widely spoken language in India, Hindi gives students interested in the sub-continent the freedom to study, work in, and explore the country. It is also a step towards learning other Indo-Aryan languages such as Urdu, Bengali, or Punjabi. As India's profile continues to skyrocket, proficiency in Hindi and the nuanced cultural knowledge gained through Hindi language study will be in high demand.
Announcing Selection for the 2020 CLS Program
The CLS Program is pleased to announce the results of its 2020 summer competition. Congratulations to all the finalists and alternates who participated in the application for the CLS Program this summer.
Finalists for the 2020 CLS Program were selected from a diverse pool of nearly 5,000...
Read morePosted February 27, 2020
Avan Antia
“The CLS Program is what helped me form my own identity, which helped me be a better representative of both the United States and India. Growing up in an Indian household allowed me to connect to my CLS community, and foster mutual understanding.”
Avan Antia participated in the CLS Hindi program...
Read morePosted January 21, 2020
Announcing the 2020 CLS Application - Now Open!
We are pleased to announce that the application for the 2020 Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is now open! American undergraduate and graduate students are welcome to apply now to learn a critical foreign language next summer on a fully-funded study abroad program.
The...
Read morePosted September 12, 2019
A Program of the 
