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.
Language Spotlight: Aaron Shew on Language Learning and Career Opportunities
Aaron M. Shew (Urdu 2009, 2010) is an Assistant Professor and REL Wilson Endowed Chair of Agricultural Economics at Arkansas State University. In this language spotlight, he shares with us what brought him to the study of Urdu and Hindi, how these language learning experiences helped to shape his scholarship, and about the importance of language immersion programs.
Posted November 10, 2020
Here's Why Proud Americans Should Learn Mandarin, Other Languages
Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo's op-ed in Newsweek makes the case for Americans to learn critical languages and announces the launch of languages.state.gov.
Posted October 28, 2020
The 2021 Summer Application is Now Available!
We are pleased to announce that the application for the 2021 Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is now open! We welcome your students to apply now to learn a critical foreign language next summer on a fully-funded study abroad program.
The application is now live and available...
Read morePosted August 27, 2020
A Program of the 
