SHAPE YOUR PLAN
Select a language
Boren Scholarships are unique in their focus on language and culture, and provide a perfect opportunity for those with strong language skills to make significant progress. Study of a foreign language appropriate to the identified country must be an integral part of each application.
The language component of your proposed program should increase your proficiency. You should take into account any prior knowledge and experience in the proposed language when selecting your study abroad program. Whether or not you have studied the language previously, you should consider how your program offers you opportunities for progress.
Since we encourage students to study in countries whose languages are less commonly taught at U.S. institutions, it is anticipated that many students will not be familiar with the language of their chosen country. Prior study of another language will serve as an indication of interest and aptitude.
We realize that the following list cannot encompass all languages critical to U.S. national security, so we welcome applications that propose the study of other languages.
| Albanian |
Mandarin |
| Amharic | Mongolian |
| Arabic (and dialects) | Pashto |
| Armenian | Persian |
| Azerbaijani | Polish |
| Belarusian | Portuguese |
| Bulgarian | Romanian |
| Burmese | Russian |
| Cantonese | Serbo-Croatian |
| Czech |
Sinhala |
| Georgian | Slovak |
| Hebrew | Slovenian |
| Hindi | Swahili |
| Hungarian | Tagalog |
| Indonesian | Tajik |
| Japanese | Tamil |
| Kazakh | Thai |
| Khmer | Turkmen |
| Korean | Turkish |
| Kurdish | Uighur |
| Kyrgyz | Ukrainian |
| Kazakhstan |
Urdu |
| Lingala |
Uzbek |
| Macedonian |
Vietnamese |
| Malay |
Spanish and French, while commonly spoken in Latin America and the Caribbean and in some parts of Africa, are not preferred languages of study. If you apply to study in a Spanish- or French-speaking country you must have advanced proficiency in the language. Students who are at an advanced level of Spanish or French must keep in mind that their proposed study abroad program should not emphasize language training, but rather academic study, which would require using Spanish or French in course work related to their field of study.
We will consider applications from students at the intermediate level of Spanish or French if their field of study is in applied sciences or engineering. When you apply for the Scholarship, you will assess your own level of proficiency. If you are accepted, we will test you before you begin your program.
Evaluating Language Instruction
All study abroad programs do not offer the same opportunities to learn a language. The language component must incorporate opportunities to learn a language in a context that is meaningful to your language proficiency and language learning goals.
Among the issues you should consider in selecting your program are:
- Does the program offer language courses that emphasize rigorous study and practical use of the contemporary language leading to increased proficiency in reading, speaking, and listening?
- How many classroom contact hours are offered in the language study? Will this be sufficient to increase your language proficiency?
- Are there opportunities to study the language in small groups tailored to your proficiency level?
- Who are the faculty who teach language? Are they native speakers with extensive experience in teaching foreign students?
- Is there a full-time U.S. resident director at the institution who will help oversee your academic and cultural programs and monitor your language learning?
- Are there serious opportunities for living in university housing or home-stays where the foreign language will be spoken on a regular basis? How are home-stay families selected?