Marine 2nd Lt. Marco Anich (USNA 2009) rides a camel in Harbin, China while he studied as part of the Critical Language Studies Progam sponsored by the U.S. State Department. Photo courtesy of International Programs Office.

The extensive instruction was offered at the beginning, intermediate or advanced levels.

While studying Hindi in Jaipur, India, Marine 2nd Lt. Castro Miller reported the program was academically challenging.

‘‘I’ve gone from not knowing anything in the language, to knowing the entire alphabet, being able to read and say a long list of useful phrases, all in five days of instruction,” said Miller. ‘‘It’s helpful that studying Hindi is the only real requirement I have while I am here, so the intensive and fast-paced program is manageable.”

The CLS program is part of the National Security Language Initiative (NSLI), whose mission is to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical-need foreign languages. The program was launched in 2006 to offer intensive overseas study in Arabic, Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, Turkish and Urdu. In 2007, Chinese, Korean, Persian and Russian were added.

While learning languages at an intensive pace, students are encouraged to use their new skills with local people in the marketplace, language tutors and on arranged sight-seeing trips. From Dhaka, Bangladesh, Midn. 2⁄C Jesse Marder wrote about an excursion to a Muslim shrine:

‘‘From the top of the shrine we could see a soccer game going on in a rice paddy, with around 30 local boys playing. It had been raining all day so the field had a foot or two of standing water and was extremely muddy. A few of us decided to try to get in on the soccer game. The kids were very receptive and excited to have bideshis (foreigners) join their game. The whole experience was a lot of fun and very much worth the discomfort of sitting for a couple hours on the bus in clothing soaked with mud.”

Marine 2nd Lt. Marco Anich, who spent a semester in Beijing as part of the Academy’s foreign exchange program, studied Chinese at an advanced level in Harbin, China.

‘‘We are only allowed to speak Chinese from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day. I feel my grasp of both spoken and written Mandarin has made steady improvements,” said Anich.

The seven Midshipmen and junior officers participating this summer come from a variety of academic disciplines, including aerospace engineering, oceanography, ocean engineering, economics and international relations. Most of these participants had only high school Spanish, French or German as prior language experience.

The Council for American Research Overseas, which administers the CLS program for the State Department, says they are looking for applicants who will continue their language study beyond the scholarship program and apply their skills to future academic and professional careers.

Participants in the CLS program must be U.S. citizens enrolled in a U.S. degree-granting cirriculum at the undergraduate or graduate level. The CLS program is fully-funded, providing transportation to the program location, pre-departure orientation, visa fees, room and board, group-based language instruction, program-sponsored travel within the country and all entrance fees for program activities. Participants receive a stipend adequate to cover daily expenses.

Applications are accepted in mid-November of each year. On average there are 5,400 applications, and 550 scholarships are awarded. For more information, contact the Naval Academy International Programs Office.