Summer language academy enters seventh year
Article By: Staff
This summer marks the seventh year of the University of North Georgia's (UNG) Federal Service Language Academy (FSLA) — a three-week residential program for high school students that teaches language and culture in an immersive environment.
"FSLA began in 2011, offering three languages to fewer than 100 students. The program has historically drawn kids from all across the state and around the country and we have successfully established ourselves as Georgia's premier language program designed for high school students," said John Wilson, associate vice president of international programs.
This year's sessions will be held June 11-30 and July 9-28.
During the two three-week sessions, students will be immersed in intensive language instruction in both beginner's and advanced study of Arabic, Chinese, Russian, German, Korean, Portuguese, and Japanese.
In addition to language studies, students also participate in a daily fitness program, receive career counseling from federal agency representatives (possible agencies include the CIA, DEA, FBI, State Department, Homeland Security, the Peace Corps and U.S. Armed Forces), and can possibly receive high school credit.
"Learning in a classroom is good, yes, and re-enacting things is good, but experiencing is a totally new level. These students have an opportunity to be immersed in a real-life culture," said Lacie Warren, international program coordinator at UNG. "This program offers the kind of global experience that will be invaluable to students in their future careers."
The cost for each summer 2017 session is $1,895. Several scholarship opportunities are available.
UNG offers 11 foreign language programs including Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish — eight of which are included on the Department of Defense's strategic language list.
Global opportunities are available to UNG students, faculty and staff through a variety of international partnerships, exchanges and study abroad programs. UNG also offers specialized global opportunities for students in the Corps of Cadets, including federally funded programs such as Project Global Officer, Chinese Language Flagship and UNG's Language Training Center.
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