The U.S. Department of State has awarded the CPS Office of Language and Culture Education (OLCE) $199,234 to implement a Chinese Summer Language Institute. This program falls under the Department of State’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y), a critical component of a multi-agency Presidential Initiative to increase U.S. citizens’ capacity to engage foreign governments and peoples through the critical languages of Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Farsi, Hindi, Korean, Russian, and Turkish.

The CPS Chinese Summer Language Institute, which will run from June 20, 2009 through August 1, 2009, will provide 20 Chicago high school students with an opportunity for immersion in the Mandarin language.

The students, accompanied by CPS adult chaperones, will spend six weeks in China where they will engage in a wide range of academic and cultural activities aimed at increasing their fluency with the language and knowledge of China’s culture. These students will spend three weeks at a Chinese university, where they will live in the dorms and receive formal instruction in Mandarin. For the remainder of their time, they will live with Chinese families to experience a more informal and comprehensive immersion in the host country’s language and culture.

The program is targeted at Chicago Public Schools high school students who will be in seniors in 2009-2010 academic year. Candidates must have completed 3 years of Chinese World Language instruction at their school and be registered for Advanced Placement Chinese in the 2009-2010 academic year. Application materials will be distributed to students via their Chinese World Language teacher. Selection is highly competitive and is subject to review from the National Security Language Institute for Youth and the American Councils for International Education. For more information on this program, please contact Mr. Robert Davis, Manager of World Language & International Studies at CPS and Education Sub-Committee Chair of the China Committee, at rdavis@cps.k12.il.us.

This is the third year that OLCE has been awarded funding for this program.