(no subject)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_christine/]

I read over the forum rules, and this is a learning resource. If it's inappropriate, I am sorry.


If you are an American citizen learning Russian, you may be aware that Russian is considered a "critical language" as is Arabic, Turkish, Mandarin, Farsi and some others. As such, the US State Department has a Critical Language Scholarship in which they pay all expenses (ALL of them: plane, fees, room, cultural excursions and they give you a weekly stipend) for undergraduate and graduate students to study in Russia over the summer. They are interested in students who are going to use Russian as part of their future career. With that being said, they do not require any commitment to the state department. If accepted, intermediate students are sent to Astrakhan, Nizhnij Novgorod and advanced students are sent to Tomsk and Samara.

Information here: http://www.clscholarship.org (it's subcontracted through CAORC)

I was at Astrakhan last year, I don't work for the program, but they asked us to get the word out a bit. It's a bit of the state department's best kept secret - they had some incompetent marketers, or so they told my group. It started four years ago because of President Bush's belated realization that we need Arabic speakers, and then they added languages. This is the third year of Russian.

I'm all for telling people about free trips. I did not spend a dime of my own money, and my Russian improved dramatically. The expectation is that while you are there, you speak only Russian, and you live with a host family.

With that being said, because Russian is a CL in the US, it's worth looking for other opportunities tied to it.

Comments

[typesbad.livejournal.com]

were you in the military? I've applied for this twice and an ex-military student was always chosen over me (we don't have many russian students at our college) even though I a) studied it more and b) had more experience in Russia...

...so, I'm just curious. hope that isn't prying. I want to think it's coincidence but all the years I've been studying only ex-military people have been chosen from my classes.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_christine/]

Which school are you from? I don't mind the question - I've never been in the military though. I think I was just lucky, honestly. It's not as if they only take one person from a school - there were three students from Baylor, three from Florida State, but they also have larger programs.

[typesbad.livejournal.com]

haha, sorry, since it is SUCH a small school I'd rather not say. I swear sometimes our department has like 10 people. I forgot to use my 'community journal'. anyway, since the Russian program has been up there has only been one person selected from our college - no more than that. both times I applied I only knew of 3-5 other people who were applying as well.

I am just bitter, I always lose government scholarships to people with connections, at least at my current college I know everyone so unfortunately I know the people who get them. :/ but I am pretty sure my professor was on the committee for the CLS one year and I'm pretty sure he voted against me because he wanted me on another program. oh well, almost done!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_christine/]

You could apply again, I knew a bunch of people who didn't get it the first year and did the second time. You got nothing to loose ;)

off-topic

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

>intermediate students are sent to Astrakhan, Nizhnij Novgorod and advanced students are sent to Tomsk and Samara

"intermediate students are sent to Astrakhan, Nizhnij Novgorod and those who survive are sent to Tomsk and Samara" :)

Sorry, just couldn't keep from that. All four sound like quite tough places :)

hahaha

[http://users.livejournal.com/_christine/]

I loved it. With that being said, honestly, I live in the second most impoverished city in the United States, and it seems like a palace now after being in Astrakhan :) But the people in Astrakhan were wonderful, and there wasn't much opportunity for English like there is in Piter or Moscow. But all students in all cities (save Tomsk) said they were not as beautiful or inspiring as Piter or Moscow.

Re: hahaha

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

That's right, all three Volga cities (NN, Samara, and Astrakhan, going down the Volga river,) are just very big industrial clusters, Volga being their most interesting feature. Of those three, NN is probably the most vibrant, as they have more colleges (and more non-technical colleges, specifically) than the other two. For example, NN not only has a music college, but also a conservatory of music (which offers a higher degree than a college.) I've been doing some lectures at Samara Tech a few years ago, and was quite impressed by how depressing the city was. Nizhny is a bit more cheerful, but still far from Moscow or St.Pete standards of "big city vibe." Never been in Astrakhan personally. As of Tomsk, it's just a beautiful old city that has five universtites per population of 400,000, one of them really good (Tomsk State.) It's Tomsk climate that counts, though: after all, it's Siberia.

Re: off-topic

[dobryi-drake.livejournal.com]

Ha-ha, yeah, something like that come to my mind, too.

[david-us.livejournal.com]

I've stated before in this forum, I started studying Russian when I was in 6th grade. I continued through high school. While in high school I applied to the United States Naval Academy, a very difficult school for admission, even requiring a congressional/senatorial/presidential nomination before the Academy can even consider you.

Sure, I had very good grades in high school, but they were probably average, at best, when compared to the typical Academy applicant.

To this day, I'm convinced that I was admitted because of my Russian language background. As a result, I had my entire education paid for. Well, actually, it's more than free. They actually pay you to attend the school. Ironically, I never went on to use Russian in my naval career, although, as I was reaching the end of my obligated service, as an enticement to remain in the navy, I was offered a position as an attaché (Admiral's aide) at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow only if I agreed to attend the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. I rejected this offer, resigned my commission, and pursued a career as an airline pilot.

Sometimes I regret that decision.

[ctcrkng.livejournal.com]

Chaika? :-)

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

Wow. There're places where халява exists. :)

[slovami.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, we have lots of халява for Russian learners. That's why I started studying Russian: for the money. With Russian skills, I can either marry an oligarch, or get the U.S. government to pay me to keep studying Russia for the rest of my life. ;)

[evaluna68.livejournal.com]

I had the opportunity to apply for a similar scholarship in 1995 when I was in grad school to do a summer program in Russian for Social Sciences at Novosibirsk State University. Back then, they cautioned us that it was possible that it would negatively affect our future careers if certain Russians found out we'd been funded by the Defense Dept., because they might not trust us, thinking that we "owed" something to the military.

Do they still tell applicants that? And is it true? I never did apply - I got the program almost totally funded from other sources anyway, and thought trust was more important than another few hundred dollars. But I've always been curious.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_christine/]

They didn't tell us anything like that, and on paper it says that SUNY Stony Brook is doing all the funding. We told people we were from the State Department, and they didn't seem to think it was so strange. It wasn't the defense department though, maybe there is a perceptual difference...? I honestly do not know.

[lerastar.livejournal.com]

Oh this is awesome. I wish I knew Russian (have just begun to teach myself) so I think I will apply for Turkish instead. I am interested in getting my foot in the door at State Dept. I am graduating in May.

Thanks!