Mo Money, No Problems 5 Foreign Language Scholarships

Mo Money, No Problems 5 Foreign Language Scholarships Mo Money, No Problems: 5 Foreign Language Scholarships Having money is the dream, but it can definitely bring problems.Your sister will want you to buy her a new dress.Your cousin will want you to fund his sons private school education.Your grandmother will want you to sponsor her pole dance classes and go to all her recitals.But for all the problems money can bring, it can also definitely solve problems. Case in point: It can help you fund a very useful language education.Sadly, even with all the  free language learning options  out there, learning a language for free  isnt for everyone.Some will want the credits and/or the experience of a more formal education.However,  studying a language in college  can be pricey, and not everyone can afford it. In addition to courses, you may also need to study abroad to complete your studies, and costs can add up quickly.Resources may seem scarce, but luckily, you dont have to go it alone. There are scholarships out there to help you get your language education without breaking the bank. Whether yo ure majoring in a language or just want to learn a language to round out your skill set, there are programs that can help you reach your goals. Below are five great foreign language scholarships you might want to apply for. How to Land a Foreign Language ScholarshipStay on top of deadlines. All of  the best colleges  and scholarship programs have deadlines. Whenever youre considering applying for a scholarship, pay careful attention to the deadlines and try to get your materials in well in advance. Theres nothing worse than going to the work of putting together the application materials and then realizing youre too late!Write a killer essay/personal statement.  Some scholarships may require essays or personal statements. These could address topics like motivation, goals and/or financial need. Regardless of what youre asked to write about, make sure your essay is on point. Reflect carefully on whatever question is posed to you and answer as clearly and thoroughly as possible. You m ight also have friends, family and/or your universitys tutoring center review your work for grammar, spelling and clarity. Even if you have mad writing skills, it can be hard to catch your own mistakes.Have trusted language-related references ready to go.  Some programs may request references, so if youre considering applying, you may want to already know who youll ask. Better still, you may want to have already spoken to potential references. It often helps for references to know your goals, motivation and accomplishments so that they can better speak to your qualifications. Having your references lined up and ready can save you time and ensure that if a scholarship opens up, youre ready to roll!Study up with FluentU to make sure you meet requirements for any scholarships you may apply for. Some foreign language scholarships dont require any knowledge of a language at all, but some want to see that youve reached a certain level of fluency. FluentU is a flexible, easy way to get in the practice you need to improve and maintain your proficiency.FluentU makes it possible to learn languages from music videos, commercials, news, inspiring talks and more.With FluentU, you hear languages in real-world contextsâ€"the way that native speakers actually use them. Just a quick look will give you an idea of the variety of FluentU videos on offer:FluentU really takes the grunt work out of learning languages, leaving you with nothing but engaging, effective and efficient learning. It’s already hand-picked the best videos for you and organized them by level and topic. All you have to do is choose any video that strikes your fancy to get started!Each word in the interactive captions comes with a definition, audio, image, example sentences and more.Access a complete interactive transcript of every video under the Dialogue tab, and easily review words and phrases from the video under Vocab.You can use FluentU’s unique adaptive quizzes to learn the vocabulary and phrases fro m the video through fun questions and exercises. Just swipe left or right to see more examples of the word youre studying.The program even keeps track of what you’re learning and tells you exactly when it’s time for review, giving you a 100% personalized experience.Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes store or Google Play store.Mo Money, No Problems: 5 Foreign Language ScholarshipsCritical Language ScholarshipWouldnt it be great if you could study an important language for free? Wouldnt it be even better if you could do so abroad? Good news, folks! The Critical Language Scholarship program offers free, intensive language study abroad in languages deemed critical to national security and economic prosperity.You dont need to be a language major to apply. In fact, the program encourages students from diverse disciplines to apply since the idea is to get skilled speakers for a variety of future caree rs. However, you do need to be an American enrolled at an American university.Programs usually last for around two months each summer. The scholarship covers travel expenses, language instruction, room, board, activities and even academic credit. Its open to both undergraduate and graduate students.Complete beginners through advanced-level students can apply for programs that teach Azerbaijani, Bangla, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, Punjabi, Swahili, Turkish and Urdu.Advanced beginning through advanced students can apply for Arabic, Persian and Portuguese programs.Intermediate and advanced students can apply for Chinese, Japanese and Russian.IES Study Abroad ScholarshipsIf youre looking to study abroad, whether its to study a language or study another topic and maybe learn a little language on the side, study abroad provider IES probably offers a scholarship for your needs.Even if you havent yet been admitted to a study abroad program, you can still apply for aid and get a quick respons e.There are an array of aid options, including need-based scholarships, donor-funded scholarships, diversity scholarships, disability grants and more.IES offers plenty of programs with language study options, so interested students may be able to learn Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese and/or Spanish.CEA ScholarshipsCEA is another study abroad provider that offers an array of scholarship options that you can use to access programs that include a foreign language component. In fact, CEA commits over $2 million annually to financial and scholarship programs.These include merit-based scholarships, need-based scholarships and diversity scholarships.Depending on the program and location, language options can include Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, French, German, Irish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Many programs allow you to also study additional subjects while learning a language abroad. For instance, you can also study business, tourism, humanities and/or science.Boren Awards ScholarshipsProvided through the National Security Education program, Boren Scholarships fund studying less commonly taught languages that are considered critical to U.S. national security.With this scholarship, you propose the study abroad program you hope to participate in. Theres a preference for longer programs. Another important qualification to note is that you must agree to go on to work in a national security position with a federal government agency for at least one year.Most Boren recipients study in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe or South America. A complete list of emphasized countries is available.You might also review a  list of recent recipients  (complete with language studied, institution, field of study and country of study) to give you a clearer idea of whether you may qualify.Benjamin A. Gilman International ScholarshipThe Gilman Scholarship is a need-based program through the U.S. Department of State thats designed to allow students who might not otherwise be able to study abroad the opportunity.You select the program you want to participate in, so theres flexibility with regards to language and location. As you can see from the  list of recent recipients, scholarship winners come from all over the United States and travel all over the world.Additionally, if you receive this scholarship, youll have a competitive advantage for certain federal jobs for the next 12 months by being allowed to apply for jobs only open to federal employees.Bonus OptionsCheck with your university.There are tons of university-specific scholarships, so you might find the perfect scholarship (or scholarships) for you through your own school. If you want to study a language abroad, you might check with your schools study abroad office. If youre wanting to study a language on home turf, check with your schools scholarship coordinator and/or language department.The other big benefit of applying for a scholarship through your university is that there s less competition. Since its a narrower pool of potential applicants to begin with, youll be at a distinct advantage. Plus, if a scholarship is not well-known on campus, you might find even less competition than you would have expected.Look for language-specific scholarships.Youll generally have an easier time finding a language-specific scholarship than a general language scholarship. If youre studying a popular language, chances are youll find a number of options.To find more scholarships, you might search BigFuture,  Lead with Languages  and/or  ACTFL. BigFuture focuses more on general scholarships, while Lead with Languages and ACTFL focus more squarely on language-related scholarships.Getting a foreign language scholarship might not make all your problems go away, but it sure couldnt hurt.So try applying for these great foreign language scholarship programs.