The Language Flagship

Language learning for the next generation of global professionals

The Language Flagship is a national initiative to change the way Americans learn languages. It uses a groundbreaking approach to language education for students from kindergarten through college. The program leads the nation in designing, supporting, and implementing a new paradigm for advanced language education.

The language Flagship Logo

Through a network of more than 31 programs at over 23 institutions of higher education across the U.S., The Language Flagship graduates students who will take their place among the next generation of global professionals, commanding superior level of proficiency in one of ten languages critical to U.S. national security and economic competitiveness. Flagship languages include Arabic, Chinese, Hindi and Urdu, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili and Turkish.

Language proficiency + Cultural competence

Flagship Centers and Flagship Partner Programs offer students intensive language instruction to enhance their academic degrees through the achievement of attaing ACTFL Superior level language proficiency (equivalent to ILR Level 3) and cultural competence. Programs are available at the undergraduate level and include periods of rigorous language and cultural immersion at Overseas Flagship Centers.

The Language Flagship also funds a select number of pilot K–12 programs designed to provide an articulated path of language instruction for students from elementary school through college. Bold, intensive, adventurous, applicable—these are some of the words our graduates have used to describe The Language Flagship.

A park in China
Downtown Shanghai
Ruins in China

Our program offers

Intensive language and culture instruction, including group training and individual tutoring, in a U.S. university setting

Advanced language and long-term cultural immersion overseas where students directly enroll in foreign universities

Language immersion internships through our public-private partnerships with international organizations and corporations

The opportunity to attain professional level language proficiency alongside an academic major of students’ choosing