Deadline:
As soon as possible
Location(s)
United States of America
Overview
Native speakers of critical languages are in high demand in the U.S. government. EHLS trains advanced English speakers to be effective communicators and strong candidates for federal jobs. All EHLS participants receive a full scholarship that includes tuition and a living stipend.
Details
Do your goals include:
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Having a career that utilizes your specialized training and native language skills?
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Contributing your knowledge and skills to the federal government?
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Being able to express yourself in English with confidence and ease in professional contexts?
The English for Heritage Language Speakers (EHLS) Program offers a unique opportunity to U.S. citizens who are native speakers of critical languages. Participants receive free tuition and a living stipend while attending an 8-month course hosted at Georgetown University. As scholars, they undergo intensive training in professional communication and career skills essential for working in the government.
Upon graduation, EHLS participants seek work in federal agencies as part of their scholarship obligation. By then they are able to offer potential employers not only native-speaker proficiency in their heritage language but also confidence and ease with interacting in a government workplace.
EHLS program graduates since 2006 have been naturalized US citizens originally from countries such as Afghanistan, China, Egypt, Iran, Kenya, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Taiwan, and Tanzania. Their prior professional training has often been in such fields as teaching, architecture, business management, real estate, law, medicine, engineering, computer technology, foreign service, news-media relations, and translation.
Opportunity is About
Eligibility
Candidates should be from:
Description of Ideal Candidate
To be eligible for admission to the 2017 EHLS program, you must meet all of the following criteria:
- Be a United States citizen
- Be a native speaker of one of the following languages: Arabic, Azerbaijani, Balochi, Bambara, Dari, Hausa, Hindi, Kazakh, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Mandarin Chinese, Pashto, Persian Farsi, Punjabi, Russian, Somali, Tajik, Tamashek, Turkish, Urdu, or Uzbek
- Have native language skills at Level 3 or higher on the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale
- Have English language skills at level 2 or higher on the ILR scale
- Be able to use Microsoft Office 2010 software (Word, PowerPoint) and use the Internet to conduct research
- Have completed university-level or equivalent professional education at the bachelor’s level
- Be able to commit to full-time daytime study for 6 months at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, followed by 2 months of part-time online study
- Be completely separated from any position with the US government and any service in the US military as of the date when instruction begins
- Agree to fulfill a one-year service commitment with the US government
Dates
Deadline: As soon as possible
Cost/funding for participants
As an EHLS scholar, you will receive the following benefits:
- Coverage of all tuition and fees for the full 8 months of the program
- A living stipend of $3,600 per month for the first 6 months and $1,200 per month for the final 2 months of the program
- Reimbursement of up to $1,000 for costs of relocating to attend the program. This is offered to scholars moving from outside the metropolitan Washington, DC area only. You must provide receipts or other proof of payment to receive reimbursement.
In addition, you will receive the following from Georgetown University:
- Student health insurance
- A laptop computer
Un-save Opportunity
Internships, scholarships, student conferences and competitions.
