Language classes attract differing backgrounds to IU

Students and teachers from around the world come to IU every summer for eight weeks of intense language study. The annual program offers 20 languages and all students pay in-state tuition rates. \nFrom furthering a career as a librarian, to teaching English in Turkmenistan, students come to IU in various capacities. Some participants are even fulfilling requirements for their masters programs. \nGraduate students Kelly Kozik and Stephanie Hockman, like more than one-third of the 200 students, are studying Russian. \nKozik is from out-of-state and normally attends the University of Arizona. Like Kozik, most of these students are not regular IU students and many come from some of the best programs in the country. Admission standards for IU students are competitive, but Bill Fierman, director of the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center, said the program is worth looking into if you have steady grades and an expressed interest in studying language. \n"I heard about the program years ago," Kozik said. \nHer choice to attend IU this summer was motivated by the University's large offering of languages and reputation as one of the best programs in the nation since the Cold War. The federal government has had a long standing interest in the success of the language programs at IU. In fact, it is a recruiting ground for several agencies, including the U.S. Department of State and the Central Intelligence Agency. One Czech student, who wished to remain anonymous, said CIA recruiters came to her language lunch table to chat. \nMany of the teachers, all of whom are native speaking, have interesting stories of their journeys to the United States. \n"We always take a deep breath once our teachers arrive," Fierman said. \nHe said one teacher some years ago had to leave her husband and child behind, another had the misfortune of discovering that passport expiration dates must be at least six months past visa expiration dates for the person to be let into the country. She then had to get the passport extended and was able to just in time. And because teachers must be contracted well in advance of the registration dates for students, the programs are not always certain there will be students for the classes. But the classes meet even if there is only one student in a class, a learning luxury for which one would still pay normal in-state tuition. \nJerzy Kolodziej, director of the Summer Slavic Workshop, said the language programs receive more than $100,000 from the U.S. Department of Education and that many students receive private grants as well. Fierman, who was wearing one of the programs' language shirts that when translated read, "learning Kazahk language is the obligation of every citizen," said the level of funding increased considerably after Sept. 11. At the time, Congress specifically pinned programs like theirs as key centers for receiving funds. \n"The State Department has reason to support courses that produce students fluent in these languages," Fierman said. "Do you want trained people to work in the service of the country or untrained?" \nDepartment money moves first to the Social Science Research Council, which distributes the money partly on conditions of receiving the money and partly at their own discretion. One of the factors used in determining where money for language study goes is the availability of career options. \nBut Fierman said the recent appropriations for language spending have left his department short $75,000 and looking for new sources for funding. This may indicate a shift in foreign policy regional priorities or a satisfactory saturation of language-proficient government workers, but with so much attention on central Asia -- including Afghanistan, Tibet and Turkey -- it is a wonder why more funding has not come in from the government. \n"This is the place," said Kolodziej. He said students will continue to flock to IU for this program as they have in the past.