Dear FLA Students and Parents,

We will soon begin the academic-year component of the Regents Foreign Language Academy. Students will meet in Satterfield Hall, rooms 115-119, from 9AM-3PM. The Arabic group will meet in 115, the Chinese group in 116, the Hindi group in 117, the Japanese group in 118, and the Russian group in 118. Lunch money ($10) will be provided on the students’ flashcards.

In addition, it has come to my attention that the dates initially posted on our FLA Website (fla.mcls.kent.edu) conflicted with scheduled dates for the ACT and SAT exams. Because one of the goals of the FLA is to improve student success in college, we felt it was important for us to change the dates of the Academy in September and October. The initially scheduled dates have now been moved one week back: 9/19 and 10/24. All the dates are now posted on the FLA Website.

Thank you for your cooperation and support.

All the best,


Dr. Baer
Director, FLA

June 21, 2009 through July 18, 2009

Kent State University in collaboration with Cleveland State University, Oberlin College, the University of Akron and the Summit County Educational Service Center (SCESC) announces the 2009 Ohio Board of Regents Foreign Language Academy. The 2009 Academy focuses on new learners of the critical languages Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese and Russian. The 2009 Academy builds on the foundation of the successful 2007 and 2008 Regents Foreign Language Academies at Kent State University.

The Academy begins with a four-week residential summer language immersion experience at Kent State University that focuses on Ohio high school students who will be juniors and seniors during the 2009-2010 academic year. The Academy offers the opportunity to study Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, and Russian for four semester hours of college credit. Students who complete the summer academy will continue to earn four additional credits through several mini-immersion Saturday sessions during the 2009-2010 school year. These eight credit hours are intended to satisfy high school language requirements and will count toward fulfilling college language requirements at Ohio institutions of higher education. Students who are admitted to the academy are expected to enroll for both the summer and fall sessions.

There are 9 Saturday sessions for 2009-10: Sept. 12, Oct. 10, Nov. 14, Dec. 12, Jan. 23, Feb. 20, Mar 20, Apr 17, May 15. All sessions will be held at the Kent Campus.

Both the summer academy and follow up academic year sessions are at no cost to students and their families. The Academy will provide for tuition, room, board, admission fees and textbooks. The program provides incentives in addition to the opportunity to earn college and high school language credits: a summer stipend (earn while learning) and the use of a laptop for the 11-month period of the Academy.

The summer academy requires five day a week residence for four weeks in a language house at Kent State University where students will have daily classes followed by evening immersion experiences where they will be exposed to Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, and Russian film, games, music, cuisine and conversation. Speakers, including professionals who use foreign languages in their careers, are scheduled to make presentations during some evening sessions. The academic year session will include 9 Saturday commitments for the entire day, and some travel to other Academy sites in Akron, Oberlin and Cleveland may be required of some students, dependent on language.

Download Application Forms Now! Applications Due By April 15, 2009

Dear 2009 FLA Applicants:

Please find below the list of those who were accepted into the 2009 Regents Foreign Language Academy. Some applicants were accepted in their second or third choice of language, so please look for your name in all the language groups. Below the list of accepted students is our waiting list.

If your summer plans have changed or you are not interested in studying the language you have been selected to study, please contact Lorna Herdina (lherdina@kent.edu) to withdraw yourself from the program. Your spot can then be offered to someone from our waiting list. Please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you for your cooperation!


Students

Arabic Bialik, Logan; Black, Nuri; Clarke, Lorianna; Farmer, Hannah; Haffar, Muith; Hendrus, Chelsea; Hooten, Alexandria; Horvath, Lenae; Soto, Jailyn; Varn, Olivia; Webb, Rachel
Chinese Adams, Andrea; Barnhart, Allison; Bunge, Jon; Clair, Gregory; Derflinger, Bethany; Farmer, Celeste; Kehl, Tricia; Moore, Omari;Tchen, Eric; Wasik, Alexandra
Hindi Bechtel, Shiloh; Collard, Jacob; Colvin, Grant; DuBois, Bailey; Galliger, Zachary; Macasek, Max; Mitchell, Abigail; Sugoski, Stephanie; Sutherland, Harper; Winters, Noah
Japanese Baird, Rachel; Day, Susan; Denholm, Margaret; Dye-Lopez, Alicia; Emrich, Zach; Holden, Pauline; Lally, Marisa; Leclerc, Avery; Patchin, Wendy; Rahmani, Haymed; Schmitt, Jonathan; Stovall, Paisley
Russian Barker, Jessica; Bauman, Colin; Berger, Stephanie; Fechter, Kenneth; Freund, Christina; Hoellerbauer, Simon; Jackson, Ta-Tiana; Olson, Eric; Romero, Austin; Skiba, Andre; Somerlot,Jacob; Sweeney, Melissa;
Waiting List Brack, Brian (CHIN/RUSS); Brown, Vanessa (JAPN); Jackson, HeavinLee (RUSS); Mankin,Hilary (JAPN/CHIN)

The National Foreign Language Center (http://www.nflc.org/) has awarded a second STARTALK grant to Kent State University in support of the Ohio Board of Regents Summer Foreign Language Academy. STARTALK is one of the projects of the National Security Language Initiative, a multi-agency effort to expand foreign language education in under-taught critical languages by funding new and existing programs throughout students' learning careers, kindergarten through university; and to provide incentives and rewards for foreign language learning and use in the work force. The 2009 STARTALK grant to Kent State University is to enhance the Regents Foreign Language Academy's offerings in Arabic, Chinese and Hindi. A previous STARTALK grant was awarded to support the 2008 Foreign Language Academy.