Language opportunities database

Welcome to the Language Opportunities Database! This project aims to share resources about jobs and extracurriculars that engage language skills to the Brown undergraduate community. To view the opportunities, click through the page(s) for the language(s) you are interested in. 

This website has been compiled by the Center for Language Studies at Brown University. 

If you have opportunities to add to this resource site, please email language_ambassadors@brown.edu.

Why pursue a summer opportunity?

• Research abroad is a great way to practise language & get academic experience

• Valuable to work in a place where you are unfamiliar with; forces you to learn a new cultural background

• Builds confidence and comfort in target language

• Language schools and internships are both brilliant opportunities - internships perhaps offer a much more immersive environment, as you are surrounded by coworkers, and local university students. You become more socially integrated, encouraging you to speak target language more

• Doing a summer language program opens job opportunities outside of the US

• Immersing yourself in the culture is the best way to learn!

• It is interesting to employers when you can talk about an experience abroad. Intercultural skills and interpersonal skills are often more interesting than specific career experience

Advice for finding an opportunity

• Join the Listservs for several departments You don’t have to just look within your concentration department. 

• Find opportunities through word of mouth / contact friends who have had the experience with language programs 

• Great programs promoting US students to go to Israel - also look at funding through Hillel

• Utilise BrownConnect! Reach out to several alumni and they will most likely reply! Once you form connections, this will help you when you are looking for summer opportunities

• Research study abroad organisations & office programs - there are lots of opportunities for American students to intern abroad

  • They are also very helpful with visas, housing, and food covering

• Through CLS! Meeting peers through Open Hours and CLS hosted events opens networking opportunities and advice from students from foreign countries wanting to share cultural knowledge and opportunities

• Critical Language Scholarship has opportunities to study critical foreign languages useful for US Foreign Policy

Funding

• Funding for internships can come from any department

• SPRINT funding has several grants for summer opportunities, search UFunds as well

• Talk to Department Heads, they will know where the funding is coming from and will point you in the right direction

• Edward Guiliano '72 Global Fellowship: A tiered stipend for conferences, programs, etc, to encourage research, artistic collaboration during summer, winter, spring break, etc. Applications in both the fall and spring.

• Watson Language Study Grant and other funding opportunities Watson Language Study Grant

• Talk to professors for advice, reach out to professors, attend panels

  • This can help determine which programs are reputable and expose you to opportunities you didn’t even know existed (ex. French school: Alliance Française Cavilam)

*Adopted from our 10.10.2023 Language Opportunities Panel