Two new federally funded initiatives are offering college students unique opportunities to learn or make use of Arabic language skills through the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Georgetown University in Washington.

The National Security Education Program has provided a Language Flagship Initiative grant at U-M to "change the way Americans learn non-commonly taught languages like Arabic, Persian, Chinese, Japanese, Urdu, etc."

"The Arabic Language Flagship offers undergraduate students the opportunity to gain professional fluency in Arabic, spend a year in Egypt at Alexandria University for Advanced Arabic language and culture and professional internship while completing their major areas of study in their academic fields," said Raji Rammuny, longtime U-M Arabic professor and director of the Arabic Flagship Program.

Supplemental Flagship scholarships are available. Applicants must submit a transcript and two letters of recommendation. Contact Sofia Rosenberg at lsa-nes-flagship@umich.edu or 734.673.8177 for more information.

Michigan State University, the University of Maryland at College Park, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas at Austin also offer Arabic Flagship Programs.

Visit www.thelanguageflagship.org for information.

Another National Security Education Program-funded project is offering full scholarships for an eight-month program helping native Arabic speakers develop government careers.

The English for Heritage Language Speakers Program is designed for naturalized U.S. citizens.

"It is the only program of its kind that combines advanced English language training with professional communication skills and strategies," said program director Craig Fredrickson.

All accepted students will receive full scholarships covering tuition and a living stipend.

Relocation reimbursement is also available.

Applications are due on September 29.

The program is also offered to native speakers of Urdu, Persian Farsi, Pashto, Mandarin Chinese, Swahili, Somali, Dari, Hausa and Igbo.

Visit www.cal.org/ehls or email ehls@cal.org for more information.