About NSLI-Y: The National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program was launched in 2006 to promote critical language learning among American youth. The U.S. Department of State, in cooperation with American Councils for International Education, awards and administers merit-based scholarships to high school students for participation in summer and academic year immersion programs in locations where the eight NSLI-Y languages are spoken. NSLI-Y immerses participants in the cultural life of the host country, giving them formal and informal language practice and sparking a lifetime interest in foreign languages and cultures. NSLI-Y program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.
By Luke Tyson
“When I stepped off the plane in Indore for the first time around six weeks ago, I was terrified. Unsure of what my program would hold, how I would get along with my host family and whether I would succeed with a completely foreign language, I was understandably nervous about what was going to come. As I waved hello to my new city for the first time my host brother awaited me with a beaming smile, my mother with open arms, and my entire extended family with excitement that made me feel instantly at home. NSLI-Y is an about forming relationships that’s why languages are so important in the first place- they bring people together. From my first moment in my host community to teary-eyed goodbye exchanges on the day of my departure, I’ve found the most important of these formed relationships to the one I’ve made with the family that opened their home to me and welcomed me as one of their own.”