Peterson Secures $250,000 for Concordia Language Villages

(WASHINGTON, DC) - Congressman Collin Peterson (D-7th District) announced that the Concordia Language Villages in Bemidji, MN has been awarded $250,000 from the U.S. Department of State Appropriations to establish an Arabic Language Village.

Concordia Language Villages is an internationally recognized foreign language immersion program whose mission is to prepare young people, aged 7 to 18, for responsible citizenship in our global community. Currently they offer year-round programs in 13 languages, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Russian in addition to the more commonly taught languages of Spanish, French, and German.

Concordia Language Villages' current goal is to establish an Arabic Language Village, modeling the highly successful language and cultural immersion philosophy developed by the Villages. The Arabic language is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. It is the official language of 22 countries and the native language of more than 300 million people.

“Arabic language proficiency is critical to the United States international development and intelligence communities," Peterson said. "With the creation of an Arabic Language Village, Concordia Language Villages will help ensure that there is a growing pool of young people with demonstrated linguistic abilities and cultural competencies in Arabic.”

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