The CNU Language Education Center (LEC) has operated the CLS (Critical Language Scholarship) Program of the U.S. Department of State for five consecutive years.

The CLS Program is a US governmental program which provides American students with language and cultural immersion programs of '14 Significant Foreign Languages.' The scholarship recipients visit the country of the target language and stay for intensive language courses.

It has been 5 years for CNU LEC (Director: Professor Moon Ki-seok) to offer the program since it was first selected as the only institute for Korean training in 2015.

For this year’s program, the 28 CLS scholarship recipients from all over the USA visit Korea and are divided into 5 classes to participate in 8 weeks (160 hours) of classes of Korean training and cultural enrichment program until August 17. They will have opportunities to learn various aspects of Korean culture through multiple cultural experience programs ranging from K-Pop to Taekwondo, and will also participate in outdoor activities inside and outside of the city of Gwangju.

Especially for this session, CNU will provide a special program for the May 18 Democratization Movement, which consists of a special lecture, a movie, and a visit to the May 18 National Cemetery. This is a part of CNU’s efforts to raise awareness and expand the spirit of May 18 worldwide.

During the program, the CLS scholarship students reside in homestay houses to have hands-on experiences with Korean life and culture.

The CNU LEC supports participants with one-to-one mentors from CNU students to teach Korean language and culture. The participants can gain chances to learn active and practical Korean. The mentors also can get an opportunity to gain global awareness and foster a more global perspective by assisting them.