Faculty Language Training

The Smith CIBER is continuing the non-credit foreign language training program for undergraduate and graduate students which was introduced at the Smith School in 2007-08. In 2008-09, we will again be offering 10-week classes in Basic Mandarin and Arabic in the fall and spring and Intermediate Mandarin and Arabic in the spring. Other less-commonly-taught languages will be added as the demand for language instruction develops.

Smith faculty members are invited to take advantage of this program, and CIBER will pay the associated cost of language instruction.

Smith faculty interested in taking a foreign language course at Smith School or the USDA facility are invited to contact Karen Watts.

• Mandarin Language and Culture Classes - Fall 2009
• Arabic Language and Culture Classes - Fall 2009

CIBER to offer free online language instruction through RosettaStone

The Smith School CIBER is pleased to offer all Smith School faculty and staff online language instruction through RosettaStone, the world's leading language-learning software. RosettaStone combines advanced interactive technology with native speaker voicing and a rich visual environment to mimic the complete immersion process, teaching whole-language skills, including: listening, reading, speaking, and writing.

Instruction is available in the following languages:

• Arabic
• French
• German
• Hebrew
• Hindi
• Japanese
• Korean
• Mandarin
• Polish
• Portuguese (Brazil)
• Russian
• Spanish (Latin America as well as Spain)
• Tagalog

For more information, or to register, contact: Claudia Donnelly; 301-405-0200.

CIBER 2010 Business Language Conference

The CIBER Business Language Conference provides the opportunity for teachers, scholars, policy makers and business leaders to discuss business language education. The conference thus responds to the overarching mission of the U.S. Department of Education’s CIBER grant program to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. business globally by linking the human capital and information needs of the U.S. business community with the international education, language training, and research capacity of universities across the United States. Next year, Penn Lauder CIBER and the Lauder Institute will host this important event, which ties into the larger national discourse about the ways that language education must keep pace and meet future challenges for applied language programs in light of research, trends, and needs of the changing economic environment. We are pleased to partner with the Penn Language Center to extend the breadth of expertise and reach.

For more information, visit the conference Web site

The Smith CIBER will pay registration fees for UM faculty interested in attending this conference. If interested, contact Karen Watts.