Stories

The NSLI-Y program languages include Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Indonesian, Hindi, Korean, Persian (Tajiki), Russian and Turkish. Listed below are all multimedia stories written, and shared by NSLI-Y students, alumni, partners, and supporters. These stories include all NSLI-Y program languages and are ordered chronologically from the most recent post.

Alumni and current students, join the conversation by submitting your own story.

Click on a language below to see stories and media related to a specific NSLI-Y program language:

Displaying Arabic stories from .

Header image with title "NSLI-Y VSI 2020 Highlights: Networking Activities" with two slightly transparent images in the background: one with a map of Taiwan and Taiwanese dishes, the other of a man in from of a sign that says "American Chamber of Commerce."

Global

NSLI-Y VSI Highlights: Students Virtually Connect and Network

NSLI-Y's Virtual Summer Intensive offered students the opportunity to connect and network with locals and guests of program countries.
A banner image with the text "NSLI-Y VSI 2020 Highlights: Cultural activities." The image has the NSLI-Y logo in the top left corner and shows food and crafts from cultural activities with a blue overlay.

Global

NSLI-Y VSI Highlights: Students Virtually Participate in Cultural Activities

To ensure the safety of students, teachers, and staff amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) chose to...
Grace standing in front of Petra

Arabic

Potatoes and Tahini

Grace is from Meridian, ID and an alumna of the 2019 Arabic summer program in Amman, Jordan. I grew up in Meridian, Idaho, where I had limited exposure to othe...
Emma poses in front of a sunset in Morocco

Arabic

Unexpected Bonding with my Host Family

Emma is from Lakewood, CO and an alumna of the Arabic AY 2019-20 program in Rabat, Morocco. Integrating into a new family can be difficult. I remember the fir...
Brooklyn poses with her NSLI-Y certificate

Arabic

Virtual NSLI-Y: An Innovative Approach to Language Learning

Brooklyn is from Los Angeles, CA and an alumna of the Arabic Virtual NSLI-Y Winter Cohort from January-March 2020. This past winter I was fortunate enough to p...
An image of a virtual Arabic class

Arabic

My Experience Learning Arabic with Virtual NSLI-Y

Julie is an alumna of the Arabic Virtual NSLI-Y Winter Cohort from January-March 2020. When my mom first told me about learning Arabic through Virtual NSLI-Y, I...
Diana posing in front of a Career Connections banner with two of her peers.

Arabic

Learning About Alumni Careers and Making Connections

Diana is from Chicago, IL and participated in the 2017 Arabic Summer program in Morocco. I participated in the Career Connections: Seminar for U.S. Exchange Alu...
An image of the NSLI-Y Alumni Reps posing with a NSLI-Y banner

Global

Learning How to ‘Rep’: The 2020 NSLI-Y Alumni Representative Workshop

Hello! My name is Halden, and I am the NSLI-Y Alumni Representative for Chapel Hill, NC in the Southeast region. Traveling to Chengdu, China in 2018 through NSL...
A banner that reads "celebrating underrepresented stories abroad" and shows Nicholas sitting with his peers in Morocco

Arabic

Bringing Down Barriers: Nicholas in Morocco

Nicholas Wade's future changed unexpectedly when he met a Foreign Service Officer at a career fair during his freshman year of high school. She described to h...