The Language Training Center (LTC) Program is an initiative sponsored by the Defense Language and National Security Education Office (DLNSEO) and administered by the Institute of International Education.
The National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland (NFLC-UMD) has leveraged its decades of experience supporting government partners and developing courses, learning materials, and assessments in over 100 languages to establish an LTC that provides language courses specifically tailored to the government’s needs.
To support government and military linguists and prepare them to carry out their missions, the NFLC-UMD works closely with government stakeholders to offer courses centered on current, relevant, and authentic curriculum taught in carefully sequenced thematic units that integrate culture, area studies, and language.
The NFLC-UMD offers four and five-week hybrid and online language courses, providing a mix of of direct instruction and additional guided practice in the form of graded homework, online assessments, and online learning modules. Students also have access to the NFLC-UMD’s e-Learning Portal, an online collection of language learning materials and assessments, and they can earn Continuing Education Units for completing a course.
In the 2023-2024 academic year, the NFLC-UMD is offering Korean, Russian, and Ukrainian courses to help students advance their language skills. The Korean, and Russian courses will help students progress from ILR level 2 to ILR level 2+, and the Ukrainian course will help Russian language students learn Ukrainian.
Advanced Korean, and Russian for Government Service courses are designed to increase the language proficiency of students from ILR 2 to ILR 2+ and above. The courses are based entirely on carefully curated, timely, and authentic materials at the target ILR level, organized in thematic units (such as government, conflict, and media). These courses have four- and five-week options. The four-week courses include 120 instructional hours plus 40 hours of asynchronous homework and convey 12 Continuing Education Units. The five-week courses include 150 instructional hours plus 50 hours of asynchronous homework and convey 15 Continuing Education Units. These courses are either offered in person at the NFLC-UMD campus-adjacent offices, or online.
Ukrainian Conversion for Government Service is a four-week or five-week conversion course designed for students who have reached ILR 2 proficiency in Russian and have no prior knowledge of Ukrainian. The focus is on gaining proficiency in Ukrainian in order to comprehend straightforward communications, such as incident reports, social media posts, news videos, bulletins, press releases, and other similar communiqués, and to participate in routine conversations. The fully online course is based primarily on carefully curated, timely, and authentic materials that are sequenced from ILR 0+ to ILR 2 and organized in thematic units (such as basic needs, responsibilities, thriving communities, and resilience). The four-week course includes 120 instructional hours plus 40 hours of asynchronous homework and conveys 12 Continuing Education Units. The five-week course includes 150 instructional hours plus 50 hours of asynchronous homework and conveys 15 Continuing Education Units.
Language training courses are open to active-duty personnel and DoD civilians. Seats available will be updated Tuesday and Friday afternoons.
Advanced Korean for Government Service (Korean 2 ➡ 2+)
| Length | Instructional Hours |
Start Date | End Date | Format | Seats Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 weeks | 120 Synchronous 40 Asynchronous |
July 17, 2024 | Aug 13, 2024 | Zoom (Online) | Yes |
| 5 weeks | 150 Synchronous 50 Asynchronous |
July 17, 2024 | Aug 20, 2024 | Zoom (Online) | Yes |
Advanced Korean for Government Service (Korean 2 ➡ 2+)
| Length | Instructional Hours |
Start Date | End Date | Format | Seats Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 weeks | 120 Synchronous 40 Asynchronous |
Jan 8, 2025 | Feb 5, 2025 | TBA | Yes |
| 5 weeks | 150 Synchronous 50 Asynchronous |
Jan 8, 2025 | Feb 12, 2025 | TBA | Yes |
Advanced Korean for Government Service (Korean 2 ➡ 2+)
| Length | Instructional Hours |
Start Date | End Date | Format | Seats Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 weeks | 120 Synchronous 40 Asynchronous |
March 5, 2025 | April 1, 2025 | In Person | Yes |
| 5 weeks | 150 Synchronous 50 Asynchronous |
March 5, 2025 | April 8, 2025 | In Person | Yes |
Advanced Russian for Government Service (Russian 2 ➡ 2+)
| Length | Instructional Hours |
Start Date | End Date | Format | Seats Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 weeks | 120 Synchronous 40 Asynchronous |
July 10, 2024 | Aug 6, 2024 | Zoom (Online) | Yes |
| 5 weeks | 150 Synchronous 50 Asynchronous |
July 10, 2024 | Aug 13,2024 | Zoom (Online) | Yes |
Advanced Russian for Government Service (Russian 2 ➡ 2+)
| Length | Instructional Hours |
Start Date | End Date | Format | Seats Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 weeks | 120 Synchronous 40 Asynchronous |
Sept 5, 2024 | Oct 2, 2024 | Zoom (Online) | Yes |
| 5 weeks | 150 Synchronous 50 Asynchronous |
Sept 5, 2024 | Oct 9, 2024 | Zoom (Online) | Yes |
Advanced Russian for Government Service (Russian 2 ➡ 2+)
| Length | Instructional Hours |
Start Date | End Date | Format | Seats Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 weeks | 120 Synchronous 40 Asynchronous |
March 5, 2025 | April 1, 2025 | In Person | Yes |
| 5 weeks | 150 Synchronous 50 Asynchronous |
March 5, 2025 | April 8, 2025 | In Person | Yes |
Ukrainian Conversion for Government Service
| Length | Instructional Hours |
Start Date | End Date | Format | Seats Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 weeks | 120 Synchronous 40 Asynchronous |
Nov 4, 2024 | Nov 29, 2024 | Zoom (Online) | Yes |
| 5 weeks | 150 Synchronous 50 Asyncronous |
Nov 4, 2024 | Dec 6, 2024 | Zoom (Online) | Yes |
The NFLC-UMD’s DLNSEO-funded language training courses are open to members of US Department of Defense organizations and units. Email nflc-ltc@umd.edu for more information or to register for a DLNSEO-funded course.
Please visit the Advanced Language Courses page for information about other language training opportunities offered by the NFLC-UMD.
The NFLC-UMD’s courses are designed around its research-based principles of effective language teaching, which maximize students’ proficiency gains:
- Implementing a standards-based and thematically organized curriculum
- Integrating culture, content, and language in the classroom
- Adapting and using expertly leveled authentic materials
- Using the target language and providing comprehensible input
- Facilitating a learner-centered classroom
- Conducting performance-based assessments