CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Four University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students were awarded U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarships to study foreign languages this summer. Di Lan Johnson, Christine Nguyen, Karel Pene and Adam Syed received full scholarships to spend 8-10 weeks abroad and study one of 14 critical languages. The program is part of an initiative to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages and cultural skills to enable them to contribute to U.S. economic competitiveness and national security.
Johnson, of Bartlett, Ill., graduated in December with a bachelor’s degree in global studies. She will study intermediate Chinese (Mandarin) at Tamkang University in New Taipei City, Taiwan, this summer. Johnson previously spent two semesters studying Mandarin at National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu, Taiwan, as a 2024 Boren Scholar. A Chinese adoptee, Johnson first nurtured her passion for understanding her native language through the close study of Chinese entertainment and language exchange websites. She hopes the CLS program will strengthen her proficiency in Chinese for her future ambition of working with nongovernmental organizations, such as the Formosan Association for Public Affairs. Long-term, Johnson intends to apply for a Fulbright award and pursue a master’s degree in international affairs, with the ultimate goal of becoming a foreign service officer specializing in political affairs.
Nguyen earned bachelor’s degrees in Japanese and linguistics from Illinois and is currently pursuing a master’s in library and information science. She will study advanced Japanese at Okayama University in Okayama, Japan, with her CLS award. With a passion for preserving and organizing materials that can be discovered and used in posterity, Nguyen’s academic and professional goals align on expanding access to Asian library and archival collections. Mastering her Japanese language skills during her CLS study will allow Nguyen, who grew up in San Jose, Calif., to engage more deeply with primary sources and accurately represent these sources for Japanese scholarship. After her CLS experience and upon completion of her master’s degree, she will pursue positions requiring Japanese language expertise with an aim to expand access to under-described or inaccessible Japanese resources in the U.S.
Pene, a senior in global studies, will study beginner’s Swahili in Arusha, Tanzania with this year’s CLS scholarship. She is now a two-time CLS awardee after previously studying in South Korea in 2024, where she first learned of the growing partnerships with African nations on environmental sustainability initiatives. Pene realized the gap in her understanding of the scope of agricultural sustainability initiatives in Africa, which spurred her to re-apply for a CLS scholarship to learn directly from those communities. At the U. of I., she is a member of the Global Leaders Program, a four-year cohort-based program that promotes human-centered design and places communities at the heart of the solution process. She is a first-generation immigrant from Cameroon, attended Evanston Township High School and is already fluent in French —a language spoken in West Africa but not as pervasive throughout the continent as Swahili. Pene plans to continue learning Swahili in the future as she pursues a master’s degree in natural resources and environmental sciences at Illinois.
Syed is from Grayslake, Ill., and attended Grayslake Central High School. He currently is a senior majoring in both food science and human nutrition and in community health. For the CLS, he will study intermediate Chinese (Mandarin) in Tainan, Taiwan, at National Cheng Kung University. Syed wanted to further explore the language after working in medical clinics and other health settings, where communication with patients was limited from language barriers. Learning even rudimentary Chinese helped Syed meet his patients where they are — medically and culturally — smoothing over anxieties and opening pathways to better care. After his CLS study, Syed plans to achieve full fluency in Chinese and weave it into his future work to improve access for Mandarin-speaking patients at medical facilities in the U.S. and abroad.
Scholarship recipients are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship and apply their critical language skills in their future careers. Approximately 7% of the 4,500 applicants nationwide received a Critical Language Scholarship in 2026. This year’s recipients come from 49 U.S. states, in addition to the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and represent 165 U.S. colleges and universities.
