Language Resources

The Global Language Network was founded as a student organization at the George Washington University in 2005 and later incorporated as an official 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization in 2008 with a mission of offering accessible and affordable language classes in a wide array of languages to the Washington, D.C. community. GLN offers classes free of charge in over 40 languages, including less commonly taught languages such as Albanian, Quechua, Nepali, and Vietnamese. Classes are offered on or near the George Washington University Foggy Bottom campus.

The Graduate School is a worldwide leader in government-centered education and personal development. The school offers several courses of varying experience levels and focus for 14 different languages.

The Middle East and South Asian Language Institute (MESALI) offer a broad range of foreign language instruction in more than 11 languages as well as TOEFL and ESL courses. MESALI also frequently hosts career development and cultural events throughout the year.

Additional Language Resources in Washington, D.C.

Online Foreign Language Resources

The National Capital Language Resource Center (NCLRC) is a joint project of the George Washington University, Georgetown University, and the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL). Through NCLRC you can listen to foreign language podcasts, become part of the Center’s culture club, or simply learn about foreign language related events/ issues taking place in the city.

The National Foreign Language Center (NFCL) is run by the University of Maryland and offers two unique resources for students. Read Chinese!, which is a free online language learning database for beginner and intermediate Chinese language instruction and cultural education, and Read Arabic! is the other free online language learning database for beginner and intermediate Arabic language instruction and cultural education.

There are numerous free online programs, apps, and iTunes series that offer language lessons. Some programs focus more on vocabulary and grammar while others may have stronger oral proficiency components. It is important to find a program that works for you. Sites such as Fluentin3months will often list free programs and explain how the program is designed to operate. A few sample programs include Foreign Service Institute (language courses and textbooks made available online), Duolingo (provides vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation skills in a modular game format), Italki (allows language learners to chat with native language speakers), and Tunein (allows you to listen to radio stations from around the world).

*The resources on this page are for your own personal use. Links to third party sites are provided for your convenience and do not constitute an endorsement of the contents of such sites. Third party sites, domain names and trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners.