Sunflora219

Hey, nervousgal! Probably by mid January. Last year, they were notified on the 18th, so we have to live with the anxiety for at least another two weeks or so.

Hello Hotpot,
I know a native heritage speaker in Chinese from my institution who was a recipient of the scholarship. If anything, she used it as a way of making her application stronger (she used the idea of getting back to her roots). If anything, I think it helps to be a heritage speaker for this scholarship because it’s shows you aren’t just going to dabble in the language for the sake of it. You have a meaningful reason to learn the specific language— you’ll be more likely to use it to communicate with your family and ethnic community— making the chances of you giving back to this community higher. Also, you won’t disregard everything you’ve learned from the experience abroad as soon as you get back home (CLS wants to avoid this) because you will practice using the language with your kin (constantly, I hope). Additionally, should you be accepted, your familiarity with the language and the culture would be an added bonus for the group dynamic.
In short, being a heritage speaker can only help, not hurt, your chances. I’m a native speaker in Bangla, and I wondered about the same thing!

Hello Hotpot,
I know a native heritage speaker in Chinese from my institution who was a recipient of the scholarship. If anything, she used it as a way of making her application stronger (she used the idea of getting back to her roots). If anything, I think it helps to be a heritage speaker for this scholarship because it’s shows you aren’t just going to dabble in the language for the sake of it. You have a meaningful reason to learn the specific language— you’ll be more likely to use it to communicate with your family and ethnic community— making the chances of you giving back to this community higher. Also, you won’t disregard everything you’ve learned from the experience abroad as soon as you get back home (CLS wants to avoid this) because you will practice using the language with your kin (constantly, I hope). Additionally, should you be accepted, your familiarity with the language and the culture would be an added bonus for the group dynamic.
In short, being a heritage speaker can only help, not hurt, your chances. I’m a native speaker in Bangla, and I wondered about the same thing!

Aw man. I’m sorry this happened to you. We’re all hoping that the program reads your application— my fingers are crossed for you. More importantly, you seem like you’ve worked really hard on your application, and that’s something to be proud of. So keep your head held high! Please do keep us posted.

I was secretly stalking this page after sending in my application. I applied for beginners Bangla. Good luck to everyone here!