Manservant_Hecubus

I know that it's a well-respected program in Canada, at least. Many people use this program as a stepping stone to the public or the foreign service in Canada. As for its international reputation, I think it's still eclipsed by the better-known schools (U of T, McGill, UBC).

Getting citizenship is very possible and there is no bar to dual American-Canadian citizenship. As long as you get one year of work experience in after your degree (and you can easily get a postgrad work permit if you've completed a PhD) then you can apply for permanent residence (which can then lead to citizenship a few years later) under this program: http://www.cic.gc.ca...e/cec/index.asp

President's Choice also offers no-fee banking services, and you can use their machines at Superstore/Loblaws/Your Independent Grocer (all one big mega-chain) or CIBC (one of the big Canadian banks) cashpoint machines for free.

One useful piece of advice that I've gotten from friendly profs: don't just ask if they can write you a reference letter. Ask if they're comfortable writing you a *strong* - perhaps even *enthusiastic* - LOR. That gives them an opening to politely let you know that they don't know or remember you or your work well enough, but will also give you a bit of added reassurance if they agree to do it.

Just wanted to add a link to a site I just discovered for European languages: http://www.presseurop.eu/en. I'm always trying to improve my French and I find the articles here more interesting than just reading a newspaper. And the best part is that each article is available in 12 or so languages. Hopefully someday I'll be able to read in more than two of them! I'll also echo the votes for Rosetta Stone, if you can get your hands on a copy of it. I preferred gaining a basic knowledge of the grammar and script for Hindi (reading the first chapter of an introductory text was enough) and found that it really reinforced my existing knowledge. On the other hand, I'm the kind of language learner who likes to know the rules upfront; I think RS has the advantage of appealing to different kinds of learners but some modification may be needed. You used to be able to sign up online and try the first module of any language for free - worth a shot to see if their approach appeals to you before buying it, since it's pretty damn expensive.