The Colombian embassy in New Delhi is now offering an exciting opportunity for students to study in Colombia. The initiative, called ‘Foreign Language Asia +’ offers 14 scholarships to study Spanish in Cartagena, Colombia for tourist guides, undergraduate and graduate students from India, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka.
According to the embassy, the programme aims at “fostering the mutual understanding, trust, political dialogue and friendly cooperation between Colombia and the aforementioned countries through the teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language for promoting the linguistic, cultural and touristic values of Colombia.”
Selected students will be matched with Colombian universities for the course of one semester in 2018.
Apart from its recent fame for ‘Narcos’, Colombia was also home to famous personalities like Gabriel García Márquez and Laura Restrepo.
Language immersion programmes encourage scholars to socially engage and interact with their local communities, in addition to traditional academic work. According to the embassy’s press release, over 165 people have come forward to participate in the programme during its short existence, which testifies to “the large interest existing in the countries of Asia about Latin America.”
The scholarships include a monthly stipend, round-trip air ticket and tuition fee for the university that a student is matched with.
Interested students can apply here or visit the Colombian embassy’s website for more details.