The Center for Languages and Intercultural Communication is thrilled that Rice in Country, our faculty-led summer study abroad program, is back after a two-year hiatus caused by the COVID 19 pandemic. Programs are on the ground in Costa Rica, France, South Korea, and Spain.
Students participating in Rice in Country earn six credits in six weeks. Each Rice in Country program includes classroom instruction, a homestay or lodging in a university dormitory, cultural excursions, community engagement, and regular meetings with peer language partners. "Making sure that students have excellent classroom experiences and immersion experiences like study abroad is an important part of our mission. We are very happy to be able to offer this experience to students,” explained Dr. Helade Scutti Santos, CLIC’s Director of Language Instruction.
Students sign a language pledge, promising to use only the target language during the program. This compels them to use only that language to express their ideas and needs. “Using the language in its sociocultural context makes a huge difference because the words, the phrases and the discourses start having sociocultural meaning,” said Dr. Santos. “This is a challenging but also fun process and this way students struggle but they also love it and have so many positive things to say about it when they come back.”
Unfortunately, Rice in Japan could not take place because Japan is not issuing short-term visas to students. Making the best of the situation, 14 students are staying in Houston for six weeks for Rice in Japan at Rice. In addition to the classroom experience, their instructor, Dr. Naoko Ozaki, is creating an immersion experience through cooking and eating together every day.
Rice in Costa Rica, led by Profe. Charla Bennaji, and Rice in Korea, led by Dr. Eun Young Oh, cover the equivalent of the second year of study. Upon return, the students will be ready for third-year courses. Rice in France, led by Dr. Maryam Emami, is a third-year program, and Rice in Spain, led by Profe. Thais Diaz Montalvo, is a medical Spanish program for advanced students with an interest in healthcare professions.
CLIC hopes to offer programs in more languages and more countries in 2023. Plans are in the works to return to Japan and Italy and to launch Rice in Egypt and Rice in Taiwan. “It is our goal not only to increase the number of Rice in Country programs but also to give a larger number of need-based scholarships. We are committed to equity in our center, which means to prove opportunities for international education to students who come from low-income families as well,” Dr. Santos said.