Enrollment for this year’s CIOR Language Academy rose to 67 students, including 28 who are from Partnership for Peace (PfP) countries. The annual event will take place Aug. 6-17 in Skopje, the capital of the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia.

NATO provides money for scholarships for PfP and Mediterranean Dialogue-country students, which help cover travel, registration, and room and board. For the first time, CLA is providing additional money from NATO to cover PfP students’ books and related study materials. CLA Academic Director Maj. Lin MacLean (UK) said she is optimistic about the number of PfP students attending, adding that some of the students are returning to further hone their language skills.

“We have students traveling from Albania, FYROM, Moldova, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine,” she said. “Twenty-seven students are coming back for a second time – they’ve advanced from the beginner to the intermediate course.”

Twelve instructors from Canada, France, Macedonia, the United Kingdom, and the United States are scheduled to teach the courses. Besides linguistics, the curriculum incorporates cultural aspects of the military and guest speakers.

“We’ve included the philosophy and ethos of NATO and CIOR,” said Col. Charles “Chip” Holsworth (US), CLA director. “This directly benefits the PfP and NATO students, strengthening their understanding of NATO.”  

CLA continues to accept financial donations for scholarships from CIOR delegates and delegates at large. New donations or sponsorships will go toward the 2008 program. Donations can be earmarked for a specific student or country, while sponsorships benefit the CLA program will be used for administrative expenses.

To make a donation for scholarship or sponsorship, CIOR attendees may contact the CLA Student Coordinator and Scholarship Director, Dr. Isabella Zanetto, at isabellazanetto@yahoo.it or 0039-347-0086927 or Colonel Holsworth at cholsworth@acba.org. Dr. Zanetto and Colonel Holsworth are also onsite at the CIOR Congress in Latvia.