STARTALK is part of the 2006 National Security Language Initiative, whose goal was to further skills in strategically important world languages that were not being widely taught in the U.S. 

According to the program website, STARTALK’s mission is to “increase the number of Americans learning, speaking, and teaching critical need foreign languages.” They offer programs for both teachers and students. 

In 2012, summer programs for students of all ages were available in languages including Arabic, Chinese, Dari, Hindi, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu. As of the writing of this entry, the program descriptions were still available online.