Why Study African Languages?
- Two years of African language satisfies the foreign language requirement for the undergraduate student in the College of Arts and Letters and in James Madison College.
- Two years of study also counts towards a specialization in African Studies. This specialization, which appears on the student's transcript, may be particularly appealing to the student who wishes to pursue a career in the foreign service, in development agencies, or in non-governmental organizations.
- Studying a foreign language opens doors to different ways of living, eating, interacting, believing, and celebrating. Exposure to other cultures and new ways of thinking fosters understanding, tolerance and flexibility. It expands perceptions and encourages adventurous thinking.
- Foreign language learning also develops analytical skills, initiates the desire for new connections and makes way for reward that come from speaking other languages. It increases an understanding of one's own language.
- Graduate students and researchers in various disciplines who conduct studies in Africa find that knowledge of a local language facilitates their work and their interaction with people.
Languages
