African Language Resources at UC Berkeley

The Center for African Studies, in partnership with the Department of Linguistics, the Department of African American Studies and the Berkeley Language Center, works to support the African language learning needs of students and faculty.

In Fall 2010, we are offering Kiswahili I, II, & III, Wolof I, and Zulu I (pdf). All courses are cross-listed in Linguistics and African American Studies. Arabic is available through the Department of Near Eastern Studies. Sam Mchombo, Associate Professor of Linguistics and African Language Coordinator, may also offer Chichewa on request in Spring 2010. Courses in these languages will be available to all Berkeley students and, through concurrent enrollment via UC Extension, to members of the larger community.

We have offered other languages in the recent past: Afrikaans, Amharic, Bamana, Lingala, Malagasy, Shona, Xhosa and Yoruba. While the tutorial request program is temporarily suspended, we encourage you to register your interest in other African languages by completing the tutorial request form and submitting it to Amma Oduro, the Associate African Language Coordinator.

Through our Understanding Sudan curriculum project, we are developing material on Sudanese Arabic.

The Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship for graduate students is an important part of our language program. Competition deadlines are early in the calendar year.

Summer Language Institutes and Programs

Every summer the Title VI African Studies Centers nationwide sponsor the Summer Cooperative African Language Institute (SCALI) at which several languages are taught. FLAS fellowships are available for graduate students to attend SCALI. If you are interested in studying an African language this summer, please check the SCALI website often for updates. Register your interest in a language with them.

The Assocation of African Studies Programs, the African Language Teaching Association and three universities share the task of administering competitive US Department of Education Title VI Fulbright Group Project Abroad Advanced Overseas Intensive Language Projects. In 2009, the GPA programs are in Tanzania for Advanced Swahili (June 5 – July 5), Nigeria for Advanced Yoruba (June 18 - August 15) and South Africa for Advanced Zulu (June 12 - August 9).

Other African Language Resources

• The National African Language Resource Center
• The Webbook of African Language Resources
• Africa South of the Sahara African language web links
• Ethnologue (African countries)
• Center for Language Education and Research at Michigan State University
• Language FAQs