Afghan languages taught for first time

IU will now be offering three new languages for students through SWSEEL, an intensive summer workshop in Slavic, East European and Central Asian Languages. This summer Tajik, Pashto, (a language spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan) and Uyghur (a language spoken in China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) will be offered to students. \nThis is the first time in U.S. history that Pashto will be taught in this country.\nThe eight-week program includes 11 first-year and four second-year intensive language classes for students. The summer program can accommodate up to 150 participants for the second summer session and will cost all students the price of in-state tuition per credit hour.\nBill Fierman, director of the Center for the Languages of the Central Asian Region as well as the Inner Asian Uralic National Resource Center, said students come from all over to participate in these classes. IU is the largest and one of the only universities in the United States offering classes in languages from Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and Central Asia. \n"IU has a long-standing reputation and has been working on these languages long before they became front page news," Fierman said.\nThirty-seven students participated in the classes last summer from all different parts of the country, and 52 have already applied for this summer's program. The 8-week workshop includes intensive language courses in Russian, Polish, Romanian, Uzbek, Azeri and Turkmen. \nClass sizes can range anywhere from between 1 and 12 people depending on the interest, and all of the teachers are native speakers of the languages. Many teachers come to the United States with visas for the 8-week period. \nThe courses focus on learning and improving speaking, reading and writing skills. Students interested in pursing careers in business, government, not-for profit organizations, journalism and many other fields can benefit from the classes. \nDr. Shahyar Daneshgar, who has been teaching at IU since 1984 and is a native of Azerbaijan, teaches Azeri and occasionally Uzbek to students during the summer. He said there are a number of reasons why students have shown interest in learning some of these less-studied languages and why many government officials as well as businessmen have begun to learn how to speak these languages.\n"When you show to people respect for their language, doors open to you," Daneshgar said. \nDaneshgar said he believes these classes will become even more important as U.S. involvement in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan continues to grow.\nJen Maceyko, a first-year graduate student pursuing a master's in the Russian East European Institute, took one of the language courses in Polish last summer. Maceyko said she wanted to get a head start on her language training, and after completing the course, she was able to go directly into a second-year Polish class. \n"My knowledge went from absolutely nothing to being able to carry on pretty decent conversations in Polish," Maceyko said.\nAlong with Maceyko, Ben Levey, a graduate student, also participated in the program. Levey took a first-year class in Uzbek, a language spoken in Uzbekistan, Western China and other neighboring areas. After Levey spent three years living in China, the workshop was a great opportunity to specialize in Uzbek. \n"It was a stimulating and intellectual environment that primarily focused on language training but also incorporated some aspects of the culture as well," Levey said.