Rare languages attract students to University

Bamana. Uzbek. Zulu. Twi.

Most Americans haven’t even heard of these languages, but IU students are learning to speak them.

IU offers courses in more than 75 languages, and students aren’t taking this lightly.
Despite the fact that some of these languages are obscure in nature, many students are branching out to acquire the unique opportunities and experiences presented by these programs.

“I think IU does an amazing job,” said Abbie Hantgan, a graduate student studying Bamana and president of IU’s African Languages Club. “We offer so many languages here that are not offered anywhere else in the country.”

Hantgan, who also speaks French, Fulfulde and Dogon, became interested in Bamana while working for the Peace Corps in Mali. Although she could communicate with many Malians by speaking French or Dogon, most spoke Bamana.

“I think people are starting to realize that you can’t just go over there and speak English or French,” Hantgan said. “If you want to have a real cross-cultural experience, you have to learn the languages of the region. It’s been a real help to my research to have learned Bamana here.”

Through her work in the African Languages Club, Hantgan also works with many undergraduates. She said she believes most of these students are simply looking for a different experience.

“Some students don’t want to take a language that could be offered everywhere,” she said. “They want to take something different that we do offer here.”

Professor Malik Hodjaev teaches Uzbek, another unique language. Uzbek has been taught for years at IU as part of the Department of Central Eurasian Studies and offers more than just an introduction to this language spoken by more than 35 million people in Central Asia, Hodjaev said.

“No other university in the United States teaches Uzbek in four levels,” he said. “Even at Harvard, it’s only taught in two levels.”

IU is even branching out to other universities to help expand their language programs. This is the sixth year that Uzbek will be taught in collaboration with other universities.
Hodjaev is currently teaching introductory Uzbek in connection with the University of Michigan and intermediate Uzbek in connection with Ohio State University.

Professors from other universities are even calling IU’s Central Eurasian Studies professors for advice on starting up similar programs.

“This program is growing,” Hodjaev said. “We have good experience and good resources.”

Chris Green is another graduate student studying Bamana. Like Hantgan, Green started studying African languages to facilitate his fieldwork. After finishing his undergraduate degree at Florida State University, he wanted to find a university with a prestigious reputation in African languages.

“IU has one of the top three African language programs in the country, so it was the obvious choice,” Green said. “We offer five African languages each year, while most universities don’t offer any.”

Green’s experience with undergraduates leads him to believe, like Hantgan, that in most cases these students are just looking for something out of the ordinary.

“I think it’s a great way for undergrads to get exposure outside of the typical French, Spanish and German,” he said. “You can still use these languages to satisfy all your language credits.”