UF runs African languages course

Amy Smerdel, a University of Southern California student from San Francisco, didn’t know any Wolof before she started her summer courses at the University of Florida. But for several hours a day, she develops her French skills and starts picking up Wolof — the most widely spoken language in the country of Senegal.

Smerdel is one of 52 students participating in the African Flagship Languages Initiative at UF, which offers students from across the nation eight weeks of intensive language and culture courses.

She’ll be attending the West African Research Center in Dakar, Senegal, this fall.

“It just seems like such a vibrant, rich cultural experience,” She said.

UF has been holding the African Flagship Languages Institute since 2011. Túndé Akinyemi, UF professor of Yoruba language and literature, is director of the program.

Besides French, Wolof and Yoruba, languages taught through AFLI are Akan, Hausa, Portuguese, Swahili and Zulu. Students take language courses for four hours a day before participating in cultural activities, like conversation groups and weekly dinners. “It’s a lot,” Akinyemi said. The language classes take a communicative approach, he said, so while all of the students know English, the classes are held in the languages the students are learning. That way of teaching, Akinyemi said, is more results-oriented and lets students learn a language faster. “They will struggle the first few days, but they will get used to it,” he said.

After the eight weeks, students have learned an academic year’s worth of the language.

In a conversation group Thursday afternoon, Smerdel spoke about Senegal’s religious holidays in French with four other students and Marie Correa, a Senegal native who helps students learn French and Wolof. This is her third summer helping AFLI students prepare for their time in Africa. AFLI is funded by the U.S. Defense Department’s National Security Education Program through the Institute for International Education.

Akinyemi said that the United States has invested in African language and culture education to better work with African nations and to bolster domestic security.

“The United States has not been the same since Sept. 11,” he said.

“If you know people’s culture, you understand them better,” he added.

James Essegbey, a UF assistant professor in the department of languages, literatures and cultures, said AFLI focused on teaching African cultures through language. As Americans learn African languages and cultures, he said, they are able to help maintain U.S. relationships with those countries.

“They are able to [defuse] issues long before it gets to a crisis point,” he said.

The United States has pockets of African culture throughout, Akinyemi said. North Carolina has a strong Ethiopian population, and many Somalis have settled in Ohio.

“The United States is home to virtually everybody,” he said.

In Akinyemi’s native Nigeria, he said, it is seen as disrespectful to make eye contact during a discussion with someone, although in the United States it’s seen as disrespectful to avoid eye contact.

“This is way beyond just teaching the student languages,” Akinyemi said.