African Language Program

The African Studies Center at Boston University offers you the unique opportunity to learn an African language. Seven languages are regularly taught: Amharic, Arabic, Hausa, Swahili, Wolof, Xhosa, and Zulu.

BU’s African Language Program ranks as one of the best in the United States in terms of the number of language courses offered and the length and depth to which a language can be studied. We also currently offer the only possibility in the United States to study Ajami script in Hausa and Wolof, a modified Arabic script used for writing across northern Africa, from west to east.

Studying an African language can be used to satisfy both undergraduate and graduate language requirements.

Courses in African languages are offered every semester, and instructors are exceptionally responsive to student needs in terms of scheduling. Students benefit from learning in small groups and an emphasis on spoken proficiency.

If you are a student from another university in the Boston area (e.g., Brandeis, UMass, Harvard, etc.) you can also cross-register at Boston University and get full course credit at your home university.

For more information contact Fallou Ngom at the African Studies Center, 232 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215, at 617-353-7305 or email Fallou Ngom.