Students and faculty will display the diversity of African languages today through skits, poems and songs at the third annual African Languages Day.
The event will highlight nine African languages, three of which are not offered at Ohio University.
(It) is a day where we get a chance to showcase the African languages that are offered at OU. We attempt to let people all over campus know what opportunities come from studying African languages
said George W. Gathigi, doctoral student and teaching assistant in the School of Media Arts and Studies.
Peter Githinji, a professor of linguistics, said the event is meant to raise awareness.
We have the African Languages Day because we want to raise awareness that we do have other languages (at OU) it is not just Spanish French
these modern languages
he said.
Aki Tanaka, a graduate student studying African studies and participant in the event, said it is important to study African languages to keep them alive.
In Africa they have 2
300 languages
I believe
and the majority of them are dying. I do believe that language has power and identity; once they lose language
their identity is kind of also lost
she said.
The languages are important, Gathigi said, because they tie directly into the culture.
Language is a central aspect of the people
he said. There is no way you can understand a people if you don't understand the language that they speak. By getting ourselves to learn other languages we are getting out of our comfort zone and trying to understand the life and culture of other people.
