News

THE EYES of the world are on Afghanistan and Pakistan, yet few U.S. universities teach the languages of those countries—an important element in developing deep understanding of their cultures.

This fall, PSU began offering Pashto, which is widely spoken by Pashtuns in Afghanistan (pictured below) and the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan. The class is part of the Heritage Language program, which caters to students who are familiar with a language usually because it is spoken by their parents or grandparents. The Pashto class is also attracting armed services members and people interested in that part of the world.

Amin Wahab, a city of Portland environmental program manager, is teaching the class. He immigrated to the United States from Afghanistan soon after the Soviet Union invasion of 1979.

Only native speakers may teach in PSU's Heritage Language program, which started four years ago. The most popular language in the program is Tagalog, a language of the Philippines. Spanish is the second most popular heritage language.