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Reviving a once-endangered language
The Twin Cities is home to one of the largest concentrations of Oromo people outside of Ethiopia. As their children grow, many are not learning Afan Oromo — one of the major languages in Ethiopia. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities’ College of Liberal Arts, however, is helping revive the language.The preparationThe Department of African American and African Studies faculty Karen Ho, Bula Sirika Wayessa and Yuichiro Onishi led the development of the Oromo language course, supported by strong interest from the Oromo Student Union and their families. Awa Saidy “Along with the students, parents were so happy knowing this could exist,” says Assistant Professor Wayessa. “We were overwhelmed by their calls to get more information and join the course.”In 2023, Awa Saidy, associate director of the African Studies Initiative, spearheaded the first funding for the course. A Department of Education grant to focus on less commonly taught languages, along with an international grant from the Institute for Global Studies, brought the course one step closer to launch. “Language is intricately linked to culture, traditions, heritage, you name it,” says Saidy. “It’s everything. It’s not just a means of communication.” Ho, Saidy and Wayessa then went recruiting for an instructor in 2024 and hired Bekele Dako, Oromo language teaching specialist. Dako and Wayessa worked closely to develop the curriculum, and finally, they were ready to begin.Class is in sessionThe pilot program started in 2025 with Accelerated Beginning Oromo I and Accelerated Beginning Oromo II, and is now entering its third semester. The course’s main objective is to enable students to communicate conversationally with other speakers of the language. The course also discusses Oromo history, culture, and literature and shows how they are related to other Cushitic languages with which it shares linguistic features. Bekele Dako The University of Minnesota is the only R1 university in the country that offers an Oromo language curriculum.Dako is proud to teach a language that was once close to endangerment. Until 1991, Afan Oromo was not allowed to be taught in educational settings in Ethiopia. Dako was part of the early advocates to encourage teaching of the language both at home and abroad. “The University is well-known for its diversity of knowledge, and adding one more subject to that spectrum expands our influence on the world,” says Dako. “It also adds to the credibility and also the trust that people have for the University.” Nowhere but upDako and Wayessa have plans to grow the pilot program to offer more advanced courses of Afan Oromo. There are also plans to establish a Pan-Oromo club within the student body to increase awareness and enrollment. Bula Wayessa “It’s up to us to do well because I know how much the community is interested,” says Wayessa.Looking even further, the department has aspirations to offer community collaborations and possible study abroad opportunities to the Twin Cities’ Oromo community. “I want to put in any effort I can so that it continues to be spoken and to be passed to the next generation so that first and second generation students can get connected to their ancestors back home,” says Dako.Learn more about the Department of African American and African Studies.
