Harvard University to teach Tagalog course next academic year

Harvard University, one of the most prestigious universities in the world, is now offering course languages, one of which is Tagalog.

PHOTO BY HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Harvard University to teach Tagalog course next academic year

The Ivy League school Harvard University will be teaching a Tagalog course in the next academic year, the university’s breakfast-table daily newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, announced.

For the first time in nearly 400 years, Harvard will offer a course in the Tagalog language. According to the article posted online last Friday (March 24), they referred to Tagalog as the “fourth most-spoken language” in the United States.

The two other Asian languages taught at the university are Thai and Indonesian.

Elizabeth Liao, Executive Director of Harvard’s Asia Center, said they were able to secure financial support for the three preceptors to teach the languages through fundraising efforts. These positions will be three-year term appointments and are renewable for up to five additional years.

In addition, James Robson, a professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations and director of the Asia center, explained that the administration was able to get $1 million (Dh3.6 million) from the center’s budget to fund the Tagalor preceptor position but added funding might be “probably not entirely sustainable” after three years.

According to Harvard’s offering page, the Tagalog preceptor position will be teaching five Tagalog language courses per year with native or near-native fluency in Tagalog as a basic requirement. RZSP/Expat Media

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