Mohammed Mgori is on a mission: to teach Brown students and faculty Swahili, the most widely spoken language in sub-Saharan African, as well as elements of Swahili culture.
But he sees himself as more than just a figure standing in the front of a classroom. "Yes, I am a teacher but I am also a cultural ambassador," he said.
Originally from Tanzania, Mgori is at Brown through the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program, which gives scholarships to native speakers of languages not commonly taught in the United States. In exchange for one year of study, these assistants teach their native language to students at their sponsor university, said Merle Krueger, associate director of the Center for Language Studies.
Though this is the second year that the course has been offered by an FLTA, the University does not offer academic credit for the course because there is no permanent program in Swahili.
Still, interest in the class has been high both years, Krueger said, noting that over 100 students expressed interest in learning Swahili this year and last. Enrollment in Mgori's introductory Swahili class last semester was up to 30 students, though it has dropped to 10 this semester because of scheduling conflicts.
The course is demanding, considering its not-for-credit status, Krueger said. It meets for three hours a week, and students are assigned homework and given exams. Though the workload lightened in the spring semester, commitment to the class is essential for continued improvement, Mgori said.
"My goal is to teach my students how to read, write and speak Swahili well ... so they can live in Tanzania or other places where (Swahili) is spoken," Mgori said. "This requires constant interaction and practice." Along with class meetings, Mgori runs a "Swahili table" at local eateries to encourage the high level of oral communication necessary to be proficient at the language.
Swahili is not the only language to benefit from the FLTA Program and other external grants. The University has an FLTA in Arabic and has applied for a third to instruct the Persian language Farsi, Krueger said. Haitian Creole is also being offered for the first time next year, funded with a grant from the Education Department to improve Caribbean studies.
"Learning languages is the key to understanding at any level of sophistication the culture and the mentality of other peoples and language groups," Krueger said. "Brown is expanding its faculty in languages ... to meet the demand of Brown students, who are assiduously studying foreign languages."
