Details

The Summer University in Oriental Languages, held annually in Venice and coordinated by the University of Lausanne, is offering African languages this year, including isiZulu and isiXhosa. The Summer School in Oriental Languages is a unique opportunity to study languages and scripts that are often described as rare, even though they are spoken or have been spoken by millions of speakers, in the form of major and minor courses. This summer school offers top-level teaching and the most recent research findings in Oriental languages and literature, with ECTS credits awarded upon validation.

IsiXhosa (beginners level), taught by Nolubabalo Tyam (U. Cape Town).

The isiXhosa language of the amaXhosa “Xhosa people,” is referred to as isiXhosa and is spoken in the southern provinces of South Africa. The focus of the course is to introduce the participants into isiXhosa as a language and its culture for them to develop conversational skills in various settings. On completing the course participants should be able to converse in everyday (including the click sounds) situations and to respond to simple enquiries in a range of settings. In addition, the participants will be introduced to the isiXhosa history and culture. Therefore, the course entails a balance between communicative and intercultural competence. The teaching approach adopted for the course is the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and Taskbased Language Teaching (TBLT). This approach makes use of tasks and activities that engage participants in pragmatic, authentic and functional use of language for meaningful communication.

IsiZulu (beginners level), taught by Lolie Makhubu-Badenhorst (U. Cape Town).

IsiZulu is the largest spoken home language of South Africa. The main aim of the course is to introduce the students into the isiZulu grammatical structure, basic communicative skills and its culture. On completing the course the students should be able to converse in everyday situations and to respond to simple enquiries in a range of settings. The teaching approach is task-based, making use of tasks and activities that engage participants in pragmatic and functional use of language for meaningful communication.

Registration is open until May 30, 2025.

For further information please visit the website of the University of Lausanne.