Cal State East Bay premiers Afghan language courses
- August 9, 2010
The East Bay city of Fremont is home to the largest Afghan population in the US in what is called the "Little Kabul" neighborhood in Central Fremont. The city was made famous by Khaled Husseini's award-winning novel and later film, "The Kite Runner," which was partly filmed there.
This fall, there will be an addition to the East Bay's Afghani flavor. For the first time, California State University, East Bay will offer courses in Pashto and Dari, the official Afghan languages.
Pashto is considered to be the language of government and business and is spoken by 35 percent of the country's population. Dari is the language of 50 percent of the nation's residents. Both languages are spoken widely by the Bay Area's Afghan community, and the demand for speakers of both languages is high as a result of the US presence in Afghanistan. Search for "Pashto" or "Dari" on job search engines, and you are likely to come up with dozens of listings asking for translators, linguists, and just "speakers" of these two languages.
Cal State East Bay has another conspicuous Afghan "connection"- the university president is Mohammad Qayoumi, the first Afghan-American president of a major US university.
Community members are also accepted into these language courses.
Original article: