Students obtaining a certificate must have two years of language study. You can choose one of Pitt's African languages or one of several European languages spoken in Africa. If you grew up speaking an African language, contact our advisor Dr. Anna-Maria Karnes to talk about how that can count towards a certificate!
African languages taught at Pitt
- Akan/Twi is spoken in: Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, and the Togolese Republic.
- Arabic is spoken in: Algeria, Comoros, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Tunisia.
- Amharic is spoken in: Ethiopia.
- Swahili is spoken in: Comoro Islands, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zanzibar, and Zambia.
- Wolof is spoken in: Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Mali.
- Yoruba is spoken in: Nigeria, Benin Republic, and parts of Togo and Sierra Leone. Check out the first open-access, comprehensive digital dictionary on Yoruba here! Created by Adeola Agoke.
African Diaspora languages taught at Pitt
- Haitian Creole is spoken in: Haiti, Canada, France, Chili, the United States, and the Caribbean Basin.
European languages taught at Pitt
- French is spoken in: Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Seychelles, Togo, and Tunisia
- Portuguese is spoken in: Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Principe, and Sao Tome
- German is spoken in: Namibia
- Spanish is spoken in: Equatorial Guinea, and Morocco