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| University of Pennsylvania headquarters from above |
Starting from the Spring Semester of 2024, the Albanian Language will be a subject of instruction at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the best in the United States and in the world.
The news was announced by Albanian girl Ballina Prishtina, who played a pivotal role in convincing the university administration.
"I hope we all understand what a historic moment this is for our group [of Albanian students at this university], for our beautiful and unique language to be taught at the oldest American university," she wrote on her Facebook page.
Ballina, who graduated from the university in May of this year, writes that "our language miraculously survived hundreds of years under foreign occupation. I wanted to keep it alive and documented in our university's historical archives, as a language that persists in a resilient nation."
The course "Elementary Albanian," the introductory level of the language, will be offered in the Language Department for any interested student. Although it's just an entry into the Albanian language, the course can serve as a gateway for students who would like to learn more about our language and history, explains Ballina. "... it will also serve as a means for the first, second, and even third generation of Albanian-Americans to preserve the Albanian language across generations."
"I call on all current students to enroll in this course to leave a mark on your grade sheets and your education, as fighters who are doing everything necessary to maintain our spoken and living language," she writes.