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Swahili is highly recommended for students preparing to study abroad in Kenya, Tanzania, or Uganda. It has many similarities with other languages spoken in east and southern African and is used as a lingua franca throughout the region. It also shares much vocabulary with Arabic and is useful for students interested in cultural contact between eastern Africa and the Arab world. 
Mentored Swahili is offered with half-course and full-course options. The elementary course sequence is Swahili I, II, III, and IV. Each of these courses is a half-course and it takes four semesters to complete elementary Swahili. Students who wish to quicken their pace, should choose appropriate full-course options: Swahili I-II, Swahili II-III, or Swahili III-IV.
Students can begin Swahili in either the fall or spring semesters and every level is available each semester. This allows maximum flexibility for students preparing for or returning from study abroad or for students who need flexibility in order to accommodate science and engineering labs, fieldwork, or other required courses.
The mentored courses are based on course plan study guides created with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The course guides for elementary Swahili and syllabi for all Swahili courses are online on the Five College Center for the Study of World Language's LangMedia website. The courses cover speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills.
Half-courses require 7-10 hours per week of independent study, a weekly one-hour conversation session, and a weekly 30-minute individual tutorial with the Swahili mentor. Full-courses require 10-15 hours per week of independent study, a weekly 1.5 hour conversation session, and a weekly 60-minute tutorial with the Swahili mentor.
Agnes Kimokoti joined the the Five College community as full-time Swahili mentor in Fall 2006. She conducts tutorials for the Swahili program, leads the Swahili Colloquium for upper-level Swahili students, conducts some conversation sessions, and facilitates other Swahili-related events. Her home base is Hampshire College, but she conducts tutorials and/or conversation sessions on all five campuses. She can be reached at akimokoti@hampshire.edu
Half-courses are each worth 1.5 credits at UMass. Transfer credit at the colleges varies, but is generally: Amherst College – ½ course; Hampshire – credit; Mount Holyoke – 2 credits and at the elementary level two courses or the equivalent are required to receive credit; Smith – 2 credits and at the elementary level two courses or the equivalent are required to receive credit. Full-course are worth twice the amount of credit at each of the schools.
Registration in these courses requires a special application process. See How to Register for details. The pre-registration deadline for Fall 2008 is Friday, April 18th, 2008. Applications will continue to be reviewed, as long as space is available, until September 5, 2008. Placement request deadline for students with prior experience with the language is April 18th, 2008. To contact the Center, e-mail fcsilp@hfa.umass.edu or call 413-545-3453.
Swahili I Fridays 2:30-3:30 pm at Amherst College
Swahili I-II (full-course) Fridays 3:30-5:00 pm at Amherst College
Swahili II Fridays 1:30-2:30 pm at Amherst College
Swahili II-III (full-course) Fridays 3:30-5:00 pm at Amherst College
Swahili III Fridays 2:30-3:30 pm at Amherst College
Swahili III-IV (full-course) Thursdays 6:30-8:00 pm at Amherst College
Swahili IV Fridays 1:30-2:30 pm at Amherst College
Swahili Colloquium Thursdays 6:00-7:30 pm at Amherst College. Topic for Spring 2008: to be determined
Swahili Colloquium is open to students in Swahili IV and above. The topic will vary each semester and can be repeated as long as the topic varies. The course will focus on developing conversational skills and cultural knowledge.
Swahili V Thursdays 7:45-8:45 pm at Amherst College
Swahili VI Thursdays 7:45-8:45 pm at Amherst College
Swahili Senior Research to be arranged
Tutorials will be scheduled at the end of the first week of the semester. Students will be given preference in tutorial times and locations based on order of application and registration. Enrolled students must provide the mentored program staff with up-to-date schedule information by Friday, Septmeber 5th. Students who make changes in their schedules after that date will have to take whatever time slots and locations are still available.
Tuesdays at UMass 8:20 am - 2:20 pm
Tuesdays at Hampshire 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Wednesdays at Mt. Holyoke 8:20 am – 1:50 pm
Wednesdays at Hampshire 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Thursdays at Smith 8:20 am - 1:50 pm
Thursdays at Amherst 3:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Beginning course, no prerequisites. Independent study combined with weekly small group conversation sessions and individual tutorials with the Five College Swahili mentor. Emphasis on developing speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. Final grade based on weekly homework and conversation session preparation, an end of semester writing skills assessment, and a final oral exam.
Full-course pace for those who want to complete both Swahili I and Swahili II in one semester. 1.5 for each course for a total of 3 UMass credits. Students will have one 1.5 hour conversation session per week, plus sixty minutes of individual tutorial. Beginning course, no prerequisites.
Prerequisite: Mentored Swahili I or the equivalent.
Full-course pace for those who want to complete both Swahili II and Swahili III in one semester. 1.5 for each course for a total of 3 UMass credits. Students will have one 1.5 hour conversation session per week, plus sixty minutes of individual tutorial. Prerequisite: Mentored Swahili I or the equivalent.
Prerequisite: Mentored Swahili II or the equivalent.
Full-course pace for those who want to complete both Swahili III and Swahili IV in one semester. 1.5 for each course for a total of 3 UMass credits. Students will have one 1.5 hour conversation session per week, plus sixty minutes of individual tutorial. Prerequisite: Mentored Swahili II or the equivalent.
Prerequisite: Mentored Swahili III or the equivalent.
Swahili Colloquium is open to students in Swahili IV and above. The topic will vary each semester and can be repeated as long as the topic varies. The course will focus on developing conversational skills and cultural knowledge. The course will be lead by the Five College Swahili Mentor. It will meet weekly for a 1.5 hr. conversation session. Emphasis will be on discussion, projects, and presentations. There will be no individual tutorials for this course.
Prerequisite: Mentored Swahili IV or the equivalent.
Prerequisite: Mentored Swahili V or the equivalent.
Students involved in senior projects, special concentrations, or theses using Swahili sources may arrange a special Swahili course working with the linguistic aspects of those sources. Students should discuss this possibility with Agnes Kimokoti and with the program director/associate director during the semester prior to starting the project. A written project plan will need to be created and approved in order to enroll for senior research credit. Prerequisite: Mentored Swahili IV or the equivalent.
Five College Supervised Independent Language Program
Five College Mentored Language Courses
Language and International Opportunities Web
LangMedia: The Five College Foreign Language Media Archive
Five College International and Regional Studies
Five College Language Departments
Language Resources on the Web
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Five Colleges, Incorporated is the consortium of Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.