University of New Mexico Startalk Summer Program in Arabic
April 15, 2015
The UNM STARTALK Program promotes awareness of the Arabic language and Middle Eastern and North African Cultures among Albuquerque high school and first year college students entering UNM. Encompassing a month-long period of instruction, it gives students and incoming freshmen from the Albuquerque region the equivalence of a first semester course in Arabic at the University of New Mexico.
The UNM Summer STARTALK Program partners with the UNM National Studies Program in order to foster a learner-centered environment that permits students to engage in the various conversation types, thus accentuating the diverse media and information systems in which language occurs. Furthermore, the program allows students to discuss in Arabic contemporary issues of vital concern with their peers and targeted speakers.
More germane to the Southwest, students see the complexities of language by making direct and indirect comparisons between Arabic and their own languages (English, Navaho, and Spanish, etc.)
Most importantly, studying Arabic in the summer program allows the student to fully engage in the life of the mind and to begin the journey towards becoming life-long learners.
Contact: 505-277-5644 • jeffersonr@unm.edu
