by Brandon Joseph, sophomore, Northwestern University
I initially joined the Swahili program because one of my football team-mates recommended it. I did not know much about Swahili beyond that it was spoken in Africa. From the first day of class, I saw Professor Mwangi’s passion for teaching Swahili as well as the energy and happiness that he brought to class. He wants to actively learn about his students through his material. He doesn’t just give lectures and then make students go home and teach them-selves. He holds discussions where the whole class participates. He makes sure that everyone is involved, and this allows us to really absorb and understand the material. One of the more surprising aspects of this class is that you learn more than just a language; youlearn about East Africa and all the countries where people speak Swahili. I also really enjoyed the out-of-class activi-ties, like PAS lectures about current events in East Africa. There was also the option to converse at language tables with other first- and second-year Swahili students. I decided to continue with Swahili my sophomore year, even though I didn’t need it for my language requirement. The second year has all the same positives that the first year did. We still connect the language to East Africa and study the culture. At the language tables, we get to lead discussions and help the first-years. Professor Mwangi teaches with the same love and passion for Swahili that I saw in the first-year class. I would recommend Swahili to any student who wants to learn a new language and would like to know more about East Africa and its culture.Sophomore Brandon Joseph is the first Northwestern rookie football player since 2003 to have five intercep-tions in a season
This article originally ran in the PAS Newsletter, Winter 2021, Volume 31, Number 2