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Albanian is spoken far beyond Albania’s borders, and a university programme in the United States has spent years helping students learn the language for careers and research that connect them with the wider Albanian-speaking world. In a 2017 report, Arizona State University described its Critical Languages Institute as one of the few immersive Albanian-language programmes in the United States, marking 15 years of teaching the language. The programme began in 2002 under instructor Linda Meniku, who also lectured at the University of Tirana. Meniku wrote the textbooks used by students in the programme. By the time of the university’s report, 127 people had studied Albanian through the institute, illustrating the reach of a course that typically enrolled only a handful of students in each session. Their reasons for learning the language varied. Some hoped to use it in international business, law or diplomacy. Others were interested in archaeology and mythology, while one student became motivated after working with Kosovar refugee families in Phoenix. Another wanted to communicate with a partner’s family. These examples show how a language programme can serve professional ambitions and personal connections at the same time. The course also had a practical structure designed to bring students into contact with Albanian life. First-year instruction took place over seven weeks on ASU’s Tempe campus, with an optional four-week immersion trip to Tirana. During that visit, students stayed with host families and encountered historical sites in the capital. The second year of Albanian instruction was taught over eight weeks in Tirana. The university’s report emphasized the language’s importance for work involving the Balkans. Albanian is also spoken in Kosovo and in communities in North Macedonia, Italy and Greece. Researchers studying border communities, regional history or cultural connections can therefore benefit from a knowledge of the language rather than relying entirely on translations or outside interpretation. The programme attracted students with different academic backgrounds. One participant, Chris Kinley, was studying modern Balkan history and researching border villages between Greece and Albania. Another student, Joe Casavecchia, was preparing to pursue law studies after completing degrees in political science and American history. Their interests demonstrated how language training could complement research and professional education in other fields. Learning Albanian was not presented as effortless. The university reported that the language was classified as a Category II language in the programme’s framework, placing it among languages considered more difficult for English speakers than French or Spanish, but less difficult than Mandarin or Persian. Kinley, who was studying his sixth language, described Albanian as particularly challenging because of its grammar. The programme’s approach combined classroom instruction with immersion and direct cultural experience. For students pursuing legal work, international relations or historical research, that combination offered a way to develop language skills alongside a deeper understanding of the region. The university’s account provides a snapshot of how interest in Albania can travel across borders through education, scholarship and personal relationships.
Albanian is spoken far beyond Albania’s borders, and a university programme in the United States has spent years helping students learn the language for careers and research that connect them with the wider Albanian-speaking world. In a 2017 report, Arizona State University described its Critical Languages Institute as one of the few immersive Albanian-language programmes in the United States, marking 15 years of teaching the language.
The programme began in 2002 under instructor Linda Meniku, who also lectured at the University of Tirana. Meniku wrote the textbooks used by students in the programme. By the time of the university’s report, 127 people had studied Albanian through the institute, illustrating the reach of a course that typically enrolled only a handful of students in each session.
Their reasons for learning the language varied. Some hoped to use it in international business, law or diplomacy. Others were interested in archaeology and mythology, while one student became motivated after working with Kosovar refugee families in Phoenix. Another wanted to communicate with a partner’s family. These examples show how a language programme can serve professional ambitions and personal connections at the same time.
The course also had a practical structure designed to bring students into contact with Albanian life. First-year instruction took place over seven weeks on ASU’s Tempe campus, with an optional four-week immersion trip to Tirana. During that visit, students stayed with host families and encountered historical sites in the capital. The second year of Albanian instruction was taught over eight weeks in Tirana.
The university’s report emphasized the language’s importance for work involving the Balkans. Albanian is also spoken in Kosovo and in communities in North Macedonia, Italy and Greece. Researchers studying border communities, regional history or cultural connections can therefore benefit from a knowledge of the language rather than relying entirely on translations or outside interpretation.
The programme attracted students with different academic backgrounds. One participant, Chris Kinley, was studying modern Balkan history and researching border villages between Greece and Albania. Another student, Joe Casavecchia, was preparing to pursue law studies after completing degrees in political science and American history. Their interests demonstrated how language training could complement research and professional education in other fields.
Learning Albanian was not presented as effortless. The university reported that the language was classified as a Category II language in the programme’s framework, placing it among languages considered more difficult for English speakers than French or Spanish, but less difficult than Mandarin or Persian. Kinley, who was studying his sixth language, described Albanian as particularly challenging because of its grammar.
The programme’s approach combined classroom instruction with immersion and direct cultural experience. For students pursuing legal work, international relations or historical research, that combination offered a way to develop language skills alongside a deeper understanding of the region. The university’s account provides a snapshot of how interest in Albania can travel across borders through education, scholarship and personal relationships.
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