US students to immerse in Isizulu language and culture.

US students to immerse in Isizulu language and culture.

The University of Zululand has signed the memorandum of understanding with the American Councils for International Education based in Washington DC.

The students from the United States will be given the opportunity to study IsiZulu language, culture and lifestyle through a one-semester homestay-cum-study programme.

IsiZulu lecturer, Dr. Thulani Mbuli said that the language instruction will depend on proficiency levels and consist of small group work, individual tutorials, lectures and practice sessions covering grammar, conversation, phonetics, reading, writing and Zulu-language media.

These students will also be given the opportunity to stay with Zulu families in rural, urban or peri-urban areas close to Unizulu.

“This will help them adapt to both the language and the local culture, each student will have a peer tutor who will spend at least two hours a day with them.

“Three or four hours a week will be devoted to studying African culture and civilization with additional exposure through various guest speakers and films as well as excursions to places of cultural and historical interest,” said Mbuli.

American Councils vice president, David Patton said that they see the university as an enormously untapped gem and had further ideas to share on promoting it as a major partner in international exchanges.

“The American Councils is a non-profit organization focusing on research and cross-border learning through more than 30 exchange and training programmes grounded in key world languages, cultures and regions. IsiZulu is one of the languages in the African programme which features select key African languages,” said Patton.