The LAI is committed to supporting the instruction of less commonly taught Latin American languages as a means of training the next generation of Latin America specialists. The LAI has supported the teaching of Kichwa (Quechua) at UCLA for over 20 years.
Kichwa, the variety of the Quechua language spoken in Ecuador, has been offered at UCLA for over two decades. Since 2009, courses have been offered in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, taught by Luz Maria de la Torre.
The Quechuan languages were the predominant languages spoken in the Inca Empire and are still spoken by around 10 million people in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. Together with Spanish and Shwar, Kichwa is an official language for intercultural relations in Ecuador. The Kichwa program offers a three-course sequence in Elementary Quechua in which students learn about the indigenous Quechua/Kichwa culture through language acquisition. In addition, students learn through creative projects such as translation, writing poetry, analyzing music, film-making, gastronomy, and campus events.
Dirección Nacional de Educación Intercultural Bilingüe (DINEIB)
Ecuadoran government initiative designed to provide a quality intercultural and bilingual public education for the populations pertaining to the 14 nationalities and languages comprising the nation.
Language: Spanish
Radio Iluman
Radio station that stemmed from an initiative to strengthen cultural identity and promote education within the Kichwa community. It now serves as a means of bilingual (Spanish and Kichwa) intercultural communication.
Language: Spanish, Kichwa
Otavalos Online
Kicwha virtual community - news, music, information, chat, etc.
Language: Kichwa
Kichwa.net
Free online Kichwa course for first-time Kichwa language learners.
Language: Spanish