Persian for Persian Speakers summer students and instructor Shervin Emami in 2008.

VOA, NPR Report: UCLA Course Teaches High School Students Language of Their Parents, Grandparents

In innovative summer courses on campus, speakers of less commonly taught languages such as Hindi, Persian and Russian learn advanced skills and keep their heritages alive.

By Adolfo Guzman-Lopez for VOA News

SECOND- AND THIRD-generation immigrants tend to lose the language and culture of their ancestors. The University of California Los Angeles hosts summer classes for high school students intended to break that pattern.

Heritage Language program director Olga Kagan says the youngsters are regenerating cultural roots that assimilation almost severed.

"These kids are either first generation born here, or a few of them are 1.5 generation, which means they came here early."

Read the full article, listen to an audio report from the Voice of America (right column), or find the report and transcript by National Public Radio.

Published: Tuesday, August 04, 2009

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