As the language of one of the world’s largest stateless people groups, Kurdish has between 30 to 40 million speakers worldwide. The only Middle Eastern language that uses both Latin and modified Perso-Arabic scripts, Kurdish is an Indo-European language with multiple dialects spoken by Kurdish peoples in the mountainous regions of Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. The Kurdish homeland encompasses a region that is massively important in terms of oil, water issues throughout Mesopotamia and the Levant, and U.S. security interests. As such, Kurdish is currently one of the State Department’s 11 critical languages.
Learning Kurdish equips students with a significant advantage for careers in international relations, intelligence, journalism, and international law, among others. Kurdish speakers are in high demand for their specialist skills!
With soaring mountains, vast plains, and archeological treasures, Kurdistan is a land of adventures for visitors. Learning Kurdish unlocks the region’s exciting confluence of religions, cultures, and histories. Kurdistan is the home of unique Kurdish teas, the Kurdish Kangal dog, Kurdish carpets, and many other cultural splendors.
The University of Central Florida is one of only a few universities in the US offering Kurdish. UCF’s Department of Modern Languages and Literatures & Kurdish Political Studies Program are uniquely suited to enrich your study of the Kurdish language with a wealth of relevant co-curricular activities and assistance.
