The Swahili Language

Swahili, often referred to as Kiswahili, is the nation­al lan­guage of Tan­za­nia, Ugan­da, Kenya, and the Demo­c­ra­t­ic Repub­lic of Con­go and the lin­gua fran­ca for as many as 150 mil­lion peo­ple in Cen­tral and East Africa. It is also one of the offi­cial lan­guages of the African Union and the East African Com­mu­ni­ty. For cen­turies, Swahili has been a key lan­guage of trade and cul­ture across East Africa and con­tin­ues today to be the key lan­guage for some of the fastest grow­ing coun­tries in the world. Today African lan­guages, espe­cial­ly region­al lan­guages like Swahili, are more in demand than ever before as inter­na­tion­al busi­ness­es look to expand into the African market.

East Africa is a region renowned for its stun­ning nat­ur­al beau­ty, friend­ly peo­ple, and its diverse lan­guages and cul­tures. The CLS Swahili pro­gram offers a chance to get a foothold into this region and the oppor­tu­ni­ty to com­mu­ni­cate with peo­ple across a broad spec­trum of coun­tries and cultures.