Quechua Language Training
The program takes place June 2 to July 18 in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Please notice deadline change: April 1st, 2008
Contents:
Overview
The Latin American Studies Program, the Department of Romance Studies, and the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions at Cornell University are cosponsoring a special program for undergraduate juniors and seniors, and graduate students.
The program combines studies of Andean culture, past and present, with language studies in Quechua. Intermediate Spanish proficiency is required to participate. Students may choose to take either elementary or continuing Quechua.
Quechua Language Training
Elementary Quechua (QUECHUA 1210-1220) • 6 credits (3 credits each)
Quechua is spoken by thirteen million people in the highlands of South America, from southern Colombia to northern Chile and central Argentina. It was declared an official language in Perú in 1975 and is widely recognized as such in Bolivia. The objective of this eight-week course is for students to learn to comprehend, speak, read, and write Quechua, as well as understand the culture and role of the Quechua-speaking populations in Andean society. The course will include formal interviews and informal conversations with native Quechua speakers in a variety of natural settings.
Continuing Quechua (QUECHUA 2090-2190) • 6 credits (3 credits each)
This eight-week course is designed for advanced students of Quechua. In addition to studying written Quechua, students will acquire control over thirty-one phonemes of Bolivian Quechua, enabling them to pronounce the sounds clearly and understand them easily in conversation. Students will attain oral and written proficiency in Quechua with the assistance of structured interview exercises with native Quechua speakers. Students will be encouraged to design a research project based on colonial Quechua documents.
Summer in Cochabamba, Bolivia
Cochabamba, the third largest city in Bolivia with approximately 700,000 inhabitants, is the site for the second half of this Cornell University Latin American Studies Summer Program. Surrounded by beautiful mountains, Cochabamba is located in an Andean valley 8,430 feet above sea-level. The climate of Cochabamba is pleasant, with cool evenings and mornings, and average daytime temperatures between sixty-five and seventy degrees. Site visits will include travel to higher altitudes where warmer clothing will be required. The city has a small-town, friendly atmosphere with numerous parks where poinsettias, chinaberry trees, palms, and flowering shrubs abound. In addition to the cultural offerings of the university campuses, Cochabamba has a variety of restaurants, museums, Internet cafes, and open-air agricultural and artisan markets. Cochabamba is surrounded by small colonial towns and provides easy access to other regions of Bolivia. The Quechua classes will be held in the Palacio Portales, the headquarters of Bolivia’s most important cultural foundation, Fundacíon Patiño.
Program Information
Students select between two types of accommodations: housing in hostels, or with Bolivian families. Students who elect to live with Bolivian families will have ample opportunities to speak Spanish or Quechua and to experience Latin American culture firsthand. We will match students with their preferred housing situations. Students who elect to live with Bolivian families pay a $50 placement fee and $15 per day for food and lodging. Please contact the Latin American Studies Program, 607 255-3345, for details. Food and lodging costs for those students who do not choose to live with Bolivian families will range from $125 to $150 per week.
Program Charge and Application Procedures
The deadline for applying to the program is April 1, 2008. Applications will be accepted after that date on a space-available basis only. Enrollment is limited and early application is strongly encouraged. There is a $50 nonrefundable application fee, payable to Cornell University, which is not applied toward the program charge. The minimum program charge is $5,550 for six credits. This program is approved for FLAS Fellowships and special arrangements will be made for students who have been awarded one. Some scholarships are available.
To apply, send a one- to two-page letter detailing your study and career objectives, transcripts (showing intermediate Spanish proficiency), a resume (including social security number, present and home addresses and telephone numbers), two academic letters of recommendation, and the $50 application fee made payable to Cornell University to: Latin American Studies Program, Cornell University, 190 Uris Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-7601.
Download the application form: 
Click here
Language Training
Language courses will be taught by Luis Morató Peña, a native of Cochabamba, Senior Lecturer at Cornell University, and the author of three trilingual textbooks on elementary, intermediate, and advanced Quechua language instruction.
Field trips in Bolivia
The program includes several field trips to La Paz, Lake Titicaca, and archaeological sites (Tiwanaku and Inkallaqta), with optional visits to Sucre and Potosi.