Languages of LESLLA Learners
This list of languages spoken by LESLLA learners was compiled in 2018 as part of a survey conducted by Katharine Miles during her time as a summer assistant for the Heritage Language Hub development team. If you know of additional languages that should be added to this list, email us at leslla.org@gmail.com.
A - F
Afar
Akan
Amharic (Amarinja)
Amarinja (Amharic)
Arabic
Aramaic (Assyians and Jezidi's from Iraq)
Armenian
Assyrian (Suruoyo, in Turkey)
Aymara
Azateco
Bambara
Bangla/Bengali (Sylheti)
Bassa
Bebe
Bembe
Bengali
Berber
Bhutanese
Bulgarian
Burmese
Cambodian
Cantonese
Changu
Chin
Creoles and Pidgins
Croatian
Dari
Dinka
Dyula
Edo
Esan
Farsi
French
Fujian (Hokkien dialect, China)
Fula
Fulani
Fur
G - K
Gorani
Gouran
Gujarati
Gumuz
Haitian Creole
Harrari
Hausa
Hindi
Hindko
Hmong
Horami (Kurdish)
Igbo
Italian
Japanese
Jula
Kabuverdianu (Cape Verdean Creole)
Karen
Karenni
Kashmiri
Khmer
Kibembe
Kifluero
Kigali
Kikongo
Kinyamulenge
Kinyarwanda
Kirundi
Kiswahili (Swahili)
Korean
Kurdish - Sorani, Kurmanji/Kurmanci, Palewani
Kurmanji (Kurmanci)
L - R
Lao (Laotian)
Lingala
Malinque
Mam
Mandarin
Mandinka
Mandingo
Masalit
Maay Maay
Maya
Mirpuri
Mongolian
Moro
Mushunguli
Nepali/Napalese
Nuer
Oromo
Palewani
Pashtu/Pashto
Pell
Polish
Portugese
Punjabi
Quechua
Q'qechi
Rohingya
Romanian
Romani
Russian
S - Z
Saho
Sangho
Somali
Sorani
Spanish
Swahili (Kiswahili)
Sylheti (Bangla/Bengali)
Syriac
Tachelhit
Tamazight
Tamil
Tarifit
Thai
Tibetan
Tigrinya
Tosk
Turkish
Twi
Urdu
Vietnamese
Wolof
Yoruba
Zaghawa
Zigula
Zoba
Languages by Region or Country
Afghanistan - Dari, Farsi, Pashtu/Pashto
Burma (Myanmar) - Burmese, Chin, Karen, Karenni, Rohingya, Urdu
Cambodia - Khmer
Central African Republic - Baya, Fulani, Sango
Democratic Republic of Congo - Bemba, Chewa, Gegegere (Hema),Hunde, Kibembe, Kinyarwanda, Kiswahili, Lingala, Kikongo, Kitaabwa, Tshiluba
Ethiopia and Eritrea - Amarinja, Amharic, Harrari, Kunama, Omoro, Saho, Tigirinya
Ghana - Twi
Guatemala - Azateco, Mam
Iran - Farsi (Persian), Gorani
Iraq - Arabic, Kigali
Liberia and West Africa: Bandi, Krahn, Mandingo
Mexico - Maya
Nigeria - Igbo, Yoruba
Pakistan - Pashto, Urdu, Hindko
Sudan and South Sudan - Dinka, Fur, Hausa, Masalit, Nuer, Sudanese, Zaghawa,
Languages with Associated Countries
Arabic - Iraq, Morocco, North Africa, Sudan, Syria, Yemen
Berber - Morocco, Algeria
Farsi - Afghanistan, Iran
Gorani (Gurani) - Iran (spoken by ethnic Kurds)
Spanish - Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru
Syriac - Syria, Iraq, Iran
Language Families
Kurdish: Kurmanji (Northern Kurdish), Palewani (Southern Kurdish), Sorani (Central Kurdish)
Moroccan Berber: Tachelhit (Southern Morocco), Tamazight (Central Morocco), Tarifit (Northern Morocco),
Niger-Congo: Bambara, Dyula, Edo, Esan, Fula, Mandinka, Twi, Wolof
Somali Bantu: Bajuni, Kiziguwa, Maay-Maay, Mushunguli
On the Organization of this List
This list is not exhaustive and there are countless ways to organize these languages. This information is updated with input from the LESLLA community, linguists, and speakers of listed languages. Please contact us if you have edits or suggestions.
Email: leslla.org@gmail.com
Please also note that we are cataloguing languages * spoken by LESLLA learners * — not all languages of all learners. There are many ways to describe a LESLLA learner. A LESLLA learner is characterized as an adult (age 15+) who is learning an additional language against the backdrop of interrupted formal schooling experience. These learners are often, though not always, immigrant or refugee-background individuals developing print literacy skills for the first time as adults, usually in a new language.
(For an thorough list of all languages spoken in all regions of the world, visit Ethnologue: Languages of the World. It requires a subscription for full access; however, many institutions of higher education have a license.)