Introduction to Nahuatl

Nahuatl is a major indigenous language of Mesoamerica, spoken by over a million people across many regions of Mexico and in some parts of the United States.

Nahuatl language courses combine distance learning with periodic on-site instruction, collaborating with the Mexican Instituto de Docencia e Investigación Etnológica de Zacatecas and the University of California, Los Angeles. Nahuatl courses are 4 units and offered in a three-quarter sequence. The goal of the year-long sequence is to enable students to understand and speak the language at a basic level and communicate effectively and properly in everyday situations. Instruction is led by two native Nahuatl-language speakers from the Huasteca region of Mexico and is conducted primarily in Nahuatl. Some knowledge of Spanish is useful. These courses are available to all Stanford students and are not open to the general public.

Community colleges and minority-serving institutions interested in making these courses available to their students should contact Molly Aufdermauer, CLAS Public Engagement Coordinator, at mollyauf [at] stanford.edu (subject: Stanford%20Nahuatl%20Course) (mollyauf[at]stanford[dot]edu).

CLAS is a U.S. Department of Education National Resource Center (NRC). Supported by the U.S. Department of Education under the auspices of Title VI, Section 602(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, NRCs serve to strengthen access to and training in the major languages of their respective regions, and to broaden area studies training across all disciplines.