The one question I always get from both Albanians and non-Albanians alike is "Why are you learning Albanian?," and adding on to that question, most will inquire "When are you ever gone use it?" Well for those who have doubts and inquiries, here are 10 reason to learn Albanian.
1. It's one of the oldest European languages.
Albanian is probably one of the oldest, if not the oldest European language, that is still around to this day. Many Albanians believe that they descend from the Ancient Illyrians. Some linguists seem to support this theory while others dispute it and suggest that Albanians came from the Thracians, or that Albanian is a Thracian/Illyrian creole. Either way it's old as f***!
2. It's not as hard as people say it is to learn.
Many people will spend their time trying to dissuade you from learning Albanian and will consistently tell you how difficult the language is, or that it is impossible. This is completely false! Albanian is full of latin cognates, making it easier for an English or Latin speaker to identify many words. But there are 5 cases! This is true, but 3 of the cases decline the same way. For example, "burrë" is the word for man. If we look at this word in the genitive case with the example sentence "The man's water bottle" in English, it becomes "Shishja (bottle) e burrit." Again, if we examine this word in the dative case, the word declines the same way "I thashë burrit" ( I told the man). And lastly, in the ablative case "Prej burrit..." (from the man), we can see that it hasn't changed at all. Therefore, despite the fact that there are difficult aspects of the Albanian language, there are many simple things and you should probably focus more on what's easy instead of what's difficult. One can also say the same thing about the English language. Over half of the words in the English, language have letters that aren't pronounced, or the numerous amount of simple past irregular verbs that exist make English difficult. Looking at the difficult aspects of the English language will make you scratch your head and ask, "how is this a global language?"
3. It's more widely spoken than you probably think.
Contrary to what you may think, Albanian is spoken outside of Albania. Both Montenegro and Macedonia are homes to a sizable Albanian minority; Albanian is as a co-official language in Macedonia, while it's only recognized in usage by the Montenegrin government. There are smaller minorities of Albanians in both Greece and Serbia, and you can also find Albanian speakers in Italy among the Arbëresh communities and the Albanian diaspora who reside there. Not to mention that Albanian is also the official language of Albania and Kosovo. Not only can you find Albanian speakers in Europe, but also in the Americas as there are plenty of Albanian enclave throughout the US and Canada. For example, the Bronx in New York is a predominately Albanian neighborhood.
4. It's a beautiful language.
Albanian is a very beautiful language and is not loaded with harsh consonant sounds, like many other Eastern European languages. It's got a lot of vowel sounds and the fact that the final "ë" vowel sound is often omitted when it is placed at the end of the word, gives Albanian a French sounding spin to it. Also, the Northern Gheg dialect is very nasalized, which further adds to this "frenchiness."
5. Practicality
If you're in a politics/international relations field or just interested in NGO's, then you will find that Albanian has a lot of practicality. Right now, relations between the East and West are not great and many nations, like Russia, China, and the US, have their sights set on the Balkans. The issue of Kosovo is definitely one of the most contentious issues on the European continent at this moment. After several violent conflicts broke out in the 1990's in the former Yugoslavia, Kosovo seceded from Serbia and became an independent state in 2008. Despite their declaration of independence, Serbia, Russia, and China refuse to recognize Kosovo as a sovereign nation while the US and most of the countries within the E.U. do. Not to mention that Kosovo is currently in possession of the Trepça mines, which are rich in natural resources. Since the situation is quite delicate between Serbia and Kosovo and could easily explode in all-out war, Albanian could be a very useful language for you to learn and would could potentially get you hired since it is not a common skill to have. Many of my Serbian friends are studying Albanian because there are many job positions in Serbia that are requiring people to study Albanian due to the levels of contention.
Well, there you have it, here are 5 reasons to learn Albanian. Now get out there and start studying! "E mësofshit mirë" (May you study it well!)
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