Kurti visits New York school where Albanian is taught: An important achievement for Albanian Americans

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti visited the American public school P.S. 108 Philip J. Abinanti in the Bronx, New York, where a bilingual English-Albanian program is being offered for the second academic year.

In a Facebook post, Kurti described the implementation of the program as an important achievement for the Albanian-American community, emphasizing the need to preserve the Albanian language in the diaspora.

He wrote that two allied countries and two friendly peoples are being brought together through instruction in English and Albanian, which is being offered at a New York school for the second academic year.

According to the prime minister, the bilingual English-Albanian academic program at this educational institution was first introduced in September last year.

Kurti said the initiative is a model of success that should be followed and expanded further so that Albanian can be preserved and cultivated from generation to generation among Albanians living in the diaspora.

The full post:

Two countries that are allies and two peoples who share a friendship, while at a school in New York, classes are being taught in two languages—English and Albanian—for the second academic year.

It was a special pleasure to visit the American public school P.S. 108 Philip J. Abinanti in the Bronx. It was here that the bilingual English-Albanian academic program was first introduced in September last year. This is an important achievement for the Albanian-American community and an example that should be replicated and expanded everywhere so that Albanian, as the foundation of our identity, is cultivated and preserved in the diaspora from one generation to the next.

Now, learning their parents’ native language takes place not only through homework but also through work in classroom notebooks. This bond is strengthened further because the child grows up between the mother, who is the first teacher, and the teacher, who becomes a second mother, bringing together care as an expression of love and learning as a source of knowledge.

The Albanian language managed to survive despite occupations in its lands of origin and external pressures, and it also continued to live on far from the homeland. The Arbëresh people in Italy have kept their language alive for more than five centuries. Their very manner of speaking bears witness to the history they have experienced: an Albanian language that reflects their journey and distance from the homeland, as well as their deep roots in Albanian identity.

However, for our national revival figures, it was not enough for Albanian simply to remain alive. Their goal was for it also to become a language of knowledge, culture and higher thought. In 1908, Albanians gathered at the Congress of Manastir and united around a common alphabet. That same year, Fan Noli celebrated the first Mass in the Albanian language in Boston, United States. Noli and the other Albanian national revival figures in exile understood that without protecting the language, knowledge and culture, the nation itself could not be preserved. Through their example, they demonstrated that the diaspora is not merely a place of refuge far from the homeland, but also a driving force behind our thought, emancipation and state-building.

The alphabet primer, workbook and reading book that I distributed to the students will not be the last form of support. Our government will always continue to support initiatives of this kind for teaching Albanian in the diaspora. For this important initiative, I thank Mr. Mark Gjonaj and Ms. Drita Gjongecaj, as well as the school principal, Ms. Stefania Cedrola Mustafa. I wish the children every success in their studies!