Fulani may be a “less common” language. But not in Ohio.

The Fulani are the largest nomadic group in the world, settling down across the length of West Africa. That includes Mauritania, a country facing such severe turmoil that more than 15,000 Mauritanians have made the risky journey to the United States since 2023[1].

Many of those asylum speakers finish their journey in an unexpected place: Cincinnati.

Resources to support the burgeoning community are tight. Support often comes from fellow immigrants, charities, and of course the local library system.

Staff at the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library reached out to us about creating an English course for Fulani speakers. So our team got to work creating the English for Newcomers course for Fulani speakers.

This 25-unit course covers 1,782 useful words and phrases for common newcomer scenarios like:

• Shopping for groceries & essentials
• Looking for work & interviewing
• Securing housing & utilities
• Getting medical & dental care
• Using technology
• Navigating public transportation

Unlike a beginner English textbook or course, “English for Newcomers” prioritizes rapidly memorizing the vocabulary learners need most, as our Director of Content Orsi Gall explains:

“The goal is function over form. Learning English as a recent arrival in the thick of it isn’t about having perfect grammar. You just need to understand and be understood. That’s especially important for meeting immediate needs like finding housing or getting medical care. The right word or phrase might be all you need. The course content and the spaced repetition activities are designed to help learners pick up what they need, when they need it.”

Peter Bour, a Library Customer Advisor at CHPL, is on the front lines serving the Fulani-speaking community. Resources are few and far between for Fulani speakers, so he believes having this course will make a big difference:

“New Americans often use our libraries to learn English. Now that Transparent Language offers English for Fulani, our valued customers from West and Central Africa have a great, self-paced platform that supports cultural integration.”

The course is now available free to all CHPL library card holders.

If your library is supporting English learners, learn more about Transparent Language Online and explore our 300-hour English collection for speakers of 40 languages.

And if your library already subscribes and needs English for speakers of a language we don’t have, let us know at libraries@transparent.com.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/06/09/africa-immigration-shelter-mauritanians-cincinnati-ohio/