The Azerbaijani language class from 2024 gathers outside with the Azerbaijan flag [Photo provided by the Azerbaijani Students’ Association]

A group of Azerbaijani students are working to keep their native language alive at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa.

This fall, the Azerbaijani Students’ Association of Ottawa brought back its language classes following popular demand after their inaugural run last winter.

The association had previously sent groups of students to the Karabakh School for Azerbaijani language.

But with the help of Vusala Ahmadova, a longtime language instructor and co-founder of the Karabakh School, the program blossomed into a university-affiliated program for the first time last year.

Ahmadova, who has taught Azerbaijani for over 15 years, said language is inseparable from culture.

“(In my class) I tried my best to cover everything: a little bit from our culture, language, music, dance, holidays.”

Five people stand in front of a chalkboard, with one holding a plate of food
Members of last year’s Azerbaijani language class pose for a photo in their classroom. [Photo provided by the Azerbaijani Students’ Association]
For Sevda and Sevil Zaynali, the student association’s co-presidents, the classes are about more than just learning vocabulary.

“One cannot be connected to their roots if they do not know their language,” said Sevda Zaynali, a teaching assistant for the program in her final year of environmental engineering at Carleton.

“We can pretend as much as we want, ‘Oh, I grew up in Canada, all I need to know is English,’ but I would not understand the depth of my culture.”

For Sevil Zaynali, a fourth-year international management student at the University of Ottawa, the classes provide a way to keep connections across borders.

Born and raised in Canada, Sevil Zaynali said many of her family members only speak Azerbaijani.

“It would be quite difficult for me to connect with them and to know their upbringing and their life experiences without knowing the language.”

Three women stand next to each other in front of flowers
From left to right: Sevil Zaynali, Vusala Ahmadova and Sevda Zaynali are part of the Azerbaijani Students’ Association’s language class program. Ahmadova says language and culture are inseparable. [Photo provided by the Azerbaijani Students’ Association]
After immigrating to Canada, Ahmadova said she and her husband chose to raise their daughters speaking only Azerbaijani at home.

“They started to go to kindergarten with zero English, which I’m proud of, because they speak my language very well,” she said.

“I just want them to learn our own language (first).”

Those who attend her classes say Ahmadova’s passion shines through, with the classes feeling less like lectures and more like family gatherings.

“It was such a fun class. It feels like a roundtable,” Sevda Zaynali said.“It’s back and forth, asking questions, raising your hand.”

For Ahmadova, bringing the classes back this year was a simple choice.

“As long as there are students who want to learn Azerbaijani, I will teach.”

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Featured image provided by the Azerbaijani Students’ Association.

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