Quechua Courses @ OSU

OSU is one of just a few universities in the US to offer Quechua through the advanced level, and our program is unique in its focus on Bolivian Quechua. Bolivian Quechua is great for students interested in Bolivia, and can it also be understood in large parts of Ecuador and Peru. There are no prerequisites, so anyone can learn Quechua! We offer the following courses from the beginning through the advanced level:

  • QUECHUA 5501: Beginning Quechua I
  • QUECHUA 5502: Beginning Quechua II
  • QUECHUA 5503: Intermediate Quechua I
  • QUECHUA 5504: Intermediate Quechua II
  • QUECHUA 5505: Advanced Quechua I
  • QUECHUA 5506: Advanced Quechua II

If you have questions about whether a course is available in a given semester, check the OSU Course Catalog or email instructor Elvia Andia Grágeda (andiagrageda.1@osu.edu).

Our Instructor

Photo of Elvia Andia GrágedaElvia Andia Grágeda is the coordinator of OSU’s Quechua Language Program and teaches our Quechua courses. Andia Grágeda is a native speaker of Quechua from Cochabamba, Bolivia. She has many years of experience teaching Quechua online and in person, and in 2019 she was certified by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) as the world’s first Oral Proficiency Interview tester for Quechua. She is also an award-winning author, having received the 2019 Premio Nacional de Literatura in Bolivia in the category of Lengua Originaria. Her book Pirqakunawan parlaspa (Speaking with the Walls) fuses fiction and the life-stories of her parents and grandparents to tell of the strength of Indigenous women and their role in sustaining the language, practices, and customs of their communities.

Andean & Amazonian Studies Minor

Quechua 5503 and higher count toward the interdisciplinary Andean & Amazonian Studies minor. The minor is a great complement to Quechua classes and gives you a way to explore the region’s culture and society while learning the language.

Partner Institutions

Students at other universities are welcome to take Quechua at OSU through our virtual classrooms! Institutions that have partnered with us to offer online Quechua classes include:

  • Purdue University
  • University of Chicago
  • Oberlin College
  • Indiana University
  • East Carolina University
  • Northwestern University

For more information, students at Purdue University should contact Soledad Morales-Serrano (morales2@purdue.edu), students at the University of Chicago should contact Nicholas Swinehart (nswinehart@uchicago.edu), and students at other universities should contact our instructor Elvia Andia Grágeda (andiagrageda.1@osu.edu).