Languages are important carriers of identity and culture, which means that the value of languages should not be underestimated. The knowledge which has been passed on orally, specialized knowledge and cultural distinctions are strongly connected to language and will therefore most likely disappear once a language becomes extinct.
Ethiopia is a cultural diverse country with a range of languages spoken across the population. These languages are very important for the Ethiopians for the same reasons as mentioned above. Norway has a substantial number of immigrants, and institutions across the Norwegian society are becoming increasingly aware of the value of teaching people non-European languages. Ethiopians constitute a large proportion of this category of people. At the University of Oslo (UIO) 4 of the 25 vital non-European languages being taught are Ethiopian. These languages are respectively Amharic, Oromo, Kafa and Tigrinya.
Language knowledge helps us gain better understanding and insights in other cultures. It is therefore important that the learning of languages is being promoted in order to better protect the various cultures found across the world, and also to “build down” land borders in order to achieve an intercultural dialogue between countries such as Norway and Ethiopia