Blog

This week we visit Suriname, a country on the northern coast of South America.

Geography

Located in West Africa, Cameroon is bordered by Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea. In addition, Cameroon is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest. Yaoundé is the capital of Cameroon. Christianity and Islam are the major religions. Cameroon’s official languages are English and French, but with about 250 different groups tied to Cameroon, more than 270 languages and dialects are spoken. The Niger-Congo group alone has 169 languages.

Guyana
This week let’s visit Guyana, a country located in northeastern South America. Indigenous peoples inhabited Guyana before European settlement, and named the land guiana, or land of the water.

Leping Sun is a Law student participating in the Duke Language Partners (DLP) program this semester, along with Preston Bowman, an undergraduate student studying Neuroscience. DLP matches non-native speakers with native speakers of various languages for weekly conversation exchange. As language partners, Leping is able to practice speaking English, while Preston can practice speaking Chinese. Beyond developing their language skills during their weekly conversations, they’ve been able to deepen their understanding of each other’s culture by conversing about a variety of topics, from anti-procrastination tips to their shared love for music and cooking.

Read their interview below to learn more about their experience as Duke Language Partners.

Where did you grow up and what languages did you grow up speaking?

Vietnam is bordered by Laos and Cambodia to the west, China to the north, and the South China sea to the east and south. Vietnam’s capital city, Hanoi, is located in the northern region of the country where it is home to around 4.7 million people. The rest of Vietnam’s 97 million inhabitants are dispersed across the fertile river delta regions of the north and south. Annam Cordillera, Vietnam’s major mountain range, stretches across the western side of Vietnam.

This week we visit UAE, a federation of seven states in the Middle East

History

Located on the western coast of South America, Peru is a country with varied geography and stunning scenery. As the third-largest country in South America, Peru stretches over several geographic regions, including the western coast of South America that meets the Pacific ocean, the Sierra highlands of the Andes that’s home to around half of the country’s population, and the jungles of the Amazon. Peru is bordered by Ecuador, Columbia, Bolivia, Brazil, and Chile.

This week we visit Monaco, a sovereign city-state located along the Mediterranean Sea in the Côte d’Azur (French Riviera).

With a land area of ~603,600 sq mi, Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe after Russia. It’s bordered by Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova. The geography of Ukraine includes the Carpathian and Crimean mountain ranges, the steppes that run from Hungary to Manchuria in the east, and the Black Sea which lies alongside its southeastern border. Kyiv, the capital city that’s home to over 2.8 million inhabitants, is located in north-central Ukraine on the Dnieper river.

This week we visit Azerbaijan, a country in southwest Asia!

History