MANILA – Harvard University has hired its first-ever Filipino language instructor in its nearly 400-year history.

In an Aug. 25 announcement on its website, Harvard said its Asia Center and the Department of South Asian Studies hired former Cavite State University faculty member Lady Aileen Orsal to teach elementary and intermediate Filipino (Tagalog) courses from Fall 2023 or Sept. 5, 2023.

The Ivy League university in Massachusetts earlier announced that it would offer Filipino as a new language course this year.

Filipino is currently the fourth most spoken language in the US after English, Spanish, and Chinese, Harvard noted.

• Harvard University, mag-aalok ng kurso sa Wikang Tagalog

Orsal will be supported by a budget of $1 million (or almost P57 million) and is expected to teach at the university for three to five years.

Watch more News on iWantTFC

Harvard University Asia Center Director James Robson commended Orsal as "a dedicated, creative, and effective teacher who is committed to being a leader in Filipino language pedagogy.”

Prior to being hired in Harvard, Orsal served as a teaching assistant for introductory and intermediate level course on Filipino in Northern Illinois University in 2018 under the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant program.

She is currently completing both an M.A. in Communication from the same university and a Ph.D. in Philippine Studies from De La Salle University in the Philippines.

Robson said he hoped the study of Southeast Asian languages could gain support through the new Filipino course.

“What I’m hoping is that if we can demonstrate that there’s demand for these languages and students show up and are excited about it, then hopefully we can also use this to convince the administration to further support Southeast Asian studies generally and language instruction in particular,” he said.

Harvard Philippine Forum (HPF) co-president Marcky Antonio said he hoped the university could teach its students about the Philippine culture, too.

"While this is the first Tagalog language course that’s ever been offered in Harvard’s history, I think there’s also this sense that we need to make sure we teach this right — not only Tagalog language, but Filipino culture as a whole," he said.