Ohio State students with an interest in exploring the Andes region of South America are now able to begin their journey in the classroom.

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese started offering a Quechua class Winter Quarter that introduces the indigenous Incan language still spoken in Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador to students.

Though the language was previously taught in upper-level Spanish classes, January was the first time students were able to take Quechua 1, said Felix Julca-Guerrero, who has been teaching the course.

When administrators in the department proposed the idea of a Quechua class, Julca-Guerrero, who had been teaching introductory-level Spanish classes at OSU since fall 2008, said he was very excited.

After weeks of advertising the new course in existing Spanish classes, Julca-Guerrero said he was pleased about the response he received.

Many students were interested in learning about the Incan empire and visiting the capital cities of Quito or Lima, and learning Quechua was their ticket to understanding these cultures, he said.

Today, 14 students are in the second level of the class, and Julca-Guerrero could not be more impressed with their progress, he said.

Originally anticipating less than 10 students enrolling, the native speaker did not think his students would be able to carry out 20-minute conversations with him, or write three-page compositions after only a few short months of exposure to the language, he said.

But he has been pleasantly surprised.

Coming into the class, many students were shocked by the language, he said.

“They all thought they would know what was happening because they spoke Spanish,” he said. “After one day, they knew it was completely different.”

The intensity of the program, combined with the students’ interest in grasping the Quechuan tongue, not only pleases their teacher but has prepared these students for the world they are waiting to see.

The Office of International Affairs, in conjunction with the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, will offer a 10-day trip to Peru during spring break next year, which will allow these students to show off their skills while diving into the culture they have been studying, Jeannie Bonner Simmons said.

Simmons, a study abroad specialist in the Office of International Affairs, has already seen interest from students about the trip to Peru. She believes it is because of the success of the Quechua class, she said.

Though the trip was offered last year and the office received multiple applications, there were not enough for the program to actually occur, she said.

This is always a problem with new study abroad programs. But after a year of advertising the program and the growing popularity of the class, the office is hoping it will happen, she said.

“It’s always important to be aware of other cultures,” Simmons said, especially because many American students are completely unaware of the indigenous culture and language that so strongly defines the lives of people in the Andes region.

“These trips allow students to delve deeper in their studies,” she said.

Julca-Guerrero is excited for the students in his class who have decided to go on the trip to experience the Andes as speakers of Quechua.

“No matter where you are from in the region, if you speak Quechua, you are connected,” he said.

Immersion into the culture will develop his students’ skills even further, he said.