Students cite many reasons for studying Yorùbá, including personal interest in West African cultures, research interests and fulfillment of foreign language requirements. African-American students often study Yorùbá out of interest in their own heritage, since many of the slaves brought to North America during the 18th and 19th centuries came from Yorùbá-speaking areas. For students of comparative linguistics and socio-linguistics, a study of Yorùbá can help and yield astounding results through an examination of the various changes and differences that occur between the language and the culture in the home base on the one hand and the diaspora on the other. Students of African literatures would also benefit from studying Yorùbá language, literature and culture, as many notable African writers, such as Wole Soyinka, are Nigerians. Further, Yorùbá is one of the most studied and researched African languages. There are already two volumes of Yorùbá Metalanguage, and Yorùbá is now being used for serious academic discourses such as Masters and Ph.D. degree theses in some parts of Africa.  Its importance as an African language cannot be overemphasized. Due to the number of people for whom Yorùbá is the first language, the political, cultural and social importance of the language within Africa, and the United States’ national interests tied to economic and diplomatic relations with Yorùbá-speaking areas, Yorùbá was recognized among the Less Commonly Taught languages as a first priority language by a national panel of African language teachers.