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Lizzy Learns Swahili | ||
Tags: Swahili | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Lizzy92 Tetraglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4246 days ago 12 posts - 15 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, German | Message 1 of 2 22 April 2013 at 7:59pm | IP Logged |
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Aside from the sing-song lilt of "Jambo!", that world-famous greeting, I
know very little about the sounds and cadences of Swahili. I have never travelled to East Africa, nor do I have any personal acquaintances who speak Swahili. There was a time when I thought I might have grown up with a little of it via The Lion King, but no! 'The Circle of Life' is actually written in Zulu! Not a disappointment; simply a surprise. In fact, my one personal connection to the Swahili language is my great-aunt Marie, who died before I was born. My grandmother apparently adored her, and my mother has often described her as a confident, strong-minded Glaswegian woman who loved sports cars and ... spoke fluent Swahili, after having lived in Kenya. Not much opportunity to speak it when she returned to Glasgow at the start of the '60s, but I am told she continued using it anyway, either speaking to herself or talking loudly in it to people who jumped the line in shops, just to really unnerve them. I have seen one photograph of Great-Aunt Marie: round face, curly hair, a toothy smile, and a twinkle in her eye. I bet we'd have got along really well. I'm not (currently, at least) the kind of language-learner who picks his or her new language at random or on a whim. I suppose what I mean is, I'm still at a stage where I really like to have some personal connection to the new language. I'm not yet brave enough to start learning Russian or Mandarin, for example, because I feel I don't have much experience of the countries and customs related to those languages. In the past, I always thought my criteria for any new languages would be: (i) would I be willing to live in a country where that language is spoken/will I have the opportunity to visit as much as possible? (ii) do I have some kind of direct personal connection to someone who speaks that language? (iii) does that language offer a good choice of film and literature that I can one day sink my teeth into and feel like I'm directly getting something back when not around native speakers? At the moment, as explained above, Swahili only fits one of those criteria, and even then it's a personal connection with a family member I will never meet. HOWEVER, I do feel that it's time for something new. It's been seven years since I started teaching myself Italian - a wonderful adventure which lasted a total of three years. For the most part, I have learnt my other three languages (French, Spanish & German) in schools and with native-speaking teachers. Yet I really loved the experience of teaching myself a language from scratch. Best feeling in the world! There are other languages higher up on my 'hit-list' than Swahili. However, I'm currently at a stage where I won't have a lot of time to properly dedicate myself to something new. So, rather than get frustrated and nervous about not progressing as much as I'd like in one of my other, higher priority hit-list languages, I thought Swahili would be a relaxing, fun one to get stuck into. And of course, touching on a language that is well-known but rarely learned in the West should hopefully give plenty of satisfaction, especially as a beloved family member once spoke it. If I'm ever lacking motivation, I can always plonk that photo of Great-Aunt Marie on the desk next to me. Some kind members of this forum have pointed me in the direction of Swahili language- learning tools that will help me on my way. The Assimil Swahili course will soon be ordered, and tonight I'm going to start on the FSI Swahili sound files: first step of the process of getting my ear in. I'm not so sure how this 'log' will turn out. I think my aim to update it every 1-2 weeks is pretty reasonable. Perhaps I'll also document funny experiences I have during the learning process, or mention interesting cultural discoveries I make. Anyway, here goes!  Edited by Lizzy92 on 23 April 2013 at 12:24pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| BaronBill Triglot Senior Member United States HowToLanguages.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4691 days ago 335 posts - 594 votes  Speaks: English*, French, German Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Persian | Message 2 of 2 23 April 2013 at 3:26am | IP Logged |
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Good luck! I have been thinking about Swahili myself and I'm excited to follow your log and see what
you think of the language. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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