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Yoruba Resources | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| daristani Senior Member United States Joined 7145 days ago 752 posts - 1661 votes  Studies: Uzbek | Message 9 of 22 03 August 2005 at 7:35am | IP Logged | ||
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More information/materials for Yoruba can be found at the following website:
http://lang.nalrc.wisc.edu/nalrc/yoruba/index.html 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| axe02 Triglot Groupie Joined 7222 days ago 71 posts - 73 votes Speaks: English*, Portuguese, French | Message 10 of 22 11 August 2005 at 3:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks daristani! I'll look into all of this. I was worried there would be nothing out there (at least in North America) to use for this language. Thanks again.
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| randy310 Senior Member United States Joined 7066 days ago 117 posts - 117 votes Speaks: English* | Message 11 of 22 14 August 2005 at 12:04am | IP Logged | ||
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Yoruba is spoken by 18 million people. But why would anyone want to learn to speak it? It is one of hundreds of languages spoken in Nigeria.
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| axe02 Triglot Groupie Joined 7222 days ago 71 posts - 73 votes Speaks: English*, Portuguese, French | Message 12 of 22 14 August 2005 at 11:00am | IP Logged | ||
This may come as a shock to you, but there are many people interested in Yoruba. Just because you have no interest in it doesn't mean no one else could possibly have any inclination to learn it. If you had read one of my earlier posts, you would have realized that it's spoken in several countries and has influenced the language and culture of Cuba and Brazil (and those are just the ones I know of). There are also a lot of Yoruba people throughout the world, so it's no longer a shock when I hear a lot of Yoruba spoken around me in central London (U.K.), Maryland or Washington, DC in the U.S. Funnily enough, Yoruba has been used in Hollywood films, such as the Bourne Identity, and even quite recently in a national American television ad for Benilyn. And, for your information, the Yoruba group is one of the 3 largest in Nigeria. The language is the dominant one in the southwest region of the country (which includes the major commerical hub, Lagos) and is one of the four most spoken languages in the whole country, along with Hausa, Igbo, and English, to the extent that these are considered the "national languages." Even if the language had one-fifth this number of speakers and didn't cross borders, etc., that would still be no excuse to question why "anyone" would want to learn it. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| randy310 Senior Member United States Joined 7066 days ago 117 posts - 117 votes Speaks: English* | Message 13 of 22 14 August 2005 at 12:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hmmmm, interesting axe02...you seem quite combative. Were you trying to convice me or you? Allow me to rephrase my question. Why do you want to learn it? I am still not convinced of its usefulness. A language doesn't have to have any usefullness to want to learn it I suppose. What ever strikes our fancy? Some might question my desire to learn Portuguese.
My criteria for learning a language are the following: 1. It must have an FSI program 2. Be a major world language 3. Be a culture I find interesting 4. I would also like there to be available dvd movies with a track in my target language. These are incredibly helpful with comprehension. 5. And last but not least have some possible financial value to me. I am where I want to be in Spanish right now. My next objectives in order are Portuguese Brazilian style, French, and Japanese. I have noticed that you have forgotten to fill out most of your profile. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| randy310 Senior Member United States Joined 7066 days ago 117 posts - 117 votes Speaks: English* | Message 14 of 22 14 August 2005 at 12:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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Axe02 I may have been hasty in my dismissal of Yoruba. I just checked Audioforum.com and there is an FSI program for it. It comes with 36 hours of audio and a 300 page text. That along with practicing with native speakers should make you pretty fluent. But it is kind of expensive...$295. Which should not matter if you are really serious about learning it. Don't mess with teach yourself sets unless all you want to learn are survival skills. Edited by randy310 on 14 August 2005 at 12:59pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| czech Senior Member United States Joined 7195 days ago 395 posts - 378 votes Studies: English* | Message 15 of 22 14 August 2005 at 9:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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You can't rely on an FSI set to make you fluent...some of them just don't cover enough material or pattern sentences. I have the Thai Basic Course, and while it does work to a great extent, it's nothing like I expected. The grammar is limited to short explanations and actually very few drills, but it's the best you'll find. It's the best out there, but don't rely on it to make you fluent.
Randy310, why does there need to be an FSI set for you to study the language? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| randy310 Senior Member United States Joined 7066 days ago 117 posts - 117 votes Speaks: English* | Message 16 of 22 14 August 2005 at 10:10pm | IP Logged | ||
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czech, i agree that Fsi alone will not take you to fluency but depending on which language and how much material it offers it can bring you close. In my last post I also mentioned practicing with native speakers to help take you to the top. But I do believe that fsi is the best single source and should be the bedrock of any language learning plan. Yes it is rather expensive and a lot of hard work without much entertainment and a bit dated, and not really quite enough vocabulary, but these programs usually provide more audio and text than any other singel source. Their methods of pounding it into your head like with a sledge hammer I feel are without equal. To shore up some of it's weaknesses I would reccomend penton overseas vocabulearn to go with Fsi to give you huge amounts of up to date vocabulary. This has been my strategy with Spanish and I have been gratified with the results. Of course practice with native speakers.
I am intrigued with tonal languages like thai but don't know if I could do one or not since it seems one might need some musical talent and I have none! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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