African languages? (Specific Languages) Language Learning Forum

African languages?
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Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages

33 messages over 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 Next >>

Calro2
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Message 17 of 33

04 July 2010 at 4:29am | IP Logged

ennime wrote:

Hi

I was curious, it seems that african languages are quite underrepresented here... or with
learners in general. I notice Kishwahili, and Arabic of course, and some interested here
and there in Zulu and the like... However it's really really little (in terms of
languages sub saharan), and wanted to ask opinions as to why this is. I think one
argument is that there are often very little materials available... but apart from
that... well Afrikaans or Dutch isn't all that more useful than say Oshiwambo or
Chibemba, or Wolof...

I think ignorance is also sometimes part of the reason, as there are some people who just don't know anything (or care to find out) about Africa. In 2010, some people still have to be informed that it's a continent, not a country. Anyway, I am getting ready to learn Yoruba and just bought Colloquial Yoruba (which was published at the end of 2007) for this purpose. The Colloquial series also has Amharic, Swahili, and Somali. I've also seen other resources, including FSI (which can be a bit dated), for Igbo, Hausa, Twi, Swahili, Zulu, and Wolof, to name a few. Hopefully, materials for African learning languages will become even more accessible and popular in the future.
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rasputin
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Message 18 of 33

04 July 2010 at 4:54am | IP Logged

Calro's right... you don't hear Swahili spoken anywhere in South Africa.
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johntm93
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Message 19 of 33

04 July 2010 at 5:46am | IP Logged

Calro2 wrote:

Ubik wrote:

johntm93 wrote:

Ubik wrote:

And Swahili because it covers pretty much all of
Africa.

i.png">Not exactly...

Edit: That's from the Wikipedia page on Swahili, by the wasy.

Thats where it is considered the official language, but Swahili is understood in most
African countries. It is the language of trade and a lingua franca for most of Africa
from what Ive read from other sources.

Again, not true. I'd say that swahili is NOT understood in most African countries. Quite the opposite. It is largely limited to a section of East Africa.

I'll agree with Calro on this. If you'll look at the map, some of the green extends on to the top bit of Madagascar. Is it the official language just in the top mile or two of Madagascar?
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Zorrillo
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Message 20 of 33

04 July 2010 at 7:32am | IP Logged

I wanted to learn Zulu but there is almost nothing to do with it once you have learned it. There is not much of an internet presence for African languages, and little written or audio material.

For those who don't mind religious stuff, the Jehova's Witnesses have a lot of material in a staggering number of obscure languages. They offer free monthly downloadable newsletters of about 20-25 pages in length, in languages such as Zulu, Lingala, Twi, Hausa, and Shona. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but for some of these "little" languages, it is literally the only practice material you can find aside from the Bible itself.
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rasputin
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Message 21 of 33

04 July 2010 at 8:30am | IP Logged

If you live in Kwa-Zulu (Formerly Natal Province), you'll use Zulu every day of your life... (-:

Lots of good S. African music in Zulu, too...

We should be saying "isiZulu", for that's what the Zulu people call their language.
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Derian
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Message 22 of 33

04 July 2010 at 2:51pm | IP Logged

Calro2 wrote:

In 2010, some people still have to be informed that it's a continent, not a country.

Haha, what?!?
Hmm, you live in Canada, ok.

Calro2 wrote:

I think ignorance is also sometimes part of the reason, as there are some people who just don't know anything (or care to find out) about Africa.

There is no obligation to want to learn about Africa or any other continent/country when the "contributions to science, technology, literature, business, and international politics made through those languages" [quote from Dixon] is very insignificant in our part of the world.
It's up to Africa to make itself interesting and encourage people to learn about it.

The other thing is that, linguistically, Africa is more associated with European languages like English, French or Portuguese than its own native languages.

Edited by Derian on 04 July 2010 at 3:09pm
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lynxrunner
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Message 23 of 33

04 July 2010 at 6:47pm | IP Logged

Derian wrote:

I'm pretty certain that there's great African literature out there; the problem is that
most people won't look any further than their nose is long. There's a lot of great
obscure literature in any language, but most people don't want to actually have to put in
effort to find good literature. The same goes for music.
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liddytime
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Message 24 of 33

04 July 2010 at 6:49pm | IP Logged

Calro2 wrote:

Ubik wrote:

johntm93 wrote:

Ubik wrote:

And Swahili because it covers pretty much
all of
Africa.

i.png">Not exactly...

Edit: That's from the Wikipedia page on Swahili, by the wasy.

Again, not true. I'd say that swahili is NOT understood in most African countries. Quite the opposite. It is largely
limited to a section of East Africa.

Just curious,

I have read that Zulu and Xhosa are more or less mutually intelligible.

What about Swahili? I have heard music sung in Lingala that I could have sworn was sung in Swahili. So even if
Swahili proper is not spoken much outside of Tanzania and Kenya is it close enough to , say, Luganda, Lingala,
Kikongo, Chichewa etc... to pass??

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