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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| The Blaz Senior Member Canada theblazblog.blogspotRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5600 days ago 120 posts - 176 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Swahili, French, Sign Language, Esperanto | Message 1 of 11 27 March 2010 at 6:23pm | IP Logged |
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I happily found out this week that I have a 99% chance of getting an internship this
summer in Kampala, Uganda. I would be leaving in about 2 months, which leaves me with a linguistic decision to make! Language politics in Uganda are complex. To my understanding, there is: English - commonly spoken and understood, especially in the capital where I will be staying. Luganda - the largest ethnic group, understood by many, and the mother tongue of the region I will be staying. Swahili - a trade language which many understand - as of 2005 it because Uganda's official second language, though it is not yet taught as a mandatory subject. And there are many other languages in other regions. So I can already speak Swahili at a basic-intermediate level, and I have an interest in improving it. I will find people who speak and understand it, but it is nobody's first language. On the other hand, there will be many people who speak Luganda and it could be beneficial for me to begin to learn it. It is a Bantu language and the structures and much vocabulary is similar to Swahili, so I have an advantage. However I will only be able to use Luganda in that area, whereas Swahili is spoken in the whole region. Does anyone here have experience with Uganda or with the Luganda language? Or more generally, has anyone chosen to learn a language with a small number of speakers for specific engagements? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Fat-tony Nonaglot Senior Member United Kingdom jiahubooks.co.uk Joined 6140 days ago 288 posts - 441 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Russian, Esperanto, Thai, Laotian, Urdu, Swedish, French Studies: Mandarin, Indonesian, Arabic (Written), Armenian, Pali, Burmese | Message 2 of 11 28 March 2010 at 3:16pm | IP Logged |
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Uganda is one of the few ethnically and linguistically homogeneous countries in Africa so
I don't know to what extent they would use Swahili among one another. Maybe you could have a look at the Luganda course to see how close the two languages are and then make your decision. All the best! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| The Blaz Senior Member Canada theblazblog.blogspotRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5600 days ago 120 posts - 176 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Swahili, French, Sign Language, Esperanto | Message 3 of 11 28 March 2010 at 6:32pm | IP Logged |
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I wouldn't really call Uganda homogeneous... "Baganda 16.9%, Banyankole 9.5%, Basoga
8.4%, Bakiga 6.9%, Iteso 6.4%, Langi 6.1%, Acholi 4.7%, Bagisu 4.6%, Lugbara 4.2%, Bunyoro 2.7%, Other 29.6% (2002 census)" But you're right, Swahili isn't anyone's mother tongue. I did take a look at the FSI course but the PDF they have listed as "Student and Instructor text" seems to in fact only be the instructor text and seems to be missing the material a student would see when learning the language and using the audio hosted off-site. It could still be used but that makes it a little difficult to follow. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| The Blaz Senior Member Canada theblazblog.blogspotRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5600 days ago 120 posts - 176 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Swahili, French, Sign Language, Esperanto | Message 4 of 11 30 March 2010 at 8:09pm | IP Logged |
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Woohoo! I got the internship. I feel like I will not invest time into Luganda before I
go, and if I end up learning some while I am there, then that is great, but there are not enough practical reasons to do so, since my street interactions can probably be in English and I'll be working for a professional organization. In fact, they wanted me to speak French, so I should just continue working on that, plus take whatever opportunity to work on my Swahili that comes along. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6768 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek | Message 5 of 11 31 March 2010 at 3:34am | IP Logged |
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Congratulations.
Yeah, it'll probably be very useful if you tighten up your French before going. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Blunderstein Triglot Pro Member Sweden schackhandeln.se Joined 5418 days ago 60 posts - 82 votes Speaks: Swedish*, EnglishC2, FrenchB2 Studies: German, Esperanto Personal Language Map | Message 6 of 11 31 March 2010 at 9:52am | IP Logged |
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One of my friends is a refugee from Kongo-Kinshasa, and for a while his children were in Kampala while he was in Sweden. The family speaks Swahili and French (like most people from eastern Kongo), but in Kampala it turned out that not many people speak either of those languages. The children had to wait for months before the Swedish embassy in Kampala could arrange an interview with an interpreter. Granted, they drag their legs when it comes to refugees, but still, it says something about the language situation.
On the other hand, if you want to practice your French in Kampala, perhaps I could find some congolese there who would be willing to meet and talk. If so, mail me at erik@tydligare.se. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| The Blaz Senior Member Canada theblazblog.blogspotRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5600 days ago 120 posts - 176 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Swahili, French, Sign Language, Esperanto | Message 7 of 11 31 March 2010 at 4:34pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks for the offer Erik. I think it is more likely that my French and Swahili skills
will become an asset for the human rights work I'll be doing, if I'm able to speak with people that others aren't. So that's a good reason to continue concentrating on those languages and only pick up a handful of Luganda pleasantries. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Blunderstein Triglot Pro Member Sweden schackhandeln.se Joined 5418 days ago 60 posts - 82 votes Speaks: Swedish*, EnglishC2, FrenchB2 Studies: German, Esperanto Personal Language Map | Message 8 of 11 31 March 2010 at 5:09pm | IP Logged |
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By the way, some of my Congolese friends do actually have Swahili as their mother tongue (it's what they speak in the family, with their children). I was quite surprised to learn this.
1 person has voted this message useful |
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