Reasons to learn - Swahili.

Personal update - I have now been in Cairo studying Egyptian Arabic for a month, with a month of classes left. If you follow me on twitter (@languageblog1) then you will know that I have got a job in Saudi Arabia, so hopefully I will be moving there in September.

I have already started looking at Arabic classes in Saudi Arabia so that I can continue my studies, although it will obviously be a different dialect of Arabic. The new plans also mean that I will be returning to the UK for a while after my Egyptian classes finish. During that down time in the UK I will take up another short challenge, which I have alluded to in my tweets. It's not a very serious challenge, but I feel like it will be a lot of fun.

Anyway, Swahili!

I'm not going to include a little description of Swahili, because I am assuming you have heard of it. I might be wrong, but I assumed it with the French post and everything worked out fine.



LOADS of people speak Swahili.

It's hard to get an exact number of speakers, but officially 15 million people speak it as a first language. But, then a further 140 million people speak it as a second language. This number changes depending on the website you look at. The amount of speakers is due to it being an official language in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. It is also one of the official language of the African Union.

Since there are about 1.1 billion people in Africa, you have about a one in ten chance of running into a Swahili speaker, should you find yourself in that part of the world.

The beautiful places Swahili is spoken.

If Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania weren't already on your list of countries to visit, then they should be now. Swahili is spoken in some of the most beautiful countries on earth, and for me the language is a reflection of the country it is spoken in. Beautiful country = Beautiful language.




The Bantu Language Family.

There are a lot of great reasons to learn Swahili, but for me this is the greatest. Swahili resides in the Bantu language family, which is a collection of at least 250 African languages, with a total of around 210 million speakers! Most of these languages are very closely related, with almost identical grammar rules, similar (and shared) vocabulary, and with a large amount of mutual intelligibility (speakers from different language can understand each other).

So, if I was going to learn Swahili (and I intend to) it would be with the intention of then moving on to other Bantu languages with a significant learners advantage. Some of these languages should sound familiar to you. Xhosa (Nelson Mandela's first language), Zulu, Lingala, Shona (which on its own has about 10 million native speakers), Kinyarwanda and Kirundi.

Just like you might learn French with the intention of then studying other Romance languages e.g. Italian, Swahili is very much the toe in the shallow end of the African language pool.

 

Interesting features.

Swahili has quite a few interesting features that you might not be aware of. Here are just two. Although Swahili now uses the Latin script, it was first written in a modified Arabic script (much like Urdu and Pashto are today). The earliest Swahili documents from 1711 AD are written in Arabic script, and was mainly due to the adoption of the language by merchants from Oman and Persia. It was changed to the Latin script in the 1800s by European colonial powers.

Repeating a word can change the meaning or intensity. For example, 'piga' means 'strike', but 'piga piga' means 'strike repeatedly'. 'Soma' means 'to read', but 'somasoma' means 'to read a little' or 'to read repeatedly'. It's a pretty useful grammatical feature which is consistent through most Bantu languages.



It's pretty easy.

Swahili is thought to be the easiest African language for English speakers to learn. The grammar is easy, the vocabulary is familiar (sometimes), and there aren't any tones (unlike many other African languages).

Allow me to demonstrate the simple grammar.

Ni = I
Na = Present tense
Soma = to read.
Ni + na + soma = I+am+reading.
Nina-soma = I am reading.

Easy peasy.

Ni = I
Li = Past tense
Soma = to read.
Ni + li + soma = I+was+reading.
Nili-soma = I was reading.

Lupita Nyong'o.



While researching for this post I found a great set of 65 PDF Swahili lessons by the University of Kansas, which you can access here.

Endangered languages you could actually learn! - PART 1

EDIT - It takes a really long time to research the resources for each language. I had intended this to be a long post with maybe a couple dozen endangered languages, but it turns out that it would take far too long. So this will be PART 1, and I will write later installments to pick up where I left off.

I don't know why, but the idea of learning an endangered language is very interesting to me. Something about being part of such an exclusive club, or something about the in-depth culture which is rarely found with larger languages.

I know that a lot of other people are interested in learning an endangered language for various reasons, and so I thought I would find a whole bunch of endangered languages and then point you to the resources with which to learn them.

Aleut.



Aleut is part of the Eskimo-Aleut family, and is native to Alaska (specifically, the Aleutian, Pribilof and Commander Islands).
How many people speak Aleut you ask? A 2007 study estimated that only 100-300 people still speak it in the world today. But, don't worry. Due to a long and consistent fascination in the language (mainly by Russian missionaries), there are a lot of places to go and learn Aleut.

The University of Alaska publishes an Aleut grammar book, a conversational CD set and textbook, dictionary, and stories written in Aleut for the more advanced learner. Due to the low batch numbers they are quite expensive, but you could buy them all for less than the price of Rosetta Stone Spanish.

Paakantyi.



Paakantyi is an Australian aboriginal language spoken around the Darling river. Here's another fun fact. Only 2 people speak it in the world!! If you learnt Paakantyi you would be in an exclusive club of 3 members. You would also be absorbing an important piece of Australian heritage.

I had to look really hard to find anything significant in terms of resources. As you would imagine, there isn't a lot of material about a language with 2 speakers.

I found out that a school in New South Wales wrote a textbook about Paakantyi, and being a small school they would probably be open to sending you a copy if you contacted them.

The Alliance for Linguistic Diversity has an online grammar book, but you need to request permission to view it. There is also a grammar book written by Luise Anna Hercus in 1993. I can't find a copy for sale, but there is a copy in the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Library and the Wentworth Shire Library.

 Taa.



 Taa is a language with about 4,200 speakers spread across Namibia and Botswana. Unfortunately, if you google 'Taa' you tend to get results about the Texas Apartment Association.

Luckily this is one language that the Alliance for Linguistic Diversity has quite a few resources for. They have videos showing the pronunciation, videos documenting the language, and documents about vocabulary and grammar (although the documents can be quite confusing).

Yup'ik.



Yup'ik is a another member of the Eskimo-Aleut language family. It is spread into various dialects, the most prominent of which is Central Alaskan Yup'ik. In total they boast about 19,000 speakers.  In 17 Alaskan villages children are still brought up with Yup'ik as their first language.

Once again, the University of Alaska has a wide choice of stories and conversational textbooks, mainly for Central Alaskan Yup'ik, but some for the other dialects as well.

Reasons to learn - French.

So I just arrived back from a night in the desert and I promised I would post today, so I will.

I am going to start a series called 'Reasons to learn', where I will try to think of interesting reasons to learn a language, and to hopefully motivate you to learn that language. It will run probably every two or three weeks.



A lot more people to talk to.

Some 300+ million people speak French throughout the world. If you do any traveling then chances are you will run into someone who speaks French. They aren't just in France either. Many people speak French throughout Africa and Canada (in fact, two of the largest French speaking cities are Montreal and Kinshasa in the DRC). French is also the third most used language on the internet.

It's easy.

If you speak english already then you will find French considerably easier than other languages. Some of the words are the same, and the grammar works in a familiar way. There are plenty of resources out there, both online and in bookstores, so learning French is an easily guided process. In fact, Tutorhunt.com lists 4,124 French tutors in the UK, all eager to help you learn French.

Door into Romantic Languages.




I've talked a lot about romantic languages before I think. All of the languages in the Romantic family are quite similar. So learning French will make picking up Spanish, Italian, Portuguese etc easier if you choose to do so. In fact, a few days ago I was told by a non-native French speaker that I should learn Italian, because French people would understand me and it is easier than French.

Parisians will talk to you.

I don't want to show any English bias, but there is a tendency for people in Paris to dislike speaking English. I can only back this up with personal experience and other peoples testimony, but it sure seems that way. So learning French could break down those linguistical barriers.

Explore a culture.



By not speaking French you are missing out on decades of literature, films, television shows, magazines, newspapers etc. You might discover your favorite artist, or novelist, or director, by picking up french and doing a little cultural exploration. Imagine the conversations you could have about the work of Andre Breton while sitting in a Parisian Absinthe bar, entirely in French! If that's not a cool image then I don't know what is.

The Duolingo Language Challenge.

I previously wrote a huge preamble for this blog entry, but decided to delete it and just keep it simple.

I asked a bunch of people to use Duolingo for a month for a target language they had no prior experience with.

At the end of the month I asked them to write a short paragraph in their target language to show how much they have progressed just by primarily (or only) using Duolingo.

I am trying to write as little as possible, because I want the paragraphs below to stand on their own.

If you are planning on learning French, German, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese, then I highly recommend Duolingo.

Lauryn Artis-Woodman - Portuguese

Eu falo Inglês e Espanhol, e eu tenho aprendido Português por um mês com Duolingo. Eu gosto de Duolingo porque é fácil. Eu tenho uma amiga Português do Duolingo. Ela fala Português e Inglês. Aprendo muitas palavras importantes. Minha frasa favorita é "A Saidera!", porque eu gosto de beber! Eu quero cozinhar e comer também. Eu quero visita Portugal. A comida, o vinho, e a praia são bom e bonito. Eu preciso aprender mais português antes eu vou. Eu quero aprender mais Português com Duolingo.

I speak English and Spanish, and I have been learning Portuguese for a month with Duolingo. I like Duolingo because it is easy. I have a Portuguese friend from Duolingo. She speaks Portuguese and English. I learn many important words. My favorite phrase is "The Nightcap!" because I like to drink! I like to cook and to eat too. I want to visit Portugal. The food, the wine, and the beach are good and beautiful. I need to learn more Portuguese before I go. I want to learn more Portuguese with Duolingo.

Monica - Spanish.

Me llamo Monica. Tengo diecinueve anos y soy alta. estudiante. Quiero hablo español y catalán. Yo tengo cinco hermanos pero no tengo hermanas. Mi hermano mayor tiene veintiuna anos y mi hermano menor tiene ocho anos. Mi familia tiene dos perros, dos gatos pequeños y un caballo pero quiero mi propio gran perro. La mañana, yo come pan o huevo y bebe leche o agua. Hoy mi familia come pescado pero mi madre no come pescado. Mi madre es maestra y mi padre es ministro – ella amo su trabajo pero él no gusta su profesión.

My name is Monica. I am 19 years old and I am tall. I am a student. I want to speak Spanish at Catalan. I have five brothers but I don’t have sisters. My eldest brother is 21 years old and my youngest brother is 8 years old. My family have dogs, small cats and a horse but I want my own big dog. In the morning, i eat bread or egg and I drink milk or water. My family eat fish but my mother doesn’t. My mother is a teacher and my father is a minister – she loves her job but he doesn’t like his profession.

Francisco Farias - French

Bonjour! Mon nom est Francisco et je suis brésilien. Il ya un mois j’ai commencé à apprendre la français par le site Duolingo, et j’ai dit que je voulais écrire un texte pour ce blog. Je suis heureux de ce que j’ai appris. Mon français n’est pas très bon, mais seulement passé um mois. Désolé pour les erreurs dans ce texte.

 

Hello! My name is Francisco and I'm Brazilian. A month ago I started learning french through the Duolingo site, and I said I would write a text for this blog. I am glad of what I have learned. My french isn't really good, but that was just one month. Sorry for any mistakes on this text.

Vicki Howell - Spanish

Hola, guapo. Ya nos conocemos? Como te llamas? Mi nombre es Vicki. Yo hablo inglés . Yo no hablo español. Hablas tú inglés? Disculpe, lo siento, eres modelo? Quieres bailar conmigo? Yo bebo vino. Mucho gusto! Adios.

Hello handsome, have we met before? What is your name? My name is Vicki. I speak English. I do not speak Spanish. Do you speak English? Excuse me, I’m sorry are you a model? Do you want to dance with me? I drink wine. It is a pleasure to meet you. Goodbye.

My first few days in Cairo.

So I am finally here. My degree is over, and I am currently sitting amidst the whirling mass of Egyptians that people call Cairo. My first impressions were that Cairo isn't nearly as hot as people were making it out to be. I was told countless times not to visit Cairo in the summer because it's so hot you can't function, especially if you're white. But the heat is actually quite manageable, and I have done a lot of walking around the city with no trouble at all (except the time I got lost down some side streets and was stopped by a traffic jam of goats).

But enough about that, this is a language blog.

Egyptians speak quickly. That is a problem for me. I have to really concentrate to work out what people are saying, and so when they speak at half the speed of light I really only have the option of nodding and agreeing regardless of what they are saying. BUT! I have been able to understand a lot of what taxi drivers etc have been saying. I had a short conversation with some kids who stopped me to practice their English but I only spoke Arabic to them, which was nice because I understood everything they were saying.

I have been keeping count of every random stranger on the street that I have talked to, who didn't end up trying to sell me something. The count stands at two people, in three days.

Sorry if this post seems a bit muddled and poorly written, but I need to go out to buy a phone and I am very aware that places close for prayers around 12. Or maybe that is just on Fridays. I really don't know.

I have begun to keep a new word dictionary. It's a little notepad, and I write down every word I don't understand and look it up later. I went to watch football yesterday, so the words in there at the moment include 'Foul!', 'Off-side', and 'Penalty!'

I have had a lot of compliments about my Arabic, which is nice considering that before arriving in Cairo I had only managed to talk to three Arabic speakers. Can't wait for my Arabic classes to start tomorrow.

Alternative places to learn languages.

For some reason I used to be very interested by minority languages in other countries. It interested me that there were these little enclaves and pockets of culture hidden away within otherwise relatively homogenous societies.

The idea of learning Italian in Poland, or Hebrew in Brazil, was incredibly interesting to me for some reason. Anyway, here is a list of some alternative places where you can learn an interesting language.

Italian in Toronto.


Italian is the 3rd most spoken language in the largest city in Canada, with over 160,000 L1 speakers. Many of these Italian speakers reside in Torontos' Little Italy and Corso Italia districts. Canada even has its own Italian language channel, based in Toronto, called Telelatino.

Kurdish in Istanbul.


There are 2-3 million ethnic Kurds living in Istanbul, more than any other city in the world. This is mainly due to the Kurdish-Turkish conflict, and the push for an autonomous Kurdish state within Turkey and Iraq. In 2006 the Turkish government allowed the broadcasting of shows in the Kurdish language, as long as they weren't aimed at children or the teaching of the language. With a change of heart in 2009, a state-controlled Kurdish language TV channel was started. If you leave Istanbul and start heading towards cities such as Diyarbakir, then you will see signs in both Turkish and Kurdish, due to the large Kurdish populations.

Japanese in Sao Paulo.


Want to learn Japanese but Japan is too expensive? There are apparently some 1.5 million Japanese speakers in Brazil, and many of them reside in the city of Sao Paulo. If you venture in the Liberdade district then you will find it a bastion of Japanese speakers, with the McDonalds sign famously being written in Japanese. The Japanese language newspaper 'Sao Paulo Shinbun' has been in circulation in Sao Paulo since 1946.

Arabic in Paris.


While it is hard to get exact numbers, it is well known that many Arabs and North Africans have made their way to cities in France, mainly Paris. Along with them came their particular dialects of Arabic. Most are from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.

Indonesian in Amsterdam.


Dutch-Indonesians make up the largest minority ethnic group in the Netherlands, with estimates reaching 2 million. There is a large population of Indonesians living in the east of Amsterdam, almost certainly due to the historical proliferation of the Dutch East India Trading company. They are credited with being the ethnic minority with the lowest crime rate in the Netherlands.

The similarities between Dutch and Indonesian are hard to miss, with some 10,000 Dutch loanwords in the Indonesian language!

Urdu in London.


London is one of the most linguistically diverse cities in the world, and one of the few places you could find a native speaker of almost any language still spoken today. So the fact I chose Urdu is fairly arbitrary. The top 10 immigrant languages spoken in London are (in descending order of popularity) Polish, Bengali, Gujarati, French, Urdu, Portuguese, Turkish, Spanish, Arabic and Tamil. Take your pick.

It is also worth mentioning that with 38,000+ native Iranians living in London, it wouldn't be hard to find a Farsi teacher either.