Languages

[wasino 0]

I learned a little bit of Nyaturu while I was living in a village in the Singida region of Tanzania.

I remember when I first returned home from Tanzania, whenever I would get tipsy....I would start babbling in Swahili only. Drove my friends crazy. But I did make friends with taxi drivers and random people in clubs....lol.

I was supposed to marry a Swahili speaking man, so that I would eventually become fluent in that beautiful language (and I had such a good foundation to build from). But of course, I fell in love with a Nigerian man, lol. So I have to start over with the language. And it's hard to find resources for the Edo language.

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I've gotta know the story behind this. How do you know Nyaturu? Very cool. I've written a paper with some stuff from Kirimi. I've heard that Rimi is maybe a dialect of Nyaturu? I dunno.

I had the opposite problem for a while when trying to speak Swahili; when I was trying to speak Swahili and didn't know the word, the French word would come to mind, and it was very confusing! And a friend of mine who's lived for many years in Kenya has picked up a lot of Kenyanisms when speaking English always says "you know, the nini" (thing/what) or "sindiyo" (isn't it?, no?) when speaking to other Americans in the midwest. He gets a lot of funny looks.

[mmarlo 1]

Here are some Edo resources:

http://www.isp.msu.edu/afrlang/search.php?...ype=All%20Types

Not sure how useful they'll be, but it's a start!

In my case, I thought if I was going to fall in love with a Kenyan woman, it would have been one from the ethnic group I was studying and have been spending most of my days thinking about for five years. But love doesn't work that way, and I found someone whose language I knew nothing about. But I'm always up for a new challenge.

[wasino 0]

wow, you sure know your resources. I have only found one page of edo/english words...but i'm definately going to look up some of these books and see if they help out.

yes, i was teasing about needing to marry a swahili speaking man. love is definately mysterious, and that is part of the beauty of love.

i do want to learn edo...i'm just sad that i'm losing my swahili...i just think it is such a beautiful language.

Here are some Edo resources:

http://www.isp.msu.edu/afrlang/search.php?...ype=All%20Types

Not sure how useful they'll be, but it's a start!

In my case, I thought if I was going to fall in love with a Kenyan woman, it would have been one from the ethnic group I was studying and have been spending most of my days thinking about for five years. But love doesn't work that way, and I found someone whose language I knew nothing about. But I'm always up for a new challenge.

[mmarlo 1]

Thanks. But it's my job, so no biggie.

[Darkchild80 0]

My husband speaks English, Spanish, Dutch, Edo. He understands Yoruba and Ibo as well.

My husband speaks Edo as well! He can speak french and english. I am not as cultured! I can only speak english and a little bit of french due to a college requirement.

[LovinLiberia 0]

Booker speaks English(does Liberian English count? lol.) and Vai. I speak English and Spanish.

[mmarlo 1]

Booker speaks English(does Liberian English count? lol.) and Vai. I speak English and Spanish.

I certainly don't speak Liberian English. It probably has its own characteristics, so why not call it that.

Isn't Vai one of the languages of Liberia that developed its own writing system? Yeah, I think so. What an achievement. See below:

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/vai.htm

Edited March 22, 2007 by mmarlo

[LovinLiberia 0]

Hey, thanks alot for the link. I am going to check it out now. Yes, Liberian English is very unique and hard to imitate, it sounds very similar to Patois (Jamaica) and all of the last letters of Liberian English are dropped off of the words.

Just went to the site. Very interesting stuff! I'm forwarding it to my fiance. He will be amazed that "I" found that site. lol!

[LovinLiberia 0]

I had another post on here, it mysteriously disappeared. Anyway, i was just mentioning to mmarlo that Liberian English is very unique, it sounds alot like Patois (Jamaica). All of the last letters are dropped from the words, which makes it even harder to understand.

[mmarlo 1]

All of the last letters are dropped from the words, which makes it even harder to understand.

Sounds interesting. Wish I could meet Booker. I'd have some questions for him! (Like whether the sounds at the end of words that normally get dropped get pronounced if you add a suffix or something to the word. (Like in French.) Not a question that a normal person would ask, but one a linguist would ask.)

[wasino 0]

My husband speaks English, Spanish, Dutch, Edo. He understands Yoruba and Ibo as well.

My husband speaks Edo as well! He can speak french and english. I am not as cultured! I can only speak english and a little bit of french due to a college requirement.

Are you trying to learn Edo? Do you have any tips? Here in the Minneapolis area, there is a decent sized Nigerian population, but none that we've met speak Edo--mostly Yoruba and Ibo--so it's hard to learn without others around to practice with besides my husband.

[shayrene 0]

My husband speaks 5 languages:

French

Ewe

Mina

English

Fon (a little bit)

German (understands a bit, doesn't speak)

Me:

English

French (not so good, I have forgotten more French now that my husband is here in the US)

[Chris W 0]

Tracey & I are both natural-born English speakers, but can we join? After all Africa is where we met

Tracey: English, French (fluent), Bambara (fluent), Malinké (basic)

Me: English, French (intermediate), Bambara (basic)

[blah0323 0]

Here is a link I found, that teaches Yoruba, anyone familiar with it??yoruba class

[Aniomaman 0]

Me: Speak English, Ibo and Yoruba Fluently and a few words in hausa as well

My Fiancee : English, Ibo and Yoruba fluently and a bit of spanish