[bubudi]

anybody here speak a west african language?

n ye bamanakan ni mandenkan fola doni (i speak a little bambara and malinke).

mi oso sabi lili bit di salone krio (i also know a bit of sierra leone creole).

also spatterings of susu and wolof.

would be cool to find people to practice with and learn from.

[Carl]

I picked up some PDFs a while back for Malinke and susu (I think)

Tough not having any pronunciation or inflection to go by, but it did help me figure out some lyrics.

I would be very interested in learning more here. One way might be to translate songs. (That would help me to get started)

In addition, I wouldn't mind learning some easy conversational malinke and bambara.

Just some early morning thoughts.

C

[bops]

I speak African French.

Also speak a little Bambara and Susu. My Wolof used to be really good, but since my Senegalese friends have all moved away, I haven't kept it up at all. It doesn't come as easily as it used to.

[Dugafola]

i have the peace corp malinke and susu books. the susu manual is way harder to follow imo.

i also have the bamana books from the University of IN but they've been shelved indef. for a while.

[Carl]

I have the song Kuku-we, lyrics and translation, somewhere in my notes...

Anyone interested in giving it a look and discussing?

C

[michi]

I have the song Kuku-we, lyrics and translation, somewhere in my notes...

Anyone interested in giving it a look and discussing?

Yes, please!

Michi.

[Carl]

I'll check my notes tonight, if I don't post something by tomorrow, start giving me hell.

C

[bubudi]

here are the free downloadable west african language resources i know of on the net.
hint: right-click on the links you want and then choose 'save as'.

maninka/malinke (upper guinea, southern mali)
peace corps malinke manual
maninka greetings

bambara (mali)
peace corps bambara introduction manual
bambara greetings

susu (guinea)
peace corps susu manual
susu greetings

mandinka (gambia and southern senegal)
mandinka-english dictionary
mandinka grammar manual
mandinka greetings
useful mandinka and wolof vocabulary

[bubudi]

wolof (senegal)
wolof-english dictionary
useful mandinka and wolof vocabulary
wolof greetings

krio (sierra leone, also close to gambian english)
peace corps krio language manual

pulaar (guinea, mali, senegal)
peace corps learner's guide to futa djalon pulaar (guinea)
fulfulde greetings (east niger/mali)

jula (burkina faso, ivory coast)
jula greetings
jula-french dictionary

songhai (mali)
songhai greetings

sereer (senegal)
sereer greetings

[Michel]

I just found a complete Bamana course in soundclips: http://languagelab.bh.indiana.edu/Bambara-Intro.html

Michel

[bubudi]

thanks michel. i also found this downloadable bambara dictionary (right click and click 'save as'):

bambara lexicon

also here are some more bambara guides (in french):
basic bambara grammar
bambara lexicon

[Carl]

Michel-

Nice find! I looked for something like that for months back when I was looking into the languages. (probably 2 years ago or so...)

Thanks!
C

bubudi- thanks for the links, I'll have to review to see which ones I have, definitely looks like there are some new ones to me on that list. -C

[bops]

Wow, those audio lessons are great! Thanks for the links, guys.

[Michel]

I am leaving for Mali the 14th for 25 days, so I am studying hard on this!
Initié

Michel

[e2c]

great topic idea, and many thanks for all the links!