Wa
lala po?
Onda sa ondjala!
Owa za peni?
Oshimbombo oshitoye
Aanegumbo yandje
Kondingosho
Owu uka peni?
Uundjolowele
Omasiku nomathimbo
Ohema ombwanawa
mEgumbo
mOshiwambo!
| Introduction If you’re trying to learn Oshindonga But you find that it’s too much iilonga, Nyanyukwa, ino geya! With this book, you will tseya It will guide you through all oshiponga. Congratulations! You have, in your hands, the product of two years of love, sweat, tears, and a fair number of G&Ts. We wrote this language guide while serving in Owambo as volunteer teachers. Our reasons were partly self-serving – writing about the language helped us to understand it better ourselves – but we hope it will be of use to anyone else who wants to embark on the adventure of learning Oshindonga. It’s a wonderful journey, and we’re glad to join you on the road. But now, down to business. As someone immersed in an alien culture, possibly for the first time, your linguistic needs are twofold. First, you need to learn how to function. This book tackles this objective by presenting a series of content-oriented chapters that will familiarize you with the vocabulary and phrases of daily life. The second need is to understand the structure of the language so that you can build your own statements and truly communicate. To this end, a series of Grammar Corner sections are interwoven through the chapters. Because we wanted to provide a reasonably complete grammar reference, you may find that the grammar sections advance at a faster pace than the corresponding vocabulary lessons. If you don’t understand them the first time around, you can always come back to them later. This book began as a revision of a training manual for Peace Corps volunteers, but its scope has broadened over time. It should be useful for anyone trying to learn Oshindonga, but is most appropriate for people who go to stay among Oshindonga speakers in Owambo. You can access this book in its entirety over the internet at http://www.schoolnet.na/language/. The web site also has a glossary of words appearing in the book, as well as an answer key to the exercises. Acknowledgements We would like to extend our thanks, in no particular order, to: Aaron Cooper, for the Oshindonga proverbs, compiled by his English class at Elombe JSS; Laura Veuve, who contributed the appendix, Etha ndje; Linda Shilongo for supporting this project and proofreading numerous drafts; SchoolNet Namibia for hosting the online version; and, most of all, the families and communities that put up with us and put us up for two years: Tate Kakololo Itope in Oshitayi, Meme Sylvia Uahengo in Onanghulo, and Tatekulu Ephraim Angula in Olukonda. |
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