A list of basic romanian words and phrases translated into english. Ngcongco the tswana chiefdoms form part of the larger group of sotho peoples, while the sotho group itself is one of the three great subdivisions of the bantuspeaking peoples situated north of the nguni. So by clicking on these links you can help to support this site. Tswana is the national and majority language of botswana, whose people are the batswana singular motswana. Other names for the language are beetjuans, chuana, coana, cuana, and sechuana. Longmans, green, 1955 sechuana language grammar 473 pages. If so, we invite you to join our contributor program. This course is aimed at beginners who want to learn to speak setswana. Setswana tswana is a bantu language and the national and majority language of.
If you want to speak with your brazilian or portuguese neighbor, friend, or business associate, knowing the basics of portuguese can help. Learn to speak tswana language exchange via email, text chat and voice chat. The following lessons have been designed to suit any new learner in setswana who has had little or no exposure to setswana language. Sorry, your browser either has javascript disabled or does not have any supported player. It belongs to the nigercongo language family within the sotho languages. Setswana info wiki a tswana reference for residents of botswana this tswana phrasebook is an outline and needs more content.
Learn to speak an african language university of south. If you dont have time to become fluent, but need the basics in a hurry, then talk now. The course aims to help students achieve a basic mastery of setswana to allow them to communicate their basic needs and serve as a foundation on which to build their language skills. Setswana tswana is a bantu language and the national and majority language of botswana. Categories with terms derived from tswana in various specific languages. Basic setswana setswana tswana is a bantu language and the national and majority language of botswana. The setswana language is one of 11 official languages spoken in south africa, and one of nine indigenous languages chosen for this title in the postapartheid constitution setswana speakers form the fifthlargest language group in south africa. Tswana, also known as setswana, is a bantu language. It can be useful as a primer for learning the basics of the tswana language. This is why we have made available these free us peace corps setswana resources for you to use. A collection of useful phrases in tswana, a bantu language spoken in botswana, namibia, zimbabwe and south africa. The basics numbers, directions, transport etc, meeting people, emergencies and medical care. In addition to botswana, there are also setswana speakers in south africa, zimbabwe, and namibia, comprising about 4 million setswana speakers worldwide.
Botswanaupenn partnership perelman school of medicine. All the lessons contain audio and are all offered for free. Learn tswana online by practicing with a native speaker who is learning your language. It is closely related to the northern and southern sotho languages. Use the setswana language and terminology as described and used in the. Most of this people living in botswana, south africa, zimbabwe and namibia. How to ignite your imagination to learn spanish words in a flash mnemonics are without doubt the most powerful tool for learning a language.
If you reach a point where your language ability seems to have plateaud and you want to. Unlike more widely spoken languages like english, spanish, french, and german, the setswana language has few learning resources for learners of the. Emerging as a language distinct from latin and castilian in the ninth century, portuguese was made the official language of portugal under king dinis 127925. Write or speak tswana online to improve grammar or conversation. Whether you are dating a portuguese speaker, learning the language for business purposes, or planing to spend your next vacation in brazil, these sentences will surely help you improve your communication skills. Take advantage of our tswana courses and enjoy a more active holiday. Instant immersion tswanasetswana courses have fun, save money and reach your goals faster guaranteed. It is spoken by about 8% of the total population, which is more than 4 million people. Creissels and chebannes dictionnaire francaissetswana thanodi sefora. The sesotho book a language manual developed by a peace corps volunteer during her service in lesotho. The majority of tswana speakers are in south africa, where it is an official language, but there are also speakers in zimbabwe and namibia.
The phrases that you will learn are relevant to south africans who would like to acquire some basic skills in an african language. Learn basic tswana words and phrases with this free course. Tswana or setswana is a language spoken in southern africa by about 4. Youll receive credits toward complimentary access to ethnologue for every contribution that. This book is the only available phrase book i could find on the language and is laid out into 4 phrasebook sections. Some simple phrases for short term visitors etc ee. Heres the second lesson to the setswana basics chapter. Setswana is a bantu language spoken in southern africa by about five million speakers. A language exchange complements other forms of learning such as classroom, cultural immersion and multimedia, because you get to practice all that you have learned with native speakers in a safe and supportive environment. Mix play all mix language beat youtube learn afrikaans in 30 minutes all the basics you need duration. Welcome to this website where you can learn some basic phrases in an african language free of charge. Our translator have huge database for this language with 71 000 words. This document is intended to be a resource for peace corps volunteers studying tshivend. Xhosa isixhosa zulu isizulu south sotho sesotho northhen sotho sepedi tswana setswana venda tshivenda shangaan tsonga german portuguese afrikaans english our english courses are also available for an african speak.
The course is based on information from nthati phetlhu gaborone, botswana. When you need to learn the basics of tswana, and want to get started straight away. In the nineteenth century, a common spelling and pronunciation of batswana was bechuana. Heres a list of useful basic phrases in sesotho in both the south african and lesotho orthographies. In order to help those who are willing to learn sotho languages, lessons have been prepared. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. You can hear some basic setswana phrases being spoken by a native. Want to speak and understand enough basic vocabulary to get by.
Learn and practice your tswana with a native speaker in a language exchange via email, text chat, and voice chat. Ethnic tswana made up approximately 79% of the population of botswana in 2011. Peace corps botswana an introduction to the setswana language setswana is one of the bantu language groups, mostly spoken in botswana, south africa and namibia southern africa. It is a bantu language belonging to the nigercongo language family within the sotho languages branch of zone s, and is closely related to the northern and southern sotho languages, as well as the kgalagadi language and the lozi language. In the case above, both setswana and english sentences are neutral.
Tswana language simple english wikipedia, the free. The sotho language structure is based on a system of noun classes and a system of concords. Tswana courses, dictionaries and other language supplements. Setswana, bantu, temporal reference, time in language, temporal deixis. Here are basic words and conversational phrases in tswana. Pdf the current study investigates how beginner readers learn to read setswana and english, and whether there is crosslanguage. We believe balanced transformation and ubuntu unity consciousness are. Are complete beginners or know just a handful of words in tswana.
An introduction to the setswana language setswana is one of the bantu language groups, mostly spoken in botswana, south africa and namibia southern africa. There is also a minidictionary section english to tswana and vice versa. Find qualified tswana language translator services in johannesburg, pretoria, cape town. Europeans therefore referred to the area inhabited by the tswana as. I have attempted to make this book as comprehensive and yet as concise as possible. Tswana translation services english to tswana translations. Read the setswana ebooks online, listen to the setswana audios and practice your setswana pronunciation with our online recorder or download the files to use whenever you want. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. At live lingua we believe that everybody should be able to learn another language. Find out how to recite the portuguese alphabet, how to ask simple questions and carry on a conversation, and how to show enthusiasm for what youre experiencing.
Tswana terms organized by topic, such as family or chemistry category. Understand the basics of the setswana language botswana dialect and develop speaking skills you need to become confident and conversational in social interactions with up to 3 levels of our interactive software. Mnemonics make a link between english and the spanish word that you want to learn. Tswana language courses, audio cd, learn, speak, instruction. One characteristic of these languages is the noun class system, in which each noun is grouped depending on whether its animate, inanimate, plant, human, abstract etc.
It is a bantu language belonging to the nigercongo language family within the sothotswana branch of zone s s. Learn tswana online write or speak in tswana language. Tswana has no descendants or varieties listed in wiktionarys language data modules. Information on the origins and structure of the language. The tswana language or setswana is a language spoken in southern africa. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. Tswana is a bantu language, part of a family that stretches over subsaharan africa.