Language World

Ethiopia

A thorough course on Amharic--the official language of Ethiopia--complete with up-to-date vocabulary, situation-based conversations, and a variety of exercises with an answer key. Ideal for anyone seeking to develop a firm command of the language, whether studying independently or with a teacher.

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Best widely available Amharic - English - Amharic dictionary, August 25, 2001
Reviewer: Pete Unseth from Duncanville, TX USA, formerly of Addis Ababa University
Leslau's dictionary has been the standard for years, and deservedly so. He not only has thousands of entries in each half of the dictionary (English-Amharic, Amharic-English), he also gives extensive notes on grammatical usage, such as whether an Amharic verb takes a direct object suffix, or an indirect object suffix. The entries cover a wide variety of topics: tools, holidays, body parts, etc. There are other dictionaries available, but they are very difficult to find in most countries: Dr. Amsalu Aklilu's excellent work published in Ethiopia and Ahmed Zekaria's published in India. Kane's 2 vol. Amharic- English dictionary is too expensive for most people, and has no English-Amharic section. If you need an Amharic-English-Amharic dictionary, this is a fine book. The University of California paperback edition is much, much cheaper than the hardback Harrassowitz edition from Germany, no difference in contents.

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Ingram: Amharic is the most widely spoken language in Ethiopia and therefore the most useful for travelers to this destination to know. Co-authored by a native Amharic speaker, this phrasebook features an easy-to-follow layout and makes an obvious companion to Lonely Planet's Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti.

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Reader Review:
This the standard for serious students., August 23, 2000
Reviewer: Lee V. Douglas from Washington, DC USA
This is one of the courses produced for US Foreign Service personnel based on courses produced during World War II by the American Council of Learned Societies when the US needed materials that would teach languages to soldiers fast. It is remarkable that students of Amharic have such an excellent course available for such a relatively rarely-studied language.

Dialogues are in Amharic script, transliteration and English. Words and sentences are spoken on the cassettes, with space for repetition and this provides maximum opportunity for acquiring good pronunciation. Abundant exercises--also recorded--follow each dialogue, giving the student the opportunity to practice aloud each point of grammar until he/she can use it fluently. The methodology makes learning this complex language enjoyable, especially as the student advances.

This is a large and expensive course for a very intricate language, and it is well worth the price. It does, however, presuppose a committment to hard labor for a long time. Many students have an entirely justifiable need for an elementary knowledge of Amharic without the depth and without the expenditure of money, labor and time that "Amharic Basic Course" requires. For them, a good alternative may be "Colloquial Amharic," which sells for a fraction of the price.

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