REPOR TRESUMES ED 012 115 AL 000 441 CHINYANJA BASIC COURSE. RY STEVICKs EARL W. AND OTHERS FOREIGN SERVICE INST., WASHINGTON, D.C. PEACE CORPS, WASHINGTON, D.C. PUB DATE 65 CMS PRICEMF51.50 HC $15.04 3T6P. DESCRIPTORS... *CHINYANJA, *LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION, TONE LANGUAGES, TAPE RECORDINGS, TEACHING GUIDES, *COURSES, AFRICAN LANGUAGES, *INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS, MALAWI, BANTU LANGUAGES, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA THIS LANGUAGE COURSE IS INTENDED TO FROVICX *MC LINGUISTICALLY ORIENTED STUDENT WITH THE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF CHINYANJA (ALSO COMMONLY REFERRED TO WITHOUT THE "CHI" PREFIX AS "NYANJA"). THE PRINCIPLE LANGUAGE OF MALAWI, CHINYANJA IS ALSO SPOKEN DY LARGE NUMBERS OF MALAWIANS IN NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES. THE COURSE IS BASED ON A SET OF DIALOGS DEVELOPED FR,M IMPROMPTU CONVERSATIONS RECORDED DY TWO OF THE MALAWIAN AUTHORS. INTENDED TO EX INTRODUCED ORALLY, THESE DIALOGS ARE GLOSSED IN ENGLISH AND CONTAIN THE SPECIAL STRUCTURE POINTS OF EACH UNIT. THEY ARE FOLLOWED DY EXPLANATORY NOTES AND EXERCISES AND, IN EARLIER LESSONS, DY SHORT "AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL" QUESTION AND ANSWER SECTIONS. LATER UNITS ARE LONGER, WITH MORE ATTENTION GIVEN TO THE GRAMMATICAL DEVICES OF THE LANGUAGE. EMPHASIS THROUGHOUT IS ON MASTERY OF THE DIALOGS. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE TEACHER ARE INCLUDED IN THE INTRODUCTION. THIS DOCUMENT IS ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS, U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D.C. t0402, FOR $2.75.(AMM) A B IC COURSE This work was compiled and published with the assistance of the Peace Corps lased on ChinyanjaTexts, Exercises andTapes Provided by: D. BANDAWE, A. BOUTCHA, Z. KADZAMIRA, A.KALINDAWALO, S. LWANDA, J. MALEWEZI, M. MIVIINDUIA,I. MPUTENI, C. MSEKA, AND E.MSOKE Oriaeized and Editedby: EARL W. STEVICK LINDA HOLLANDER "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS FOREIGN 11111.1110 MATERIAL HAS BEENGRANTED SERVICEINSTITUTE sr PALA)ri-ia.e);-4rS'er WASHINGTON,D.C. TO ERIC AND ORGANIZATIONS OPERATING UNDER AGREEMENTS WITH THE U.S. OFFICE OF EDUCATION. FURTHER REPRODUCTION OUTSIDE 1965 THE ERIC SYSTEM REQUIRES PERMISSION OF THE NNW OWNER." DEPARTMENTOFSTATE 4, }so thagekkkra.... cv CHINYANJA BASICCOURSE FOREIGN SERVICE INSTITUTE BASIC COURSE SERIES Edistrd by LLOYD B. SVIFT i CHINYANJA BASIC COURSE PREFACE Chinyanja, theprincipttlanguageof Malawi, is spoken not only inthat country but by large numbers of Malawians in neighboring countries. This book is intended to give the student a start in the language, both by providing him with materials for study, and by guiding him in taking over more and more of the responsibilities connected withlanguage learning. The goal is ability to speak a little Chinyi-lja well, and ability to learn as muchmore of it as is needed for individual work situations in Malawi. The presentvolume is one of a series of shortBasic Courses la. selected African Languages, prepared by the For- eign Service Institute. It was produced in cooperation with the Peele., Corps. Many collaborators contributed to the lessons. AnLynio Boutcha, Zimani Kadzamira, Mike Mbvundul,, and Tneac Mouteni supplied tape recorded samples of Chinyanja. These and the related exercisematerials werechecked byMr. Mbvundula, and also by Dearson Bandawe, Alex Kalindawalo,Samson Lwanda, Justin Malewezi, Cikungwa Mseka, and Emilio Msoke. Voicing of thetapes wasby Messrs. Msoke, Lwanda, and Malewezi. Mrs. Linda Hollander assisted with production and checking of an earlier version. General organizing, editing, and preparation of notes were the responsibility of Earl W. Stevick. Assemblingand editing of thetapes awed much to special techniques devel- oped by Gabriel Cordova, Director of the Institute's Lan- guage Laboratory. Howard E. Sollenberger, Dean School of Language and Area Studies Foreign Service Institute Department of State ii CHINYANJA BASIC COURSE FOREWORD Unhouseltd, disappointed, unaneltd, No reckoning made, but sent to my acount With all my imperfections on my head. Hamlet. Act I, Sc. 5. Like Hamletts father, the present course hasbeen sent to meet its destiny with certain imperfections on its head. Some readers may therefore judge it !horrible most horrible,. This foreword is written as an interpretation of the course, in the hcpe that some unnecessarymisunderstandings may be avoided. Most important, the Malawian authors ofthese materials are in no way responsible for the flaws which exist in thispublished version of their work. The course is based on impromptuconversations recorded by two of the authors. Parts of these conversations were thenselected to serve as the !basic dialogues, for the units. Format, fur Lhe exercises and ucintentfor the !auto- biographical, sections were suggested by thesenior American collaborator, and these materials were then put into Nyanjaby the Malawian authors. Every line in the book has been checked by two or moreMalawians ior gellezal authentl- city, and most of it by three or more,but certain inconsistencies of spelling and word division are the resultof too-hurried editing. Certain bits of dialogue and notes on grammar arerepeated at two or more points in the course. Almost all these repetitions -- ortreintroductionst -- were intentional, but in a few cases they would have beenremoved had time been available for afinal reworking of the manuscript. Perhaps one of the stronger aspects of this course,particularly in comparison with other courses in the same series, is itsemphasis on using the dialogue materials, outside of theclassroom as well as in it, and onthe !autobiographical, sections, in which the students areexpected to supply words that are of personaland/or local significance to them. The assumption is that students learn most quickly, and withfewest repetitions, when the meaningsof linguistic forms are most vivid to them whilethey are practicing them. In this and in other ways, students arerequired to assume definite responsibilities, not just for followinginstructions, but for contributing to the content and the conduct ofthe course. While this of course applies to every student in the class,experience has shown that it is also wiseto have in each class one student who isresponsible for reading the instructions, seeing to it that mechanical details gosmoothly, and serving as a clearing house for questions, grievances, andother problems as they arise. Nyanja Basic Course will be ofinterest to language teachers because the actual preparation of the manuscripthad to be carried out some hundreds of mites from the nearest speakersof the language. Contact between American and Matawian personnel was intermittent,for intensive periods of tape recording, checking of drafts, and classroom useof an earlier edition. The result displays many of the weaknesses that onewould have predicted under such cir- cumstances. At the same time, however, it is feltthat some new, positive possibilities in this kind of collaborationhave been explored. iii CHINYANJA BASIC COURSE to express his The senior American collaboratorwould like at this time all of the Malawian deep appreciation, both professionallyand personally, to which they displayed authors for the truly remarkablepatience and dedication Linda Hollander for her during our work together. Thanks are also due to Mrs. taped materials which were help in preparing and checkingthe mimeographed and the preliminary edition of this course. Discussions with Dr. GuyAtkins, though regrettably brief, wereexceedingly helpful. Dr. William Samarin super- To all vised Nyanja instruction duringsix weeks of a summer programin 1964. these persons, the senior Americancollaborator expresses hisgratitude, emphasizing that blame for errors offact or organization arenot theirs. Work on this course has been madeeasier by the existence ofScott and Hetherwickts Dictionary of the NyanjaLanguage, and ThomasPricets The Elements of Nyanja. Washington, D. C. June, 1965 i4, CHINYANJA BASIC COURSE INTRODUCTION Any student who begins this course has three handicaps. He is aware of the first one, but he is probably notaware of the second and third. 1. poi knows no Nyanja. This course contains many useful sentences in the language, and covers the main points ofgrammar and pronuncia- tion. 2. He probably does not expect to use much of his own initiative when hsjEthdiesanae. In this course, the student is required to make many of his own observations, select part of the vocabulary to be usedand dpRign scyme of the 3. lieALL10taccsa.nuhinbetween 'learninga language' (which is an academic game) and 'learning (which is not necessarily academic and whichcan be much more fun). This course contains numerous directions for using Nyanja in real life outside of class. These directions are not merely suggestions; tkey Are an essential__Dart of the course. The course is divided into two main parts. The first consists of Units 1-40, and the second of Units 41-63. In the first part (Units 1-40), emphasis is on learning to use those words and sentences that the student is most likely to need repeatedly during his first few weeks in Malawi. The principal points of Nyanja grammar are introduced, but theyare not treated systematically, and there are few drills. In the second part (Units 41-63), the materials from Units 1-40 are reintroduced. This time, however, the units are longer, andmore attention is given to mastery of the grammatical devices of the language. ,....01101141 CHINYANJA BASIC COURSE Instructors who use this course will fall intoone of two categories. Some will have had previous experience in teachingNyanja, either to Nyanja- speaking children, or to European adults,or to both.