African Languages: Swahili Africa is full of linguistic diversity, containing approximately 2000 different African languages. Other unknown languages are probably spoken in specifically hidden tribes deep within Africa's lands. Of these, Swahili is one of the most prominent languages across Africa. In the US, 1 in ever 7,151 people speaks the language of Swahili at home; it is spoken in 48 states and is ranked as 61 out of the 322 language spoken in the United States (Countries and their Cultures). Many students from across the continent are traveling to the United States to enjoy a better life and more opportunities in their future. For most of these children, the importance of education and literacy is extremely important in order to maintain …show more content…
Many Americans are fans or have viewed the Disney movie, "The Lion King"; this movie contains multiple Swahili words which were used mainly for the names of characters. For example, "Simba" stands for the word lion and "Rafifki", the baboon, stands for the word friend. The commonly known phrase "hakuna matata", meaning no troubles or no worries, is also a Swahili phrase used in the famous Disney movie. The Swahili language is also making a presence in the musical world; there are numerous radio stations that feature the language, such as the Voice of America in the United States or Radio Deutschewelle in Germany. Many people are also familiar with Michael Jackson, the king of pop music. His song "Liberian Girl" uses Swahili phrases like "Nakupenda pia, nakutaka pia, mpenzi we", which translates to "I love you, and I want you, my dear!" (Omniglot) These uses of Swahili act as a promotion for the language to ensure it will continue to grow and spread among many …show more content…
There are five main pillars of faith that constitute as the basic rules of the Islamic practice: 1) the belief in Allah and Muhammad as the ultimate being and most important prophet; 2) praying five each day; 3) During the month of Ramadan, they fast from sunrise to sunset; 4) volunteering and giving away to charity; and 5) a pilgrimage to Mecca, the holy city (Countries and their Cultures). With such a strong Arabic influence on the Swahili culture, it is no wonder that Islam is not only beliefs and practices but a way of life for these people. There is a heavy Islamic impression on the written language as well as the culture of the Swahili
The video Mother Tongues: Languages Around the World discusses the various languages found in Africa, Oceana, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The film starts with a brief description of Africa’s nearly 2000 languages. It explains that because of Africa’s relative isolation and long history of occupants it has the most languages of any land mass. The African languages include anything from Arabic, Swahili, or the ‘click’ language. Click languages are located only in Africa; in these languages the clicks function as normal consonants.The many languages of Africa all evolved differently due to separation between groups. For example the Nigeria area has over 400 languages and almost every language group is represented. Africa has unique sounds such as kp or gb which can be written has ibgo. These sounds are not common in places other than Africa. Swahili is probably the best-known African language. Developed along the Indian Ocean near areas such as Kenya. Swahili was adopted from many languages especially Arabic. Swahili has taken on an international image as one of the main languages of Africa.
The lunsi drummers put tension on these chords while drumming in order to tonally alter the sounds it makes. In the hands of a master drummer, the lunga drum can produce sounds that imitates the Dagomba spoken language, Dangbanli. Performances such as the “Nag Biegu”, or “ferocious wild bull,” is just one of the many commonly found Praise Name Dances or “salima,” throughout their music-culture. This one in particular praises Naa Abudu, a king of Dagbon during the 1800's, acknowledging him for his strong courageous and leadership traits. Slow, loud, bass driven drum beats are used in a call-and-response manner, responding to the praising vocals performed by the leading lunga drummer.
...ome along with the difficulties that these kids face in schooling so there are often programs that these kids are enrolled in to help them get past these struggles.
School is not compulsory and parents are not bound by law to send their children there. Parents are bound by law to educate their children but that doesn’t necessarily have to be in school (Mountney 13). Making sure that children can read, write, and learn basic skills is a task that parents should support. Children can learn different matters now, compliments of the internet. Public libraries and local museums Students are engaged in learning because the curriculum is selected specifically for each individual and is based on interests and needs (Butler
Collins, John. “African Popular Music: A Historical review of Sub-Saharan Africa”. African Art, Traditional and Popular Music.com. 2002. Web. 06 May, 2014. http://aatpm.com/AfricanPopularMusicCollins.htm
...ave the education they need to thrive in society. Modern education is an essential part of society and without it society would fall to shambles.
Children need a meet their physical needs ‘nutrition, in order to function a safe environment, he needs to feel loved by their peers and educators, he need to have social interaction with others, he need recognitions acceptance from their teacher and family, feel respected and valued as a child during the early educational years, which this ensure a healthy outcome later in their
In the display of Gullah song lyrics, Turner notes that the words were accompanied by handclapping, drumming, and dancing (256). While in Ghana I visited Nana Abass’ shrine of African traditional worship, where I was able to engage in spiritual service. The key component of the service was the dancing, singing, handclapping, and drumming. These methods were used to call in the presence of the spirits. Thus, one can assume that the combination of such elements in Gullah song is a spiritual
“My fadda was a guy yunno, from England here, yunno? Him was like…like you can read it yunno, it’s one o’dem slave stories: white guy get the black woman and breed her. He’s a English guy…I t’ink. Cos me see him one time yunno. My mother? My Mother African.” (Bob Marley, 1978)
Fullen, Matthew. "Characteristics of West African Music | EHow." EHow. Demand Media, 02 June 2011. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. .
Marley was a highly political lyricist, in 1979 penning a song titled Zimbabwe calling for Zimbabwe’s liberation from England. The next year he played in Zimbabwe in celebration of their independence. (biography.com, 2014)
... been brought out in this song by using many different aspects of music closely related to Africa including the African drumming and Zulu chanting. The song did well to connect the different parts of the animal society and I also feel that the choice of the Zulu language was a good one. This language has great rhythm when sung which creates a great mood of positive thoughts and hope.
When a person is young it is mainly their parents responsibility to raise them right. Raising them correctly will help them make good choices as they get older. Putting children through the right amount of education will also impact the person they become as they get older. “Programs at one stage or age may or may not prepare students for later experiences. Ideally, the learning situation in preschool will foster independence and child-initiated activities.” (Slavin). School has a big impact on a person and who they will become. Parents need to put their kids in good situations early on. This will help the kid develop better and be more
important for children to develop in order to mature and age effectively. It is important for
There are eleven official languages in South Africa; they are English, Afrikaans, Ndebele, Sepedi, Xhosa, Venda, Tswana, Southern Sotho, Zulu, Swazi and Tsonga. South Africa also recognizes eight unofficial languages: Fanagalo, Khoe, Lobedu, Nama, Northern Ndebele, Phuthi, San and South African Sign Language. Even the variation of languages and dialects reflect the diversity of the culture. Heritage, culture, customs or...