No comments about New Student Dictionary: English-Somali: Dikshaneeriga Cusub Ee Ardayda.

No comments about Somali Learner's Dictionary : Qaamuuska Barashada Ingiriis-Soomaali.

1 comments about Politics, Language, and Thought: The Somali Experience.

1. Although written in 1977, this book contains a wealth of information about Somalia and a basis for understanding the current conflict there. More importantly however, it delves into the issues of language and politics, and how the language you frame your political ideas in can shape the ideas themselves. It applies to any country, as well as to the politics of language here in the United States where bilingual education has become such an important issue. It is extremely though provoking, and after reading it I am willing to pay out the 28 dollars it costs.

No comments about Milet Mini Picture Dictionary: English-Somali.

No comments about Talk Now! Somali (Talk Now! Beginners).

No comments about Colloquial Somali (Routledge Colloquials).

5 comments about Colloquial Somali (Colloquial Series).

1. To paraphrase the publisher's commentary, what makes this the student's best choice for Somali is that it is almost the only choice. It is not a bad book, but to call it a "complete" language course is a stretch.

   It is, however, a good introduction for the rank beginner, such as myself. It emphasizes the aspects of pronunciation that are difficult for English-speakers, such as tone differences that signal grammatical change. It shows methodically how words and sentences are constructed and it presents dialogues for speaking. Having mastered this course, the student may want further study, perhaps by searching the offerings of American universities that have programs in African area or language studies.




2. The book is helpful for beginner learners.Well organized and easy to use.



3. Those of us Somalians who live outside our country, we often face the difficulty of finding the time and energy to teach our children their language. Books like this help us achieve this. I would recommend to all Somali parents to buy this for their children.



4. Great book to start with in Somali, which is a complex language.
   There is a new edition (2007), get that one instead of the 1995 edition. In 2007, it has been packaged with CDs instead of tapes.
   if you want to go on in Somali or learn in parallel with a more detailed book, get those great Somali books from Dunwoody Press.



5. Somali is a language with many features that will seem exotic to most English speaking learners. Accents are based on pitch (rather than stress) and the placement of the pitch accent often determines the gender of the noun. In addition, nouns can flip genders when they are put into the plural. We're definitely not in Kansas any more.
   
   That being said, this is an extremely user-friendly approach to a formidably difficult language. The explanations of the most unfamiliar grammar are very clear and easy to follow. The exercises, which in the beginning lessons are not too difficult, get more challenging as the course goes on, but always remain close to the material already presented.The dialogues start out pretty formlaically- there's a lot of "How are you?" "Come in!" "How's the family?", but they gradually get more interesting, as they follow an English teacher's journey to the Horn of Africa, where he eventually takes up his duties in a Somali town. Do get the CDs, though- a student who knows Arabic would probably find the sounds of Somali pretty familiar, but the stress-tone patterns are likely to be very different and unfamiliar and without a lot of practice it would be difficult to reproduce them acceptably. The author is, incidentally, a scholar of Somali poetry; his website is also worth checking out.

5 comments about English - Somali; Somali - English Dictionary;INGRISI SOOMAALI - SOOMAALI INGRISI QAAMUUS.

1. I'm an English-Somali dictionaries' freak. As such, I can tell you with an absolute certainty that this dictionary is not a new one. It's the exact copy of another dictionary published in Somalia three decades ago. The authors are Said Warsame Hirsi and Abdirahman C. Oomar. The cover of the original dictionary was yellow and it contained allegedly 5000 words, but when I counted was much less than that.
   
   What's more, this new edition doesn't show the pronounciation as it did in a middle column of the original dictionary. There are no new entries and it is an exact copy of the old dictionary. The only difference is that it has a Somali-English section.
   
   In conclusion I was disappointed and I would advise anyone considering of buying this new edition to reconsider their decision.



2. This is dictionary is the best of the three or four Somali dictionaries probably because it has been prepared by academics at Magadishu University, there is a message from the President of the University in the introductory pages.
   My favorite dictionary from which I learned Somali used to be the Af-Garad by Saciid Warsame Xirsi but sadly this went out of print I was quite happy to see that half this dictionary about 250 pages is a revamped version of the Af-Garad
   But this dictionary has been revised in that extant that two hundred new pages have been added in a new Somali English section.
   As far as I am concerned an old favorite dictionary just got better as I can now do a lookup both ways instead of buying another dictionary. This is what makes it affordable.
   This dictionary is not to the high standard of an Oxford dictionary but it is the best of the lot believe me. I have been teaching Somali refugees in New York and this is the one I would recommend for students.



3. This is a great dictionary and I find it very useful. I have had the first edition for about three years and carried it on my frequent trips to Ethiopia and Somalia.
   This is a dictionary that fulfills its purposes. I have looked at the others and this one is not only cheaper but better.
   The dictionary is not a exact copy but similar to the one by Said Warsame Hirsi and Abdirahman C. Oomar as it has a large number of new words also the text on the definitions have been changed but the look and feel is very similar, but I for one appreciate this as that was a very good dictionary which now is sadly out of print.
   This dictionary has also a Somali English section of two hundred new pages which the old dictionary did not have.
   One drawback of this dictionary is that its no longer so portable as the first edition was smaller, however since it has thousands of more definitions that the first edition I think compromises had to be made.
   Anyway, this is the dictionary you must own if you are in any way serious about learning the Somali language.
   Somalia has been without a government for many years and Hats Off! To the scholars at Mogadishu University who have amidst these troubled times brought out a dictionary for the benefit of all the people of Somalia. I believe that the teachers have not been paid for a number of years due to the wars but still continue to teach out of public service.
   There are four dictionaries that you may encounter in your battle with the Somali language this one is the best so far.



4. I was pretty dissapointed when I received this dictionary. The pages consist of one column of English words followed by one column of Somali words. I expected a great deal more like pronunciation and grammatical guides.



5. I find the Somali vocabulary very limited.When I tried to find words from a Somali Bible, they were not in this dictionary. At least the type is clear and legible. Other dictionaries(Amharic and Armenian) I bought from Simon Wallenburg were not.

No comments about Milet Picture Dictionary: English-Somali.

5 comments about Somali-English, English-Somali Dictionary and Phrasebook (Hippocrene Dictionary & Phrasebook).

1. I purchased this small book for a refugee I am sponsering from Somalia. He was very excited to get this book and told me this is an excellent reference he can keep with him in his pocket while he is learning english and starting to work in america.



2. I'm learning Somali in order to better communicate with recently arrived refugees in the US, most of whom are from southern Somalia. Many of the entries in this dictionary are words used in the north of Somalia and are not understood by many from the south. People from Mogadishu, Kismayo, Jilib, and Galkaayo have told me this. That said, I have found the dictionary to be useful at times and is just about the only printed Somali-English/Eng-Som dictionary I have found.



3. As an English teacher for Somali refugees this has been of great help. It doesn't always have all the words that we use in the US, but it does help me get the message accross. It has also has helped me understand their problems without having to always go to an interperter. It has alowed me to teach some difficult concepts when you are only panamiming. The students have really enjoyed me learnign their language. It gets me close enough to the correct pronunciation that they can correct me.



4. This dictionary was written for the tourist rather than for a culturist but contains a good introduction to Somalian grammer, prounciation, travel phrases.



5. I work with children from all over the world, and I've encountered many speakers of Somali. They love that I'm attempting to speak their language, and I've been told this is the very same book that some parents are using to improve their English. It's extremely useful, but the pronunciation guide is a little cryptic, and it lacks the international phonetic spelling. That would be a 5-star improvement, but I'm giving it 4 stars because it's a great introduction to the Somali language, and I'm learning. Thanks for reading.