AF-SOOMAALIGA OO QARKA USAARAN KASUULIDDA LUQADAHA AFRIKA:

[Wiilo]

nuune waa maxay "AFUUFOOW?" bal wax yar Qeex oo macnahiisa noo sheeg............

 

 

Go figure:.............

[Jacaylbaro]

AFUUFOW Anigu waxaan u fahmay inta la isa soo hor fariisto in labada qof uu midba kan kele afuufo ilaa uu midkood inta naqasku ku dhego ka dhimanaayo

[nuune]

wiilo, wakkaas dee Odey Jaceylbaro ayaa kuu sharraxey baan filayaa micnaha dusha,, micnaha qarsoon laakin hayhaata ay ka tahay go figure out

[Wiilo]

J'baro walaalkiis waad mahad santahay......

 

nuune heedhe aniga ayaan ku weydiiyay su'aasha sow ka jawaab dee.

 

 

Go figure:.................

[Jacaylbaro]

Wiilo maad inaga dhaaftid ninka Nuune ah hadii kele imikuu wax aan loo joogin ka sheekayne ,,,

[Wiilo]

J'baro heedhe waan rabnaa bal inaan maqalno waxa uu sheegaayee bal aan chance siinno..........

 

nuune soo daa warkaada,,,,,,,,,,,

 

 

Go figure

[Jacaylbaro]

Ok ,, haye haye haye ,,,

 

Nuune soo daa warka ,,,,,

[Fandhaal]

Wiilo aad ayaan uga helay mawduucan aad bilowday, runtiina waa arin loo baahan yahay in wax laga qabto "Caano daataba dabadoodaa laqabtaa"

bal ila eega maqaalkan kusoo baxay Toronto Star oo uu qoray wiil soomaali ahi qiyaasihii 2001 kii

 

 

Somali Language Woes in Canada (From today's Toronto Star)

 

Mohamud Hussein Khalif

 

Imagine the "hypothetical" scenario of a mother needing an interpreter for her child. Or a father giving up on trying to explain things to his offspring due to a language barrier. Or a youth not being able to greet, let alone converse with, her sibling back home because each finds the language the other speaks Greek.

 

These may sound too theatrical to some. But it is a reality for many Somalis in Canada.

 

Take the case of Guled Mohamed, a 7-year-old boy who was born to his Somali parents at the Humber River Hospital in the west end of Toronto in 1994. The only language Guled speaks with ease is English. Strange as it may sound, neither his mom nor his dad speaks English well enough to carry on a conversation with a native speaker, like Guled, comfortably.

 

But most of the time, the family manages to communicate through a combination of miming, body language, facial expressions and some words of mixed linguistic origin. In some cases, however, this breaks down and the need arises for an interpreter, who may or may not be handy at the time.

 

Guled's story is not an isolated incident. It is in fact a common phenomenon in many Canadian households of Somali descent, where the parents immigrated to Canada as adults with no knowledge of any language other than their mother tongue.

 

The reasons for this include the fact that not everybody had the opportunity to go to school in Somalia. In 1990, just before the civil war broke out, the overall literacy rate in Somalia was estimated at 24 per cent of the total population of about 5 million.

 

To make matters worse, for those lucky enough to go to school, the medium of instruction in schools was the Somali language, while Italian was the language of instruction in the institutions of tertiary education.

 

But the question arises as to why the parents of Guled, both of whom are naturalized Canadian citizens, and others like them do not speak English if they had been in Canada long enough to obtain citizenship.

 

Two factors complicate things for Somalis trying to learn English as adults. First, Somali is very different from English in many ways. The linguistic structure and the syntactical configuration of English are fundamentally alien to that of the Somali language. Somali belongs to the Cushitic linguistic family common in some parts of East Africa.

 

The second factor is the socio-economic condition of Somalis, which, by and large, does not permit them to invest the time necessary to learn a new language. They come to Canada as poor refugees with no family ties or other appropriate support mechanisms. When in Canada, their priority is to establish themselves and to attend to their most basic needs.

 

Moreover, the civil strife in their home country forces them to devote most of their time to working to not only earn a living for themselves but also to support their family members back home. As a result, language training takes a back seat.

 

The more important question, however, is why is it that Guled and other children like him do not speak the mother tongue of their parents. This question is relevant for three reasons.

 

First, because the only language the parents speak with facility is Somali, it follows that it is also the only language spoken at Guled's home. It is therefore interesting that children learn a language that is not dominant in their family. What this implies is that the television, under certain circumstances, does a more effective job in educating than parents.

 

The second reason has to do with the importance of a child learning as many languages as she can. Numerous studies show that learning more than one language during childhood is beneficial for the advancement of children's mental faculties.

 

Third, and the most symbolically important factor, is that of identity. Being so far away from their country of origin and having to live in a country that is so different from theirs, the only thing the Somalis are left with as an identity symbol is their language.

 

However, only a decade into their mass immigration to Canada, those born here and those brought in their early years are already finding Somali a foreign language. A direct result of this eventuality is intergenerational breakdown of communication with far-reaching ramifications for the family as well as for the wider Canadian society.

 

For new immigrants, proficiency in the dominant language of the host country is a necessary prerequisite for successful settlement and cultural adjustment. On the other hand, the rate at which their mother tongue is deteriorating relative to other immigrant communities is highly disconcerting.

 

The Somali language is dying fast, especially among the youth. It is not surprising to see a mother and child unable to communicate. In such a situation, how can parents be expected to influence the behaviour of their children positively and instil values in them?

 

Canada encourages new immigrant communities to preserve their heritage. A plethora of institutions exist to help such communities to keep links with their past. It is these institutions that failed Guled and his cohort. There is no single fully developed program to help young kids from Somalia (and other non-European countries) to learn their language. There is a Toronto District School Board project where a weekly after-hours Somali language course is being offered in schools, but is too small in size and scope.

 

There are also no possibilities for promoting other cultural activities. For instance, writers in Somali may be eligible for funding from Heritage Canada only if they submit a complete translation of their work into English along with their manuscript.

 

These facts point, some say, to the existence of "cultural racism" against immigrants in general and Somalis in particular.

 

But they are more of an indication of how Canada does not understand Somalis and their culture than it is a calculated plan of cultural racism.

 

Somalis' knowledge about Canada and its culture is limited, too. But in the final analysis, one thing is obvious: the current strategies used to teach English to Somali immigrants and to help communities preserve their culture (especially their language) need to be overhauled.

 

 

---------------------------------

Mohamud Hussein Khalif is a member of The Toronto Star's community editorial board.

[nuune]

Fandhaal, kusoo dhawoow SomaliaOnline, magac khattar ah ayaa kaa baxayo, fandhaalkii ayadba i xasuusiseyba wallaahi oo goor aan maqlaba iigu danbeesay kala yaacii abooto kuuleydii waqtigii ahaa.

 

 

abbaay wiilo iyo abkoow jaceylbaro, labadiina afuufoow aad qabtaan

[Wiilo]

Fandhaal aad iyo aad ayaad ugu mahad santahay qoraalkaagii, runtii waa arin muhiin ah una baahan in laga hado ama leysla falanqeeyo.....

 

 

Si kastaba ha'ahaatee maadaama bogani uu yahay bog Af-soomaali ah waxaa aniga ila haboonaa la heyd inaan Af-Soomaali ka dhigno Qoraalkeenna....

 

Thanks.............

[Fandhaal]

asc wr wb;

Nuune mahadsanid sxb, soo dirso lacag aan laba Fandhaal iyo xeedho kuu soo diree.

Wiilo ku mahadsanid adiguna soo dhawaynta, aad ayay u haboontahay inaan Soomaali wax ku qoro, qoraalkan aan soo diray ma ahayn mid aan anigu leeyahay ee waa mid aan maqaal kasoo min guuriyay

calaa kuli xaal hawsha baraarujinta baylah tirka luuqadeena halkaa kasii wada.

[Wiilo]

Fandhaal walaalkiis mahadsanid, and I get it totally,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

 

Go figure:............

[Shirwac]

Wiilo

 

Aan wax yar ku foorjeeyo. Sida aad wax u qortay, oo laga yaabo in aadan dib ugu laaban waxaa qortay, ma sax sanna. Erayo ahaa in ay kala baxaan ayaad isku xir xirtay sida "kawelwelsan" labo eray oo isku macno ahna waad isla isticmaashay sida " luqadda Afka Soomaaliga". Intan waa iga foorjo.

[Wiilo]

Shirwac

 

walaalkiis horta foorjadu way furan tahay haddii aysan dhibaato keenayn Erayga aad sheegayso runtii hadda ma xusuusto meesha aan ku qoray waxaana dhici karta inaan boobsiis ku qoray oo aysan iga aheyn kas, marka walaalkiis waad mahad santahay runtii.....

 

 

Go figure:...............

[Tuujiye]

meeshaan in somali la iskugu faano maa loo imaadaa horta aniga waan shakiyee...

 

dhoor qof baan arkay oo u heysta luqada ee qoraan bas in ee tahay sax...

 

Somaliga waxuu leeyahay "MAY iyo MAXAA"

marka sidaas daradeed qofka shaqsi buu u leeyahay in uu u qoro somaliga siduu rabo.

 

waxa kale aan arkay waxaa ka mid ah sida ee dadka qaarkood u qaataan waqtigooda marka ee wax qorayaan. Dadna ee iska qoraan dibna eenan u fiirshin. waxaas waxaa keenta kalsooni. iyo " being yourself" laakiin markaste waxaa haboon in aad qortid wax ee dadka kale fahmayaan si aad ugaga heshid jawaab..

 

Laakiin lahjadaha wee badan yihiin sidaas daradeed qof walba waxaa fiican in qoraalkooda uu ka yimado lahjada ee isticmaalaan..

 

Aniga waxaan ku barbaaray xamar sidaas owgeed waxaan isticmaalaa oo wili dhawaaqaa lahjadan reer xamarka, laakiin waan ku hadli karaa ama qori karaa lahjadaha kale...

 

Marka somaliga qoristiisa ma aha wax hoos la iskugu dhigo..specialy waqtigan hada oo aad iyo aad u yaryihiin dhalinyaro qori karta somaliga...

 

wareer badanaa!!!