Learn How to Speak the Shona Language for only $19.95

 

Learn Shona

The Shona Language Program contains 7 hours of audio, and one textbook in PDF file format with 533 pages.

The Shona Basic Course course covers the essential grammar of the spoken language of Zimbabwe. The course is intended as an introduction to Shona by providing students with information on situations in which they are likely to use the language. It also provides systematic practice on all major points of grammar. Shona basic is divided into 49 units plus a glossary. Most of the units include dialogues, notes, oral reading practice, practice conversations, supplementary vocabulary, and free conversation.

Drills are recorded first for listening, then for familiarization through repetition, and finally for participation. During the participation step, when the student performs the required manipulation, his utterances are confirmed on the audio immediately following the space provided for his participation.

Drills are generally in two groups in any unit: a) variation drills on pattern sentences, which provide opportunities for the student to develop flexibility in the use of patterns already memorized, and b) grammar drills, which are intended to provide practice for the student in the operation of the patterns explained in the immediately preceding grammar notes.

This volume is intended to give the learner a start in Shona, providing him or her with dialogs that relate to some of the situations in which he or she is likely to use the language, as well as with systematic practice on all major points of grammar. Emphasis is placed on leading the learner to assume increasing amounts of responsibility and initiative as he or she progresses through the book.

About the Shona Language

Shona is one of the two principal languages of Zimbabwe, and extends also into adjacent areas of Mozambique. It consists of a number of dialects, but a standaraized form of the language, based on the Zezuru, Manyika, and Korekore dialects, is generally used in printed materials. These dialects differ from one another in pronunciation (including tones) and in vocabulary, but they are in general agreement with respect to the underlying grammatical system. One feature of this book is the attempt to represent simultaneously in the transcription several different pronunciations, in tone as well as in vowels and consonants.