Course Schedule and Catalog

Department: College Courses

Meeting: 6:00PM - 6:50PM R (8-JAN-2024 - 19-APR-2024) 

Part of Term: Full Term - No WL Purge

Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Course Type: Seminar

Language of Instruction: Taught in English

Method of Instruction: Face to Face

Credit Hours: 1

 

Section Max Enrollment: 19

Section Enrolled: 14

Waitlisted: 0 (Max 99) 

Current members of the waitlist have priority for available seats.

Enrollment data as of: 7-SEP-2024 7:44PM

 

 

Final Exam: No Final Exam

 

Description: While being one of the only two African countries never colonized by European powers has preserved Ethiopia’s sovereignty, having its own written language system has distanced the country and its official language from exploration. This course titled “ከውቂያኖስ ባሻገር” read as Ke’wik’iyanosi Bashageri, a phrase in the country’s official language, Amharic, which translates to “across the ocean” will push students out of what they know and peek into the country’s culture through its language. This is an introductory course for speaking Amharic with no previous exposure required. Even students with some exposure will improve greatly as they will recite the alphabets, count in Amharic, and use the most common words in basic social dialogues. Students will refer to the Amharic alphabet, amharicteacher.com resources and my teaching as a native speaker. By summarizing the cultural background each morphological and syntactical rule is rooted in, this class goes beyond a language to also learn about Ethiopia and its culture, hence the second part of the title – Speaking Abyssinian - Abyssinia being the first name given to Ethiopia. By the end of the term, this course ensures that students explain how languages serve as a means of understanding others and one’s own culture.