Doing a degree in Somali

[ihatechavs]

Would anyone be interested in doing a degree in Somali at SOAS? I've been checking their prospectus and as well as Somali there are various other African languages taught there such as Amharic, Swahili, Hausa, Yoruba and Zulu. Other languages include Arabic, Farsi, Turkish, Kurdish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Thai, Malay, Burmese, Khmer, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Sinhalese, etc.
One could even take two languages such as Somali and Arabic, or Arabic and Chinese.
I believe it is even more important than ever to learn each others languages.
I see it as a duty for all Somalis, not just to learn the languages of the countries that they live in such as English, Dutch or Finnish, but also to try and teach Somali to their new neighbours.

[MujahidaFiSabililah]

Assalamu Alaikum

Definitely, but do you know any Somali's or non-Somali's fluent enough to teach? Will there be a demand for it? Questions you need to ask yourself.

[Ms.Erudite]

I met a customer at work, who has a degree in Somali from SOAS!

How shocked was I, when she started speaking to me in Somali lol. I asked who was teaching the course, and she said it was an English guy.

I wish I applied to that Uni now lol bit embarrassing when someone can speak your language but you can't!

[XxS.landprincessxX]

tru say wallahi if u dont know ur mothers language then u gona lose a big part of urself n culture
even scientist say if u cant speak ur own language its gona b harder 4 u 2 study anava language hence if ur somali is good then so will b ur english(or wateva language u speak) if u study it

[ihatechavs]

It's true. I believe that if parents don't speak their own language to their children then they are sell-outs.
Let's be honest about this. Some of them are afraid that their children will 'fail at school' if they speak Somali to them. This happens a lot with Indians. The children then grow up with no language of their own and end up with an identity crisis. They can't identify with anyone. As the saying goes, they are 'neither fish nor fowl'. It would have been no effort for their parents just to speak their own language with them. Instead they go and mess it all up.
Those parents who speak English to their children are sell-outs, Uncle Toms and coconuts.

[somaliscarface]

I agree ruunti.

[**weezy**]

WHAT ARE U GNA DO WID A SOMALI DEGREE


TEACH SOMALI?

[ShezDaOne]

I DONT QUITE UNDERSTAND..

IS IT A FULL TIME COURSE TING OR CAN U JUS ENROL FOR DA LESSONS BUT GO TO ANOTHER UNI AND BE STUDYING ANOTHER SUBJECT??

[ihatechavs]

It is a full-time degree, just like any other degree. It might appeal more to non-Somalis though, who wish to get a deeper understanding of the culture, or who are generally interested in linguistics or African languages in particular.
For native Somali speakers it might be more useful doing it as a two language degree, possible with Arabic, Amharic or Swahili.
Just check out the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) website for full information.