Monday, October 20, 2014

Zulu Beginnings

Well, I've begun my Zulu language learning in full force. So far, I have mainly focused on pronunciation, spelling, and learning basic pleasantries and introductions. I forgot how difficult it is to learn a new language from scratch! The key so far seems to be repetition, repetition, repetition. I have been using a combination of online language courses with recordings and my Zulu book, Teach Yourself Zulu, to begin my language learning. I have repeated the dialogues in each of the lessons at least 10 times so far. Eish! But it has paid off because many of the greetings now roll off my tongue rather quickly. It's nice to see that progress. I plan to review these basics today and then start onto my lesson plan for this week either tomorrow or Wednesday. If I remember correctly, I start my first grammar topics this week, so that should be exciting!

It has been quite difficult to work on Zulu pronunciation because I do not have access to a ton of resources. Zulu is very difficult to pronounce because it has many, many sounds that do not exist in English. Thankfully, I found one or two videos that explain how to pronounce clicks, and my Zulu book describes some of the other difficult sounds. So now, I think it's mostly practice, practice, practice. I plan to attend the Zulu language table this Wednesday, so hopefully that will help me improve my pronunciation and listening. I have also arranged to meet the Zulu language TA, Bongani, once a week on Fridays to practice speaking and listening. I'm excited for our first meeting this week!

I think that's all for now. Tune in next week for more updates!


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