Have you ever wanted to learn Malagasy, the language spoken on the island of Madagascar?
Despite what many people think, Madagascar is not just a children’s cartoon but really is a country. In fact, it’s an island nation, and one of the world’s most biologically and culturally diverse ones too.
Not only is Madagascar famous for its animals, flora and fauna, their culture is pretty unique too. People from Madagascar are referred to as Malagasy and in addition, there are over 18 different tribes, with the largest ethnic group known as Merina.
The official language of Madagascar is Malagasy and is part of the Austronesian language family which includes the languages of the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. In fact, it shares much of its vocabulary with the Ma’anyan language and also includes loan words from Arabic, French and Swahili.
Fun fact: Malagasy people usually greet each other with “Manao ahoana” and as per custom, women should always greet the man first!
At Tribalingual, we have created the first ever Malagasy course, so you can too can learn more about the wonderful language and culture of these islanders. Our native speaker Haingo will take you on a journey through Madagascar and share with you some of her stories, teach you how to cook chicken a la Madagascar style and get you haggling in markets in no time!
So why not give this course a go and expand your mind?
Can anyone sign up for this?
Good news! Anyone over the age of 13 year can take a course on Tribalingual
You don’t need formal qualifications or language learning abilities to take any our courses. You might need specialist equipment for some (like our music or art courses), but we’ll tell you this on the course information page, in the Requirements section.
Can I speak to someone from the team before I commit?
Absolutely! Email us at hello@tribalingual.com and someone from the team will get back to you.
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Week 1
Gain an introduction to the language this week and begin to explore this wonderful culture. Learn about the sounds that form the backbone of the language and also practical skills, becoming familiar with greetings, asking questions, and what to say when checking into your hotel. Perfect for those wishing to visit Madagascar. You will also touch on the cultural aspects that will help tie together and form the foundation for everything you will learn.
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Week 2
This week you will begin to look at ordering food, giving your opinion, bargaining and also exploring the important role that proverbs play in Malagasy culture. From a language perspective you will learn about connecting sentences, present tenses and verbs. You will also learn about the traditions that help keep the Malagasy culture alive. You will take a look at traditional Malagasy recipes and learn the best places to eat in Madagascar!
- Week 2 objectives
- Numbers 1-30
- Cultural Aspects 1 – Introduction to Malagasy Food
- Numbers 31-50 and Key Number Phrases
- Cultural Aspects 2 – How to Eat a Chicken
- Cultural Aspects – A la Malagasy
- Ordering Food and Bargaining
- Present Tense
- Giving an Opinion
- Cultural Aspects 4 – Where to Eat in Madagascar?
- Basic Connectives
- Singular and Plural Nouns
- Self-Check
- Assignment
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Week 3
In Week 3 you will begin to learn about clothes. You will achieve this by learning how to describe items of clothing, learning related proverbs, and also practicing how to ask for directions to go shopping. You will also learn some key time phrases and negation. From the cultural perspective, you will learn about the lamba, a traditional Malagasy outfit. You will take a journey through some of the key sights in Madagascar and learn songs related to Malagasy culture.
- Week 3 objectives
- Clothing
- Cultural Aspects 1
- Cultural Aspects 2 – Bargaining Tips
- Asking Directions
- Cultural Aspects 3
- Cultural Aspects 4 – Malagasy Hair Culture
- Key Phrases 2 and Time Phrases
- Negation
- Numbers Continued
- Cultural Aspects 5 – Proverbs and Idioms about Clothes
- Cultural Aspects 6 – Ambohimanga (The blue hill)
- Self-Check
- Assignment
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Week 4
Week Four introduces some very important and common verbs in Malagasy. Continuing on from this you will learn about possessives and basic adjectives. You will also learn about the importance of family, proverbs about family life and learning about marriage costumes and weddings. This week also features telling the time and learning the days of the week. Finally, you will learn the importance of your first haircut and will read your first full story in Malagasy!
- Week 4 objectives
- Common Verbs 2
- Possession And This/That
- Family
- Cultural Aspects 1 – Idioms And Proverbs About Parents
- Basic Adjectives
- Cultural Aspects 2 – Ala-volonjaza
- Days of The week and Telling Time
- Making Plans
- Cultural Aspects 3 – Malagasy weddings/marriage
- Cultural Aspects 4 – Concept of time
- Cultural Aspects 5 – The Malagasy/Merina Prenuptial Agreement
- Self-Check
- Assignment
- Thank you and goodbye
