Course
From Setswana
Contents
Bua Setswana Course
This course is aimed at beginners who want to learn to speak Setswana. The course aims to help students achieve a basic mastery of Setswana to allow them to communicate their basic needs and serve as a foundation on which to build their language skills.
The course is based on information from Nthati Phetlhu (Gaborone, Botswana)
Before starting, students should refer to the notes on Pronunciation
It is strongly recommended that the student learns by speaking with Batswana speakers at the earliest opportunity.
Lessons
- greetings, useful phrases
- introducing yourself
- verbs – present tense including verb "to have"
- location including nouns ending in –ng
- simple sentences and linking words
- noun classes
- verbs - past tense
- times of day
- verb objects and conjunctives (joining words)
- possessives
- verbs - future tense
- verbs - past continuous tense
- numbers time, days of week
- human body , tribes
- adjectives , "to be"
- comparatives
- shopping
- adverbs
- relative construct
- kinship terms
- demonstratives
- imperatives
- getting around
- climate
Reference/Revision Material
External Teaching Material
- Booklet "First Steps in Spoken Setswana" published by Pula Press 1978
- CD "Learn Setswana" from Eurotalk This is really just a lot of vocabulary much of which has little relevance to life in Botswana. However you can at least listen to Setswana speakers pronouncing the words.
Dictionaries
- Setswana-English-Setswana Dictionary (Macmillan Botswana) ISBN 99912-77-77-3 Compiled by Z I Matumo in 1993, based on previous dictionaries by Missionaires. The dictionary is 647 pages long and recommended for serious Setswana learners.
- Shuters Compact Setswana Dictionary (Shuter & Shooter) ISBN 0-7960-0639-3 Includes both singular and plural forms of nouns (eg "motho" and "batho") to assist learners. For "South African" Setswana rather than "Botswana" Setswana.
