Lesson 2 Hello, Senegal - Wycliffe Bible Translators Literacy Project... · Now that we have learned a little bit of Wolof, let’s talk about some of the other languages of Senegal

Hello, Senegal

Description:

An interactive lesson about communication and language in Senegal

Aims:

• Children will understand some of the language challenges involved

in Bible translation and literacy in Senegal.

• Students will desire to support a Senegalese literacy project through

prayer and giving.

Audience:

Grades K–6

Minimum Time Requirements:

25 minutes

5 minutes for optional Mankanya alphabet activity

Scripture:

Matthew 28:19–20

If you have any questions or problems related to this lesson, please contact Wycliffe’s Children’s Communications team at [email protected]. No part of this lesson may be republished or sold without permission. Copying for classroom use is encouraged! © Wycliffe 2014 More curricula to engage children in Bible translation are available at www.wycliffe.org/kids.

Materials:

• Inflatable globe

• Computer with speakers

• Talking drum, if available OR

one rubber band for every 2

children

• PowerPoint slides, overhead

transparencies, or color copies

of photos 5 and 6 (pages 10–

11) plus the equipment on

which to display them

• Sound clip of talking drum from

the Internet. (See Pre-Class

Preparations, page 2)

• Senegal prayer bookmark

(page 16)

• Senegal Fun Pages (pages

14–15)

• Senegal Literacy Project flyers

and bank cubes for those who

missed lesson 1

(Continued on page 2)

Lesson 2

Pre-class Preparation:

• Have an inflatable globe ready to use.

• Prepare PowerPoint slides, overhead transparencies, or color

copies of photos 5 and 6 from pages 10–11.

• Prepare to display the greeting dialogue (PowerPoint slide,

overhead or chalkboard) from page 9 of this lesson.

• Find the talking drum video clip at

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA6hsgOAgoY. Stop when the man

finishes talking about the talking drum. To download the clip to play

later on your Windows Media Player, open Real Player. Click

“Featured.” Paste the YouTube web address into the search box. It

will tell you that the video wasn’t found. However, there will now be

an “address” box near the top of the window. Paste the address in

this window, and hit the arrow to the right. This will open the video.

Put your cursor in the video window. You will see an option to

download the video near the top of the video window. Click and

follow the directions.*

• OR you can download the file in MP4 format at

http://saveyoutube.com/ and play it later on your Windows Media

Player.

• OR go to

http://musiconnx.wordpress.com/2008/04/20/african-talking-drum-

music-that-really-talks/ where you can read more about the talking

drums and find the same video in smaller clips.*

• Other resources on talking drums can be found at

http://cnx.org/content/m11872/latest/. Since links have a way of

disappearing, if the site is not available, use your favorite search

engine to search for “talking drums, music.”

• Prepare one copy of the prayer bookmark (found on page 16) and

the Senegal Fun Pages, found on pages 14 and 15 for each child. If

possible, print the Fun Page on one double-sided page and fold in

half.

• Optional: If you decide to use the Mankanya alphabet page activity,

prepare a PowerPoint slide, overhead transparency, or paper copy

of pages 12–13.

• For use in lesson 3, obtain a copy of the Bibleless Peoples Tumbler

by calling 1-800-992-5433, ext. 3778.

(Materials continued from page 1)

• Optional: Mankanya alphabet

pages (pages 12–13)

• Bible with Matthew 28:19–20

marked

• A Senegal Literacy Project

flyer for children who missed

lesson 1 from page 3 of the

project overview lesson 1

*We are not implying an endorsement of the websites’ other content by including this information in our material.

Lesson 2 – Hello, Senegal, Winter 2014, page 2

Class Time:

Review

Hold up globe and ask for a volunteer to find Senegal on the globe.

Ask,

• Do you remember how many languages are spoken in Senegal?

(36)

• The official language of Senegal is ______. (French)

• Which language do about half of the people of Senegal speak?

(Wolof, pronounced WOU-luhf*)

Wolof Greeting

Say,

If you were to go to Senegal, you would want to learn how to talk to the

Senegalese people. So today, let’s learn how to greet people in Wolof.

We will also find out about other ways to communicate in Senegal.

In Senegal you must take the time to give a culturally-appropriate

greeting to each person you meet. The spoken greeting is

accompanied by a handshake (man-to-man or woman-to-woman.) A

man may extend his hand to a woman, but never the other way

around. A man probably will not extend his hand to a woman who is

older than he is.

Allow students a moment to shake hands appropriately, boy-to-boy

and girl-to-girl. Then continue:

Senegalese people express their anger by refusing to greet the people

they are angry with. So, before they can accomplish any business, or

before both individuals can go on their way, they must make peace

and greet each other.

Display the entire dialogue from page 9**. Have a student come up

and go through the whole greeting with you in English. Because the

greeting is so long, have the students learn only the first phrase,

“Asalaa-maalekum!” [ah-SAH-lah maah-LAY-kuhm]* and response,

“Malekum-salaam!” [mah-LAY-kuhm sah-LAHM] in Wolof. Notice that

each of those contains a form of “salaam” which is the Arabic version

of “shalom” (also meaning “peace.”)

Remind the students that most people in Senegal practice a religion

that is different from Christianity. Nearly all Wolof people follow this

*For pronunciation help, please

refer to the chart found on

page 8.

**The dialogue found on page 9

is from From Wolof: An Audio-

Aural Approach, by Pape

Amadou Gaye, Togo: U.S. Peace

Corps.


religion. Because of this, they have very different beliefs about God

than what the Bible teaches us.

Tonal Languages

Say,

Now that we have learned a little bit of Wolof, let’s talk about some of

the other languages of Senegal. Some of Senegal’s people speak tonal

languages. In those tonal languages the people almost sound like

they’re singing instead of speaking, because their voices go up and

down in pitch. Wolof is not a tonal language.

To demonstrate how English tones communicate emotion, say “Mom”

using several different tones—scared, whiney, angry, questioning,

etc.—and have the students guess what “Mom” might expect from

what she heard.

Even though English uses tone to communicate emotion like that,

English is not a tonal language. Tonal languages use tones to change

a word’s meaning. The Oniyan [OH-nee-yon]* language of Senegal is a

tonal language. In Oniyan, the phrase “Acël exënɑ ɡër ɑtëx ɑŋo nɑ”

[A-chuhl eh-kuh-NA guhr a-TUHK a-NGO na]* (with a rolled “r”) can

mean, “There is a bird in that tree there.” It can also mean, “There is a

stomach in that tree there.” It all depends on the high or low tone you

use for the word that means bird and stomach! Here is another

example. “Aŋo cënexenɑ” [a-NGO chuh-NEH-keh-A]*. It can mean,

“We (the two of us) did not wait for him.” If you use a different tone for

the word wait, you could end up saying, “We (the two of us) did not

slap him.” It is important to use the correct tone when you are speaking

Oniyan!

Talking Drums

Explain:

In the tonal languages of Senegal the people can use tones on an

instrument to send a message to someone who speaks their language.

Speakers of some tonal languages in Senegal use special drums

called “talking drums.”

Display photo 5, and say,

The drum maker makes a talking drum in an hourglass shape. He

makes the heads of the drum from animal skin stitched to the edges of

the hourglass. Through each stitch he forms a loop under the lip all the

way around both drumheads. He then threads a long, thin leather strip



refer to the chart found on page

8.

Materials:

• Photo 5 from page 10

Materials:

• Photo 6 from page 11

• Talking drum or rubber band

• Downloaded talking drum

sound clip

• PowerPoint slides, overhead

transparency, or hard copy of

Mankanya alphabet (pages 12

and 13)


through the loops at alternating ends of the drum (from a loop at the

top to a loop on the bottom, to the next loop on the top—kind oflike

lacing your shoes) all the way around the drum. Finally, he ties the

two loose ends together.

Display photo 6, and say,

The drummer places the drum under his left arm with the middle of

the hourglass pushed under his armpit.

If you have a drum, use it to demonstrate as you explain the tone

changes. If you do not have a drum, explain that it works something

like a rubber band. Then invite a volunteer to hold a rubber band at

different tensions while you plunk it. Go on to explain:

When playing the drum, the drummer squeezes and releases that

long, thin leather strip. This causes the pitch to change. When the

drummer does not squeeze, the drumheads remain at the normal

tightness. When the drummer squeezes, the drumheads tighten,

causing the pitch to go higher. The tighter he squeezes, the higher the

pitch goes.

Have each student try out the drum. It works well to have the

children sit in a circle and pass it around. It may be necessary to

give each one a ten second time limit. If you don’t have a drum, let

the children work in pairs with a rubber band the way you

demonstrated. Then listen to the sample of tama (talking drum)

music you downloaded.

Optional: Mankanya [man-CAN-yuh] Alphabet Activity

Display the alphabet pages, and say,

Before you can write down an unwritten language, you need to figure

out an alphabet. Alphabets that give a symbol for every sound in that

language are easier to read. Let’s look at the Mankanya alphabet—

one of the languages offering literacy classes in Senegal. What do

you notice about this alphabet?

Allow as many observations as there is interest. If no one responds,

you could ask:

• How many letters do they have in their alphabet? (39—which is 13

more than we have in English.)

• Do you notice anything about the vowels? (they have both single

and double vowels. They also have a vowel ‘ë’ (looks like it has

two eyes over it) that we don’t have in English.)

• Do you notice any consonants we don’t have in our English


Materials:

• Bible with Matthew 28:19–20

marked


refer to the chart found on page

8.

• A Senegal Literacy Project

flyer for children who missed

lesson 1 from page 3 of the

project overview lesson.

alphabet? (They may comment on the consonant clusters: mb,

mp, nd, nf, ng, nj, nk, nş, nt, nţ and nŧ. Or they may comment on

single consonants: ñ, ŋ, ş, ţ and ŧ. They might be curious

about how to pronounce these odd-looking letters, but we can only

guess. They may or may not be sounds we have in English.)

• What letter do many of the words begin with? (u)

• Younger children might find it interesting to name animals they

recognize, and guess about those they don’t. We can learn

something about Mankanya culture from the pictures they have

chosen.

Conclude by saying,

You have made some good observations about a language you don’t

even know! That’s exactly what linguists and Bible translators do!

Maybe God will call some of you to be Bible translators! Wouldn’t

that be exciting?

Closing:

Say,

The people of Senegal have some interesting languages and ways of

communicating, don’t they?

Do you remember how many languages are spoken in Senegal? (36)

Half of those language groups are missing something that is very

important. What is it? (the Bible)

Remember that only two percent (2 out of every 100) of the people in

Senegal know Jesus. Do you think anything can change that? Let me

read Matthew 28:19–20 to you. See if you can figure out what God

wants for Senegal.

Read the passage. Then ask,

What does God want to see happen in Senegal? (People to go and

make disciples in Senegal who will follow Jesus and His teachings,

etc.) You probably can’t go to Senegal right now to teach people

about Jesus, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do something else. If

God has blessed you with money, what can you do?

If your class is raising funds to help Mankanya [man-CAN-yuh]*,

Jola-Fonyi [JOH-luh FAHN-yee]*, Saafi-Saafi [SAH-fee SAH-fee]*,

Oniyan [OH-nee-yon] and Bandial [BAN-jal]* children learn to read

so that they will be able to read the Bible, talk about their fund-

raising progress, and encourage others to begin. Provide flyers and

bank cubes for those who missed lesson 1. Then continue by

saying,

And that’s not all you can do. Can you think of something else?

Allow time for volunteers to respond. Acknowledge their answers

and good thinking. If they don’t suggest prayer, say,

You can also pray that people who speak the Mankanya, Jola-

Fonyi, Saafi-Saafi, Oniyan and Bandial languages will learn to know

Jesus and that they will have the opportunity to learn to read about

Him in their own language.

Hold up the prayer bookmark and the fun pages. Then say,

I will give one of these bookmarks and fun pages to each of you

when you leave today. Then you can pray at home for language

groups in Senegal who will soon receive the Bible in their language.

God has already begun to answer one prayer on the bookmark that

says, “Ask God to motivate people to learn to read, especially to

read God’s Word!” Leaders and parents in Senegal are starting to

realize how important it is for children to learn to read in their own

language. This means they will be able to read God’s Word in the

language they understand best. Let’s pray that God will keep

working in Senegal to help people understand the importance of

teaching reading in the children’s own languages!

Let’s also pray for the Mankanya, Jola-Fonyi, Saafi-Saafi, Oniyan

and Bandial speakers to read the newly-translated Scripture and let

it transform their lives. Then you can use the bookmark to remind

you to pray at home, too.

Take time to pray together. Explain that next time you will learn

more interesting things about Senegal.

Materials:

• Copies of Senegal prayer

bookmark, from page 16

• Copies of Senegal Fun Pages,

from pages14 and 15



PRONUNCIATION GUIDE

(Stressed syllables in CAPS)

ee: long e as in seat [seet]

eh: short e as in set [seht]

ay: long a as in cape [kayp]

a: short a as in can [kan]

oh: long o as in Oh! or toenail [oh, TOH-nayl]

ah: short o as in tot or ah-ha! [taht, ah-HAH]

ah: hold the “ah” sound just a bit longer, as when the doctor tells you to open your mouth and say “aah”

when he looks at your tonsils.

o: long u as in school [skool]

ou: as in would [woud]

uh: short u as in but [buht]

eye: long i as in island [EYE-lund]

ye: long i as in dialect [DYE-uh-lehkt]

i_e: long i as in like [like] (when a word starts with a consonant and ends with a syllable)

ih: short i as in lit [liht]

er: -r (following a vowel) as in burnt, skirt, or learn [bernt,skert, lern]

aow: As in when you stub your toe—Ouch! [aowch!]

z: voiced “s” sound as in bees [beez]

k: hard c/k as in car or Karl [kahr, Kahrl]

DIALOGUE

A Standard Greeting in Wolof

Speaker Wolof English Translation

IBOU Asalaa-maalekum! Peace!

SAMBA Malekum-salaam! Peace be with you!

IBOU Naka nge Fanaane? Did you spend the night in peace?

SAMBA Jamm rekk, alhamdulilay. In peace, thanks be to God.

IBOU Nanga def? How are you?

SAMBA Waay, suma xarit, mangi fi rekk. Oh my friend, I am here.

IBOU Naka waa ker ge? How are the people of the house?

SAMBA Nunga fe! They are there.

IBOU Naka sa baay? How’s your father?

SAMBA Munga fe! He’s there.

IBOU Naka sa ndey? How’s your mother?

SAMBA Munga fe! She’s there.

IBOU Jamm nge am? Do you have peace?

SAMBA Jamm rekk, alhamdulilay! Peace only, thanks be to God!



Senegal Literacy

Project – Photo 5 Talking drum photo courtesy of

www.WorldWideDrums.com . .

Se

ne

ga

l Litera

cy

Pro

jec

t— P

ho

to 6


Public transportation

Greeting:

a z a l a a d a a l f k u d

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

(which means: peace be with you)

I Corinthians 1:3: May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you His grace and peace.

A a M d

B b S z

E f U u

C

R

A

C

O

A M

B S

E U

K L

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

Greeting: which means: peace

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

Response: which means peace be with you

1 Corinthians 1:3: May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you His grace and peace. (NLT)

Cultural TIP In Senegal you would never shake hands or eat using your left hand...it is considered unclean, and you would be very rude if you did either of these things.

Senegalese Market

Fearing he had lost control of the class of new students, a Senegal literacy teacher finally restored order. Thinking they were simply distracted, he asked them to explain

the commotion. One student stood up and exclaimed, “We were blind, but now we see!”

He explained that trying to read the letters on the paper felt like being blind. He explained that before he could read, words looked like the “scratchings of a guinea fowl with muddy feet dancing on a paper.” Now as a result of his new learning, the marks have become meaningful.

These new literacy students no longer are just pronouncing sounds. They read and can understand!

With these new reading skills, the Fogny people of Senegal will discover the light dawning when they can read God’s Word translated into their language!

“We were blind but now we see”

Senegal Fun Pages

1-800-992-5433

www.wycliffe.org

The Area:

SUBSAHARAN

DAKAR

RIVER

BAOBAB TREE

HOT

Occupations:

FARMERS

FISHING

WEAVERS

SHEEP

SOCCER

Languages:

FRENCH

WOLOF

LITERACY

DIOLA

BANDIAL

You could eat:

MILLET

COCONUTS

RICE

MANGO

PEANUT

Z S H E E P Q R W A E S H C N E R F K E M P R O U N B R Y O M V Z E N C Y H O T E L L I M A Q T C J L B D O I R R N R A A W T A G W A A I U E R R E D B B F H C C T A O E A R O O A I H E K C G T V U A S G N J A F C N I E Y B O M T D I O L A L R U G N I H S I F J M P S O C C E R Q Y A R P M S T U N O C O C Z L K

CLUE into Senegal

through the words

listed below: WORD

SEARCH

Color in Senegal on the map below

Here’s a clue: Facing the map, stand with your left hand on your hip and your right hand pointed out. Now you represent the continent of Africa. Your left elbow marks the location of Senegal. More help: Which country sticks out the furthest on the rounded hump of West Africa?

Bonus: Color the countries in the hump above Senegal tan to represent the fact that they form part of the sub-Saharan desert.

Pray for SenegalPray for SenegalPray for SenegalPray for Senegal

~~~~~

Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has

done. —Philippians 4:6b (NLT)

~~~~~

⇒ Thank God for giving you

His Word in the language

you speak.

⇒ Ask God to give people

in Senegal open hearts

to receive His words.

~~~~~

⇒ Thank God for literacy

classes that teach people

to read in the language

they speak at home.

⇒ Ask God to motivate

people to learn to read,

especially to read

God’s Word!

~~~~~

⇒ Thank God for your

teachers and their

willingness to teach you.

⇒ Ask God to prepare

many Senegalese people

willing to teach others

to read.

~~~~~


own pastor.

⇒ Ask God to choose and

prepare many

Senegalese pastors.


~~~~~



~~~~~



you speak.




~~~~~




they speak at home.



especially to read

God’s Word!

~~~~~


teachers and their





to read.

~~~~~


own pastor.


prepare many

Senegalese pastors.


~~~~~



~~~~~



you speak.




~~~~~




they speak at home.



especially to read

God’s Word!

~~~~~


teachers and their





to read.

~~~~~


own pastor.


prepare many

Senegalese pastors.

Documents

Lesson 2 Hello, Senegal - Wycliffe Bible Translators Literacy Project... · Now that we have learned a little bit of Wolof, let’s talk about some of the other languages of Senegal