Learning a language with few technological resources (Amharic specifically)

[lil_pug]

The way in which I learn a language is by first writing all the letters in the alphabet in the language that I want to learn, in this case, it's Amharic. I'm a very tech savvy person, so I prefer to use Apps on my phone and trace my finger on the screen to imitate writing. This would not be a problem for a language like Chinese/Japanese/Thai etc, but unfortunately I can't find any App that uses this tracing technology as well as uses a somewhat spaced-repetition method that can quiz me on the letters.

*Does anyone know any Apps compatible with the current iPhone that uses the tracing technology and a spaced-repetition method?
*If not, should I just go about learning the alphabet the old-fashioned way by hand?
*And how should I test myself on the alphabet? Just use Quizlet decks?
*Also should I use an online tutor once every week or two weeks just to be sure that my pronunciation and techniques that I employ are on track, or should I wait until I achieve a conversational level before utilizing an online tutor?

[Monelasa]

Yippie, one more Amharic enthusiast! Welcome to the forum!
I'm a beginner myself, so I'm far from having any perfect answers, but I can tell you a little bit about my experiences. I've been studying Amharic for only two months, mainly using "Colloquial Amharic" by David Appleyard. To learn the letters, I made paper flashcards with the Amharic letter on one side, and the English transcription on the other side (I guess that's what you can also do in Quizlet). I also used this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... del2&hl=de
What I like about it is that it shows how the letters are written, and you can also trace them with your finger on the screen.
Unfortunately, I'm unaware of any program that combines this finger-tracing feature with spaced repetition.
However, I do use Memrise (there seem to be a couple of interesting courses, though I haven't checked out all of them yet) and Anki (creating my own deck), and find them quite useful.
I guess if you want to take classes with an online teacher (someone who knows how to teach the language, not only speak it) there is no reason not to do that now. If, however, you rather want to find an "ordinary" native speaker, I would first learn the basics on my own. I've never tried online tutoring, but offline I've made the experience that you gain the most from these kind of exchanges when you can at least form simple sentences yourself to have a basic conversation with a minimum of spontaneity. But of course it all depends on your preferences...

[lil_pug]

Yippie, one more Amharic enthusiast! Welcome to the forum!
I'm a beginner myself, so I'm far from having any perfect answers, but I can tell you a little bit about my experiences. I've been studying Amharic for only two months, mainly using "Colloquial Amharic" by David Appleyard. To learn the letters, I made paper flashcards with the Amharic letter on one side, and the English transcription on the other side (I guess that's what you can also do in Quizlet). I also used this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... del2&hl=de
What I like about it is that it shows how the letters are written, and you can also trace them with your finger on the screen.
Unfortunately, I'm unaware of any program that combines this finger-tracing feature with spaced repetition.
However, I do use Memrise (there seem to be a couple of interesting courses, though I haven't checked out all of them yet) and Anki (creating my own deck), and find them quite useful.
I guess if you want to take classes with an online teacher (someone who knows how to teach the language, not only speak it) there is no reason not to do that now. If, however, you rather want to find an "ordinary" native speaker, I would first learn the basics on my own. I've never tried online tutoring, but offline I've made the experience that you gain the most from these kind of exchanges when you can at least form simple sentences yourself to have a basic conversation with a minimum of spontaneity. But of course it all depends on your preferences...

Thank you!
I was using "Colloquial Amharic" by David Appleyard as well but it was difficult for me to connect the dialogue with the English translations. I learn best when I can connect either the target language's writing with the English translation or the audio in the target language with the English translation. Unfortunately since Amharic is the first Afro-Asiatic language that I'm learning, I have no connections at all with this language. That's why I think building a solid foundation with the alphabet is invaluable.

I will also use your advice of writing the letters by hand on paper flashcards and quizzing myself daily until I know the letters by heart. I also use the Fidel app. It's not perfect but it is the best one that I found so far.

I was also thinking about hiring an Ethiopian freelancer to read aloud easy Amharic/English children's books in Amharic. Then I can listen to the recorded audio, repeat the phrase, record myself reading if necessary, as well as writing the phrase word by word. Do you think that would be a good way to start reading and writing?

[iguanamon]

Welcome to the forum, lil_pug! I'll preface this post with the following caveat- I know very little about Amharic. I have learned a language with Hebrew scripts- Ladino. I also considered learning Amharic and gathered "someday" resources for it. When I first learned to read Djudeo-espanyol in Hebrew Rashi script, I bought a book with Latin and Rashi script on facing pages. I was lucky in that I had already learned a lot of Ladino before in Latin script. I spoke Spanish and Portuguese to high levels. It was still a struggle to get through that first book.

What would I do if I were in your place, not knowing the language yet? It's an interesting challenge, but one that is doable. One thing I've learned is an alphabet is an alphabet. Kanji... that's another matter entirely. Me, I'd try to learn the Swadesh list words first. I'd then look for their transliterated equivalents. It looks like over half of them on the list have hyperlinks that have the word transliterated. Maybe I'd try this site Amharic to Latin Converter. I used something similar for Ladino when I needed to check my doubts due to really bad pdf scans of old Rashi and Soletreo scriptbooks.

When I started reading it was the simple words that jumped out at me- "azer"; "entonses"; "livro"; etc. The key, for me, was seeing actual words (or chunks) instead of individual letters. The book I used to learn Soletreo script (Ladino cursive) was like that. It gradually worked its way up. Of course, Djudeo-espanyol is read from right to left, like Amharic. That takes a bit of getting used to at first. After a while it becomes second nature. What was difficult to me were the letters that look the same but have (to us, because we're beginners) slight differences that aren't quite readily apparent at first glance. Like everything else, the more you see them in different contexts, the more familiar they become. It just takes time to really get them down, which we as learners generally don't like, but hey, that's part of it. I absolutely love reading in Rashi script. Learning to read it was like a feeling I haven't had since I was a child learning to read in my mother tongue.

The FSI Amharic Basic Course doesn't get into the Amharic script until Volume 2 and then there are a few hundred pages on it with transcriptions and English followed by a reader and a glossary. I don't know much about the course because I haven't done it... yet. There's audio to accompany it. Maybe learning in the transliterated script first would be more akin to how I learned Djudeo-espanyol. Looking at the FSI transliteration, it's almost like learning another alphabet anyway! So, maybe it's best to just jump into it from the get go.

I have experience with learning less commonly learned languages, as can be seen in my profile. From my experience, I know when I learn one of these languages that I have to take what I can get. I may wish and long for ideal resources, but if they aren't there, so be it. I know I have to make the best of what I have and just get to the work of making the learning happen. It looks to me like you are getting started on the right path. I look forward to watching your progress with Amharic. It's a language with a long, fascinating, cultural history! Good luck!

Solitreo and Rashi scripts that say "Djudeo espanyol":

[Speakeasy]

Welcome to the forum, lil_pug. As you have already received some very good advice and encouragement, all of which I endorse, I will simply refer you to the following file:

Amharic Resources - LLORG - January 2019
https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&p=131464&sid=bba23fb9e90afc33a1aa8cd0a042bcdd#p131464

Clearly, the materials on the above list do not meet your specifications. Nevertheless, perhaps you might be able to work with the audio files on Anki, et cetera.

[lil_pug]

Welcome to the forum, lil_pug! I'll preface this post with the following caveat- I know very little about Amharic. I have learned a language with Hebrew scripts- Ladino. I also considered learning Amharic and gathered "someday" resources for it. When I first learned to read Djudeo-espanyol in Hebrew Rashi script, I bought a book with Latin and Rashi script on facing pages. I was lucky in that I had already learned a lot of Ladino before in Latin script. I spoke Spanish and Portuguese to high levels. It was still a struggle to get through that first book.

Thanks for the welcome iguanamon! I've already written flashcards for 13 letters in Amharic and their English phonetics on the opposite side. From now on, I will make slow but steady progress on learning the letters in the alphabet.

I dabbled in both FSI for Amharic and Colloquial Amharic. I prefer the Colloquial Amharic because it actually explains the grammar in depth, while the FSI seems to be more focused on nearly purely speaking output (which doesn't help me since I learn best when I understand the meaning of the word or grammar concept that I'm practicing.)

I agree with your point that it's important to be content with the resources that I have since I am learning a less commonly learned language. I was watching an old video by Professor Arguelles about the metaphor of the shaving razor as to language learning resources. Using an older resource might not be as ideal because the book might be jammed full of text, or the audio (if there is any) is poor by todays standards. But people still managed to learn languages in the past without the technological advances of today. Ideal resources would be nice but not absolutely necessary for language learning.

[lil_pug]

Welcome to the forum, lil_pug. As you have already received some very good advice and encouragement, all of which I endorse, I will simply refer you to the following file:

Amharic Resources - LLORG - January 2019
https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&p=131464&sid=bba23fb9e90afc33a1aa8cd0a042bcdd#p131464

Clearly, the materials on the above list do not meet your specifications. Nevertheless, perhaps you might be able to work with the audio files on Anki, et cetera.

Thank you Speakeasy!

I actually found that exact link the day that I signed up on this website, but it's good to remember it in case I need it!

[Brun Ugle]

Forum member ZenMonkey has created an app for learning alphabets in various languages. I haven’t tried it, but it looks like it might have what you’re looking for. I’m sure you can contact him if you have questions.

[lil_pug]

Forum member ZenMonkey has created an app for learning alphabets in various languages. I haven’t tried it, but it looks like it might have what you’re looking for. I’m sure you can contact him if you have questions.

Hello Brun Ugle! I actually had to take a double-take with the name of that app. If I am correct, Amharic and Aramaic are similar in a sense that they are both AfroAsiatic languages but the scripts are not the same. Unfortunately, I don't think that that app will apply to my current goals, but thanks anyway for taking the time to look into it.

[Brun Ugle]

Forum member ZenMonkey has created an app for learning alphabets in various languages. I haven’t tried it, but it looks like it might have what you’re looking for. I’m sure you can contact him if you have questions.

Hello Brun Ugle! I actually had to take a double-take with the name of that app. If I am correct, Amharic and Aramaic are similar in a sense that they are both AfroAsiatic languages but the scripts are not the same. Unfortunately, I don't think that that app will apply to my current goals, but thanks anyway for taking the time to look into it.

Oops! Sorry! I must have read too fast. I was sure it said Amharic. I thought he was working on a version for Amharic, so I also kind of assumed he had made it, which might be why I read the name wrong. I guess he hasn’t gotten around to that one yet. Too bad.