Everything You Need To Learn Yoruba
Yoruba belongs to the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo language family. It is spoken mainly in Nigeria and Benin, has over 40 million speakers, making it one of the most widely spoken African languages in the world.
Yoruba is a tonal language, which means that the same word may have several meanings depending on its tone. This tends to make the language quite difficult for non-native speakers to pick up.
Yoruba is related to Igbo, Edo, and Fon, though they’re not mutually intelligible with it. It’s written using the Latin alphabet.
The good news is, there are more than enough Yoruba resources available for learners. We’ve listed some of them below.
Yoruba Language Learning Books
A great starting point for any beginner is a Yoruba course/study book. These books are designed to help you pick up the basics of the language, teaching you things like Yoruba phonology, grammar and common vocabulary.
You might also want to get your hands on a Yoruba dictionary. This will be useful for building up your vocabulary and fine-tuning your knowledge of how to use the same words in different contexts.
Having a Yoruba phrasebook close by can also be helpful when traveling to Yoruba-speaking regions. This will give you important travel words and phrases that you can use to get by.
Yoruba Children’s Books
You can ease yourself into native language material by reading children’s books in Yoruba. These easy-to-read Yoruba kids’ books are filled with fun, colorful illustrations and common words, making them perfect for beginners of all ages.
You’ll boost your vocabulary, get comfortable reading and understanding Yoruba, which will in turn make it easier to follow more advanced material down the road.
Yoruba Products
Other ways to boost your language skills is with Yoruba flash cards, designed to teach you the most common, everyday words in a way that you’re more likely to remember them.
And a Yoruba activity table will make an awesome learning gift for kids learning the language.
