Afan Oromo: A Guide to Speaking the Language of Oromo People in Ethiopia Paperback – May 15, 2016

I spent 2 years in Ethiopia and learned some Afan Oromo, but lost it pretty quickly once I got back to the U.S. A couple years later, I got an opportunity through my university to do an intensive Oromo language class in Ethiopia over the summer. I picked up this book to brush up on my Oromo before the class started, but ended up using it throughout the whole summer to complement the class.The book is very accessible and structured in a way where you can use it as a type of "crash course" or just dig around for certain things you need (vocabulary, essential phrases, conjugation, etc.). As the author says in the intro, the Oromo language is an really diverse, with lots of regional differences, and only in 1991 did it transition from being written in traditional script to being written in Latin letters like used for English. These types of things make it hard to find a guide that will help you speak and write Oromo language in a way that people across different regions will understand and accept. But this book does a great job! Most of the classmates in my language course were using Oromo dictionary/grammar apps on their phones when they needed extra help with vocab and phrases- those dictionaries are all over the place and they ended up getting confused and making lots of mistakes. I just used this book and my teachers preferred this book's spelling and grammar almost every time. Those teachers were from the Wollega region, but I also shared this book with Oromo friends from Jimma, Guji, and Shashamene areas and they liked it too.There are also some beautiful illustrations and historic tidbits that pop up throughout this book- it's a labor of love, for sure. It's what you will feel if you're around Oromo people, whether in Ethiopia or elsewhere, and are able to say even the smallest thing to them in Afan Oromo, or if you're able to write a word that's even somewhat close to the right spelling (Oromo words can have a LOT of the same letter in a row and it can be hard to know where/whether to include them all! e.g. "jaalalee dhiiraa" for "girlfriend"...). It's a beautiful and proud language that's survived a long history of oppression under different Ethiopian governments. Highly recommend learning Afan Oromo with this book!

An amazing, brilliant Afan Oromo book written by Andrew Tadross and Abebe Bultoand edited by Temesgen H.Beriso on the Afaan Oromo language. With insightful culture and history notes on the Oromo Gaada system, Irreecha, and the Oromo coffee ceremony. The book is divided into well-organized sections such as object pronouns, gerunds, past participle, present tense, past tense, future tense, punctation, subject/possessive pronouns.

Abebe Bulto's excellent book, "Afan Oromo, A Guide to Speaking the Language of Oromo People in Ethiopia", is a great resource for anyone wanting to learn Afan Oromo. The book is divided into well-organized sections that delve deep into the essential grammatical structures, lots of vocabulary, and plenty of helpful example sentences for each topic. Highly recommend!

Easy to read and it's really helpful

Good book for new Oromo learner. Covers grammar in a way that is easy to understand and learn.

There aren't many books out there for Afan Oromo and this is very good one. I'm studying it extensively for an upcoming trip to Ethiopoa. Highly recommended for those who are interested in learning Afran Oromo or for language buffs out there.

This review was previously published in The Herald: News for those who served with the Peace Corps in Eritrea and Ethiopia.AFAN OROMO: A Guide to Speaking the Language of Oromo People in Ethiopia rounds out guides to three of the major language groups in Ethiopia, two of which were co-authored by editor Andrew Tadross, The Essential Guide to Amharic: the National Language of Ethiopia and The Essential Guide to Tigrinya: The Language of Eritrea and Northern Ethiopia.This guide follows a similar outline as the previous two guides, which serve the readers well. The primary difference is that unlike either Amharic or Tigrinya, the Afan Oromo does not use the Fidel (script), but rather an alphabet called Qubee that is visually comparable to the Latin alphabet with variations in pronunciation. A pronunciation guide provides both phonetic equivalent and examples, including the sounds of double vowels, common in Afan Oromo.The grammar section is quite lengthy. Verbs are conjugated for both past and present tense. Future tense is the present tense modified by adding a temporal modifier such as “tomorrow” or “next week.” Pronouns, pluralization, and negatives are more than adequately covered.Following the basic grammar, the reader is introduced to common phrases such as greetings and displays of emotions, and also to basic words such as colors, numbers, the calendar, units of time, and days of the week. The remainder of the guide introduces vocabulary by categories such as parts of the body, medical terms, occupations, transportation, and other areas that would be important in day-to-day conversation.The author and editor note that like most languages, there are regional differences in regard to vocabulary. Afan Oromo also has many words in common with Amharic and English, especially when it comes to new technologies.The charts are clear and there are simple illustrations throughout.At this date, there is not a Kindle edition available, but since both the Amharic and Tigrinya versions are available in the Kindle format, it is likely that a Kindle version will become available if demand warrants.The guide is bound well, typical of print-on-demand titles, and should hold up as one travels around the Afan Oromo-speaking region. Whether the traveler is in the region for a week or two years, the guide will serve as a worthwhile investment and a very good introduction to Afan Oromo.