bldyanos says
In the fall of 2014, I led an Amharic study circle, out of Azla’s (she carries on her back in a sack) Vegan Ethiopian Restaurant, in South Central Los Angeles’ Mercado De la Paloma (market of the dove) indoor bazaar. Nine Ethiopians signed up. All but one were born in the US. That one was born in gwender.
All but three eventually dropped out. It’s tough to start learning a language from scratch, or from a base of sand, in your 20s and 30s and 40s. Life. You have a full-time job. You have family and friends.
We met once a week for two-hours at a time, on Sunday afternoons, and assigned rigorous homework. I was the main teacher, but had a great co-teacher who funny enough used to co-babysit me along with her best friend; and maybe she’s my cousin like the storeowner is. I don’t use that term lightly anymore; seven generations, or we’re just from the same tribe, dawg.
The three students that endured to the end were saved. One in particular really impressed me. She could only spell her name in the beginning, and by the end, after a couple months, was writing full blown coherent sentences in Amharic.
I run into some from time-to-time in Greater Los Angeles, and either they self guilt-trip and practice their Amharic with me, or I give them a gentle prod. Peer (or in this case quasi-senior) pressure for the good is something they didn’t teach you in D.A.R.E.
The ge’ez alphabet, or syllabary (abugeeda,abgd,abcd), you see lying on the table in the pic above was printed out at my baba’s print shop sometime in the early 90s, and along with a legion of other pro-Ethiopia propaganda that bejeweled our Van Nuys home, it stared at me, and I stared back at it cluelessly. This one was extra special for me as it was in my room; seeing me when I was sleeping, and knowing when I was awake. And yet, I couldn’t consistently: spell my name till 2008, roll my Rs till 2009, and read and write fluently till 2011.
Written along the abugeeda’s edges is the derg (Marxist-Leninist junta) era shibboleth,
“let he who has been taught, teach, and let he who has not been taught, be taught; illiteracy is a voyage of darkness; hands that don’t write, won’t live.”
If there is one thing the derg are universally praised for it’s their literacy campaign. Ethiopia had horrible literacy rates during the monarchy. Something like 80-90% of the populace was illiterate. I’m not convinced striving for 100% literacy is a good without any evil. I’m not a utopian. I’m a realist. But still, I admire the way they sent people to the corners of the Ethiopian Empire to teach abugeeda; of course I do not endorse the socialist songs that came with it. It should also be noted that the Ethiopian Orthodox clergy who taught everyone during the monarchy, did a better job in terms of depth. Some societal reflection questions are 1) is it better to teach a few people a lot of things, or a lot of people a few things and 2) if this issue is not black-and-white, what is the optimal balance of these two polarities within the gray zone? Whatever your answers are, I’m sure I will have more questions for you.
Who is bldyanos? A scholar listed in the book of paradise. What does he have to say about teaching and learning?
ge’ez
ዘይፈቅድ ይትቀነይ ለክርስቶስ በጽድቅ ይደልዎ ይትመሀር ዘኢየአምር። ወይምሀር ዘየአምር። ወእመሰ ኢይፈቅድ ይትመሀር ወይምሀር እንዘ ይትከሀሎ ቦቱ ሕማመ ጋኔን። እስመ ርእሳ ለክህደት ጸጊበ ትምህርት ውእቱ
prof. bldyanos via prof. betre’maryam abebaw
amharic
በእውነት ለክርስቶስ ሊገዛ የሚወድ የማያውቀውን ሊማርና የሚያውቀውን ሊያስተምር ይገባዋል፣እየተቻለው ሊማርና ሊያስተምር ባይወድ ግን የሰይጣን በሽታ አለበት፣የክህደት ራስ ትምህርትን መሰልቸት ነውና::
prof. bldyanos via prof. qidus yaréd shiferaw
english
he whose will it is to submit to christ, in righteousness, should be taught what he does not know. and let him teach what he knows. and whoever does not will to be taught or to teach, who can, has the sickness of a demon. the head of heresy is (to say) I am satiated of learning/teaching.
prof. bldyanos via moi