Malagasy
English
Malagasy at UVa
This course will introduce you to the Merina dialect (spoken in the central high plateau), which is the Standard and official dialect of Madagascar, and thus used on the national TV and radio stations, official documents, and schools.
The course will use authentic materials, games, and task-based learning to help the students develop elementary and intermediate interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational skills for topics related to everyday interaction skills such as greetings, asking and expressing opinions, preferences, instructions, reasons and causes and so on. Thus, upon completion of the courses, the student will be able to discuss about a fair range of topics including but not limited to setting schedules and timing, weather, maps, environment, health, bartering, modes of transportation, hotel, daily news and so on.
By taking this course, you will notice that Malagasy is a soft and melodious language, that the use of root words and its stemming derivatives makes it easy to learn and rewarding, yet delightfully challenging.
Malagasy Facts
Malagasy is the language of Madagascar, the land of lemurs, baobabs, vanilla, turquoise beaches, and one of the highest biodiversity hotspots in the planet. Malagasy is the most dominant language of Madagascar and is spoken by approximately 27 million Malagasy people living in Madagascar and Comoros. Malagasy has the same linguistic and cultural characteristics as Malayo-Polynesian language, most notably the Ma’anyan language (South Borneo).
Elementary and Intermediate Malagasy course is designed for students who want to discover Madagascar, its language, its people, its culture, and its biodiversity. The Malagasy course will provide you with a unique perspective about Madagascar and will prepare you to visit or do research in the country.