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Want to get down to Kurdish
Thread poster: Viachaslau
Viachaslau
Viachaslau  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 03:26
English to Russian
+ ...
Jul 19, 2009

Hi to everyone!
I'm planning to start learning Kurdish very soon. However, in Belarus it is almost impossible to find an instructor, nor can you find educational materials. A friend of mine suggests that i order smth online but just before i do it i want to know whether you find it possible to learn the language only guided by a book?
N.B: it would be easier if i wanted to learn to speak Kurmanji, but it is actaully Sorani that i need (when you see that arabic scrift, any hope dies d... See more
Hi to everyone!
I'm planning to start learning Kurdish very soon. However, in Belarus it is almost impossible to find an instructor, nor can you find educational materials. A friend of mine suggests that i order smth online but just before i do it i want to know whether you find it possible to learn the language only guided by a book?
N.B: it would be easier if i wanted to learn to speak Kurmanji, but it is actaully Sorani that i need (when you see that arabic scrift, any hope dies down).
I would appreciate any practical advice from those who speak Kurdish as a native/foreign language or who is probably learning it now. Links are also welcome!
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Stephen Franke
Stephen Franke
United States
Local time: 18:26
English to Arabic
+ ...
Kurdish via self-learning - details, please Jul 19, 2009

Greetings.

Ref your query about materials for self-study of the Kurdish language

Kindly clarify these initial points:

1. Which of the four main regional dialects and which of the two alphabets do you want to learn?

2. What do you plan to do [what is your intended application] with that acquired language - general/social conversation with Kurdish-speakers, translation, interpreting, literature research, or what?

3. Are you near ... See more
Greetings.

Ref your query about materials for self-study of the Kurdish language

Kindly clarify these initial points:

1. Which of the four main regional dialects and which of the two alphabets do you want to learn?

2. What do you plan to do [what is your intended application] with that acquired language - general/social conversation with Kurdish-speakers, translation, interpreting, literature research, or what?

3. Are you near a university library which can find and access the archives of extensive and very-detailed research done on the Kurdish language and regional dialects during the mid-1960s to late 1970s by linguists at the various Oriental Institutes (esp. the one based in Tashkent) of the Academy of Sciences of the former USSR (Russian: Akademia Nauk SSSR, or ANSSSR)? [The unfortunately-now-defunct Viktor Kamkin's bookstore in Washington, DC used to carry those items or could order them from the USSR.]

FYI about what is available now for self-study of Kurdish (mostly Sorany and Kurmanci dialects)

A few vendors in UK (I know of only one based in the US, and her product line of Kurdish self-study references is very good) offer several ***basic-level*** Kurdish self-learning materials (usually packages consisting of textbooks or phrasebooks with accompanying CD or audio cassette tapes).

Bilingual references (other than textbooks):

A number of English-Kurdish, Arabic-Kurdish, Persian-Kurdish, and German-Kurdish dictionaries and glossaries is available.

In terms of Russian-Kurdish materials, the textbooks, dictionaries, glossaries, and descriptive monographs published by the Oriental Studies Institutes of the ANSSSR in Tashkent and Leningrad are the only such materials known to me.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Stephen H. Franke
English - Arabic, Kurdish (Kurmanci), and Persian
San Pedro, California
E-mail: [email protected]

[Edited at 2009-07-20 17:16 GMT]

[Edited at 2009-07-20 17:16 GMT] ▲ Collapse
 
Viachaslau
Viachaslau  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 03:26
English to Russian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
sorry that it took a bit too long to reply Jul 24, 2009

thanks for your response

1. I'm not that good at identifying the dialects, i'm afraid, but i want to learn the language that is spoken in Sulaymaniyah, Northern Iraq. This must be Sorani. It would be great to start learning the arabic scrift, the modified one that the language uses, however i believe it be extremely difficult to do it on your own. So it would be also fine to start using latin alphabet, but there are no educational materials, only for Kurmanji.
2. Initially, ... See more
thanks for your response

1. I'm not that good at identifying the dialects, i'm afraid, but i want to learn the language that is spoken in Sulaymaniyah, Northern Iraq. This must be Sorani. It would be great to start learning the arabic scrift, the modified one that the language uses, however i believe it be extremely difficult to do it on your own. So it would be also fine to start using latin alphabet, but there are no educational materials, only for Kurmanji.
2. Initially, i need Kurdish just for basic communication, nothing really professional.
3. I'm sure there must be some books in "big soviet libraries" in St.Petersburg and Moscow, probably Tashkent, dut to geographical location. I'm not sure about Minsk, but frankly speaking I haven't tried to explore our big libraries, like the National one.

Thanks again Stephen.

[Edited at 2009-07-24 18:50 GMT]

[Edited at 2009-07-24 18:51 GMT] ▲ Collapse
 


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Want to get down to Kurdish






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