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Languages in Ethiopia


Languages in Ethiopia

See also: Amharic phrasebook
Amharic is the first official language of Ethiopia. The language is a Semitic language related to Hebrew and Arabic, and if you know either one you'll recognize some cognates. In all parts of the country everyone speaks Amharic to some extent, no matter what their first language may be. The language is written in the Ge'ez script. English and Arabic are also official languages in Ethiopia. In big cities, most people under 40 speak some English. (English is the primary foreign language taught in schools.) In rural areas, find local school children to translate for you for a fee that could be next to nothing. (Ethiopians have a distinct way of speaking English. Because it is heavily accented, it might be a bit difficult to understand it at the beginning. However, when you get used to the way they pronounce some English words, it will become fairly understandable.) Up north in Tigray, Tigrinya is the primary language, and it's also written in Ge'ez. However, Amharic is widely understood. In the middle regions, Oromo is widely spoken. Oromo language uses a Latin alphabet.

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